Kaju Katli

Kaju Katli the much loved cashewnut based Indian sweet needs no introduction!

Every month Nabeel has a show n tell activity in school. As per the given theme, children are asked to get objects / images and talk about them in class. This month’s theme was Diwali. Kaju Katli was the first thing that came to my mind for Nabeel has this undying love for the sweet he relishes year round. And, instead of buying the sweet I decided to make it at home.

Now, Kaju Katli is also known for how difficult it is to make, atleast that is what I have heard. So, after a lot of mental debate I decided to give it a try. Trust me this sweet is as simple as it can get. With just 3 ingredeints required I can say it is instant in comparison to any other Indian sweet. I have already made a couple of batches and the product keeps getting better. If you are holding back because of all the myth surrounding kaju katli then please don’t. This Diwali treat your family and friends with some Homemade Kaju Katli.

 ***********************Happy Diwali*****************************

Homemade Kaju Katli

Ingredients
Cashewnuts / Kaju – 1 cup
Sugar – 1/3rd cup
Water – 1/4th cup
Cardamon (elaichi) powder – ½ teaspoon
Ghee / Clarified Butter – ½ teaspoon
Powdered or slivered nuts for decoration

Method
Step 1 – Grind the cashew nuts to a fine powder. As you grind them they tend to release oil and get lumpy, which is ok as long as the powder is spread out to dry, after grinding. You can spread over a tray for few hours before using. Spreading is not a vital step but in order to have a smoother and softer product this is advisable.

Step 2 – Put water and sugar in a non stick pan and let the mixture boil on medium flame till it converts to 1 string sugar syrup.

Step 3 – Immediately add in the cashew nuts powder and mix continuously till all the ingredients come together.

Step 4 – Add the cardamom powder and ghee, mix vigorously.

Step 5 – Remove the mixture on a greased surface and cool by spreading it with a spoon. Keep mixing and spreading till the mixture comes together like dough.

Step 6 – Take a greased tray / thali and spread out the kaju katli mixture, keeping a thickness of ½ cm. Using a greased knife cut into diamond shape, sprinkle nuts and refrigerate till set.
Step 7 – Remove Kaju Katli pieces from tray and serve or store.

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This Diwali hop on The Krazy Kids Karnival Bandwagon for some Family Fun Time

While Diwali is all about traditional fun, one can always take a break from the monotony and do something unconventional. If you are looking for fun family time doing something crazy, this Diwali, then head to The Krazy Kids Karnival which is coming to town on the 4th & 5th November 2017 (new date of event )

 

Spread over 2 acres of fun space, the event will have interactive fun & learning workshops, amazing live shows, dramatic amusements & adventure camps. Aimed at attracting children aged 0 to 15 along with their parents, with wide range of fun activities for the children, tasty treats for the family and great shopping experience for the parents.

Your favorite characters like Chota Bheem, Doraemon, Gajju Bhai, Chacha Bhatija along with Guru Aur Bhole will be awaiting your presence with loads of goodies for your children, come join their gang !

What? The Krazy Kids Karnival – Family Fun Time

When? 4^th & 5^th November – from  11.00 Am – 11.00 Pm

Where? 12 hours of non -stop entertainment at City Park , Bandra, BKC, Mumbai. 

Tickets? Entry Rs 200/- Per Kid / Adult.  Can be booked on BookMyShow. Free Entry for Kids below 3 Yrs.

 

I am going with the super mommies and kiddos of JAMM’s network. Will you be joining me? 

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Review – Jumble Tumble, Mulund

If you have been following my posts, then you know this summer vacation I resolved not to enroll Nabeel for any fancy “summer classes”, this year he was left totally on his own, indulging in unsupervised, unguided indoor and outdoor activities with his new found group of friends. This time I just let him be, like how kids should be.
But, once in a while, when some or the other member of his gang was away on a holiday or at a class he did get bored and sluggish doing nothing. That’s when I resorted to indoor play areas to uplift him and break the monotony of home bound play. If you have been following (again) my reviews of indoor play areas, you know Nabeel and I have explored almost all of them in Mumbai city. The latest one on the list is Jumble Tumble, which is situated in R-Mall, Mulund.

Jumble Tumble (JT) opened its doors less than a month ago and has already gained lot of popularity amongst the local crowd, mainly because there is no such activity and entertainment place within decent travel limits (read, with kids)

Jumble Tumble has the usual play sections like ball pool, roller slides, trampoline, rock climbing wall, foam pit, rope baskets and zip line, all of which are decently spaced out, erected on a strong structure and built with smooth finish ensuring safe and secure play for kids. The place is average sized but because of its smart layout it gives you an illusion of huge space that is inviting and colourful just like any kids entertainment zone should be. It definitely exudes those happy, cheerful vibes that kids need to feel in-order to get comfortable with a new place.

Trampoline, Foam Pit & Rock Climbing Wall

Wall mounted games

Colourful frames adorning the walls

 

Nabeel enjoying the zip line at Jumble Tumble

What is unique to Jumble Tumble is the collection of various sit down games and toys like the supermarket setup life sized building blocks, few board games and superb assortment of toys on the attractive toy rack. This is more for kids who are tired jumping around and need to cool down without discontinuing their play.

Nabeel & his friend enjoying the sit down games after a wild session of jumping and bouncing in the play zone

It has an in-house café serving the regular kids favourites and a big seating area; for moms while kids play and for birthday or any celebration gatherings. I like the fact that every corner of the play zone is visible from the seating area making it easier for moms to keep a watchful eye on the kids. Plus, the fact that it is situated in a shopping mall makes it good place to drop kids and indulge in some peaceful shopping time.

Jumble Tumble Cafeteria

Huge seating area

The price for an hour’s play is 350 (weekdays) & 400 (weekends). JT offers attractive membership rates for regulars and themed birthday party packages.
Kids between 8 months to 10 years are allowed in the play zone.

For more details look up here : Jumble Tumble

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Deep Fried Oreos

I have been guilty of posting many back to back non- recipe posts lately. So, let me make it up with this utterly indulgent and hassle free recipe of Deep Fried Oreos.

I first learnt about them in one of the episodes of “Carnival Eats”. I am a big fan of the show, every episode makes me go “ooh and aah”, if nothing else entices me to visit America, the drool worthy treats at its many state fairs surely will 😉
Deep Fried Oreos were whipped yesterday to celebrate Nabeel’s 5th birthday; he baked himself a brownie (yes, he did…so proud 🙂 ) and I made him something using his favourite biscuits.

I love how everyday kitchen ingredients can easily be transformed into something so delicious within no time.

It was a last minute decision to make them. I quickly whisked the batter while the Oreos chilled in the freezer, heated the oil and, voila! the deep fried goodness was ready in flat 15 minutes. I love how everyday kitchen ingredients can easily be transformed into something so delicious within no time.
I tried both variants of Oreo; original and chocolate but the original was the best for its sweet icing perfectly complimented the mildly sweet batter. I prepared the batter from scratch using eggs but for a much quicker process you can directly use pancake mix. Also, omit eggs and add 1 tsp baking powder to the batter, if you wish.

The batter fried Oreos added to the celebrations and were thoroughly enjoyed by Nabeel. He fondly called them “Oreo Pakoras” 🙂 

 

Deep Fried Oreos Recipe

Oreo biscuits, about 15 to 20
Oil for deep frying

For the batter
1 cup refined wheat flour / maida
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 egg
½ cup to ¾ cup milk (this depends on the consistency)
½ teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt

Step 1 – Place the Oreo biscuit packs in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 2 – Whisk egg, till frothy and thick, in a big bowl.
Step 3 – Fold in the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 4 – Pour in the milk and lightly mix using a whisk.
Step 5 – Let the batter rest for 10 minutes, meanwhile heat good amount of oil to deep fry Oreos.
Step 6 – Dip 4 to 5 Oreo biscuits in the batter , ensure its coated well from all sides and place in heated oil.
Step 7 – Fry them till golden brown and remove on an absorbent paper.
Step 8 – Let it cool a bit before serving. Dust with powdered sugar and serve a dipping chocolate sauce along, if desired.

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Mini Peanut Butter Cupcakes

The cupcakes are basic and light with chocolate beautifully complimenting the peanut butter flavour. 

And so, Nabeel is currently enjoying his summer break in full swing, ensuring I am on my toes 24 hours, or at least till he is awake. His constant needs to play, eat, read, and have fun sucks out all my energy and time. I am enjoying no doubt, but the everyday dilemma of “how to keep him busy? is tiring me completely. This year am adopting “no summer class” policy (hope to stick to it till the end) which means all me time will be converted to only mommy time..phew!

So, yesterday, we spent time in the kitchen baking cupcakes…something both of us thoroughly enjoy. We baked these cutsie mini cupcakes flavored with Peanut Butter and slathered with chocolate. Peanut butter gained entry into my kitchen for the first time and soon it was used in a baking recipe…something I generally do with all my new found ingredients :-).

We spent our evening snacking on these beauties while watching our 100th session (no exaggeration, really) of Kung Fu Panda.

Heading to the park now, please find this simple recipe of Mini Peanut Cupcakes, below. I adapted it from here.

Do try them with your kid..super fun and messy too 😉

Mini Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Makes 24 mini OR 12 regular sized cupcakes

Ingredients
Refined wheat flour – 1 cup
Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
Salt – a pinch
Creamy Peanut Butter – 1/2 cup
Butter – 1/3 cup
Castor Sugar – ½ cup
Eggs – 2 nos
Vanilla Essence – 2 drops
Milk – 3 tablespoons
Melted Dark Chocolate – ½ cup , for the frosting

Method
Step 1 – Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Keep it aside.
Step 2 – In a bowl, put peanut butter, butter and sugar together using an electric beater till fluffy and white in colour.
Step 3 – Lightly mix in eggs, one by one. Add Vanilla essence.
Step 4 – Fold in the dry ingredients with a light hand.
Step 5 – Mix in milk to adjust the batter consistency.
Step 6 – Pour the cupcake batter in moulds and place in a pre-heated oven at 180 C for 25 minutes, to bake.
Step 7 – Once the cupcakes have risen, remove and cool before serving.
Step 8 – Top the cupcakes with melted dark chocolate.

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Dual Berry and Yoghurt Lollies

Lollies are the perfect summer treat for kids. Delicious, healthy, easy to make using handful of ingredients they are a great way to give kids fresh fruit and yoghurt.

Lollies are definitely better than giving readymade ice-creams to kids plus children can prepare lollies on their own making them forget the store bought ones.
I have used 2 berry flavours; Strawberry & Blueberry but any combination is possible.

Dual Berry and Yoghurt Lollies
Makes 8 lollies (as seen in image)

Ingredients
2 packs Danone Blueberry flavoured yoghurt (80gms pack)
1 pack Danone Vanilla flavoured yoghurt (80gms pack)
½ cup chopped Strawberries
1 tbsp honey (might need more in case the fruit is sour)
A pinch of salt

Method

Step 1 – Mix strawberry, salt and honey in a bowl. Lightly mash to make pulp yet retaining few fruit chunks.

Step 2 – In another bowl, empty the yoghurt packs and whisk them well.

Step 3 – Mix the strawberry pulp with the whisked yoghurt.

Step 4 – Pour the mixture into lolly / kulfi moulds and freeze overnight or for minimum 6 to 8 hours. If you don’t have moulds you can make lollies in paper or plastic cups, insert wooden candy sticks and then tear the outer covering once the lollies have frozen.

Here’s another fresh fruit summer treat for kids that you could try Real Strawberry Pops 

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Review – YouTube Kids App

My son, Nabeel, is a hardcore YouTuber and so are millions of kids around the globe. It was only wise of YouTube to have come up with an app dedicated to children with relevant content picked up from its huge database of videos as well as some parental control features.

YouTube Kids App was launched in India recently and I was there to know how it makes such a must have app for us kids as well as us parents. We were walked through an informative presentation by Mr. Malik Ducard, Global Head of Family & Learning, YouTube, Mr. Don Anderson, Head of Kids & Learning Partnerships, & Aman Dayal Partnerships Manager, YouTube Kids.
The app focuses on 3 E’s; namely, Entertain, Enrich & Exlore as explained by Mr.Ducard. While YouTube already has a storehouse of kid’s content there was a need to create this app to keep kids away from viewing things not meant for them and to ensure a secure and fun zone of their own which the parents don’t have to monitor time and again, added Mr. Don Anderson.

The first thing I did, after attending the launch was to download the app and test it over the weekend. Below are some of the features I really loved about the app.

Salient features of the app

1) Content categories based on different interest; namely Shows, Music, Learning & Explore

• Shows include kid-friendly programming from popular YouTube creators.∗
• Music includes songs to sing and dance along to, including nursery rhymes, popular music videos for kids, and clips from their favourite musicals.∗
• Learning includes everything from ABCs and 123s to science lessons and language arts so children can engage, grow and learn.∗
• Explore includes content that helps your child discover the world around them, develop new hobbies, and explore topics they’re interested in.∗

2) Search for content by typing as well as saying the keywords. This is a wonderful feature for younger ones who sure know their “hoolahoops” and “dinosaurs” but can’t spell them 🙂
3) You can set the age of your child and content will be suggested based on it. This makes searching and exploring time less and entertainment time real and enriching.
4) Like the general YouTube App, YouTube Kids also has recommendations based on past viewing patterns.
5) Timers can be set before you handover the phone to your child. Kid’s get a “Times Up” notification once it’s up and locks the app. This is my favourite feature of the app, now no more dodging and yelling at the child to get MY phone back.
6) One more parental control that I like is the option to “turn off search”, which will limit viewing to the videos suggested on the homepage.
7) It is also possible to enjoy the app on a wider screen, your TV, by connecting using a Chromecast.
8) Clear search history is also a good thing since it ensures the same videos are not suggested and viewed by the kids and allows fresh new content to surface on the screen.
9) The interface is pretty simple and attractive with huge video icons.
10) The parental control section is passcode protected so even if the smarter kids manage to get in there they won’t know how to get through.

Yummy Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes with YouTube Kids logo toppers, at the launch.

The YouTube Kids app is for kids aged between 2 to 10 and is available for iOS and Android platforms. It is free but ad supported. I like that the app is not only entertaining but also educative making it the ideal infotainment app. Also the app has family-friendly shows that the entire family can watch together.
Resorting to digital world for entertainment and learning should not be the only way of doing so..don’t forget to expose the kids to the traditional infotainment ways of free-play, books, co-playing and peer learning.

Source ∗ – https://kids.youtube.com/

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