Lollipops

These Lollipops are not the sweet variety. It has been named thus as it is held on a stick.

Mothers are kept busy during children’s vacation. They not only have to think of ways to keep the kids fruitfully occupied but also see that they are fed healthy snacks at regular intervals.

I am sure, every Mom will be happy to serve these lollipops to their kids as they are not only appealing, but also easy to prepare, tasty and healthy too! This snack is generally a great hit at children’s parties.

Lollipops with tomato ketchup and coriander-mint chutney

Ingredients:

Boiled whole Black Channa (Gram)	¾ cup
Boiled potato	1 medium
Bread slices (cut into pieces)	2
Chilly powder	½ tsp
Turmeric powder	½ tsp
Amchur	¼ tsp
Garam Masala	¾ tsp
Tomato ketchup	1-2 tsp
Salt	As per taste
Oil	For shallow frying
Wooden ice-cream sticks	12

Method:

1. Grind the boiled black gram to a paste without adding water.
2. Mash the boiled potato. Add a tsp of water over the bread pieces and crush it into a paste.
3. In a mixing bowl, add the ground black gram paste, mashed potato and the bread mash.
4. To this mixture, add chilly powder, turmeric powder, amchur powder, garam masala, tomato ketchup and salt. Mix well.
5. Now take a small quantity of this mixture and shape them into tiny lemon size balls. Insert the wooden ice-cream sticks into it and press lightly so that it stays firmly on the stick. Repeat this procedure for the remaining mixture.
6. Heat a non-stick tawa or a griddle. Smear a little oil on the tawa and place the prepared lollipops on the griddle and fry it (on a medium to low flame) on both sides till they turn golden brown.
7. Remove and serve hot with either tomato ketchup or green chutney or both.

Boiled chana (gram), boiled potato and bread pieces

 Mixture (made from boiled chana, potato and bread ) with ice-cream sticks

Lollipops ready for shallow frying

Lollipops being fried on tawa / griddle

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time    :  30 mins

Makes: 12 Lollipops

Note:

• The mixture should not be watery; as it will not stay on the stick.
• Wash the wooden ice-cream sticks in water before applying the mixture to prevent them from burning while shallow frying.
• If you run out of ice-cream sticks, you can fry them as cutlets/pattice.
• I used brown bread in the recipe. You may use any bread of your choice.
• Ice-cream sticks can be bought from super-markets.