My Friday went by quickly because two of my college friends stopped by my home on their way to Victoria. I prepared some quick snacks to enjoy with tea during their visit. I recorded most of the steps and the final layout in a video on YouTube.
These snacks are easy to prepare with minimal ingredients and can be adapted based on what you have available at home. They will impress your guests and pair well with a relaxing cup of tea.
Phool Makhana Namkeen
I am fond of nuts and often keep a jar of savory trail mix at home. Makhana Namkeen is a Foxnuts trail mix with roasted fox nuts, dry fruits, nuts, and spices for seasoning. Makhana is known by many names like Lotus Seeds, Fox nuts, Euryale Ferox, Gorgon nut, phool makahana etc. They are the seeds of the Euryale ferox plant. These seeds are commonly used in a variety of Indian sweets and savoury dishes such as kheer, raita, parshad, and makhana curry, as well as an evening tea-time snack.
This makhana namkeen is a healthy munching snack and gets ready within 15 minutes. So I thought to make this one the first. You roast the makhana, nuts, and seeds, in a wok, oven, or Airfryer. I used Airfryer and it gets done quickly. Then you season with spices and mix everything by adding a simple tempering, similar to the one I used here.
These are very easy, simple, and tasty rice patties. All you need to have is leftover rice (I usually always have some) and they make for an easy snack to be enjoyed I love these rice patties for their simplicity. The best thing, you can add any vegetable that you have in the fridge. You can shape them any way that you desire. Enjoy them with your hot cup of chai and some chutney or ketchup to go along with.
Layered Chaat
If you have green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney ready in the fridge you can make this delectable layered chaat within a matter of minutes. It’s got layers of chickpeas, potato, onions, yogurt, chutneys, and boondi- the only thing it doesn’t have is papdi (the fried pastry discs). I used beetroot chips instead. Using this recipe you can make chaat anytime. Make them in small individual cups or in a big bowl as you want!
Mango Chutney on Seed Crackers
This is a timeless easy snack idea that can be customized with any cracker and any store bought chutney. I made it with mango chutney which provides a delicious contrast to gluten free salty seed crackers. Then I topped each cracker with a small piece of paneer.
Dried Fruit and Nut Sandwiches
Do you love tea sandwiches as much as I do? A fancy dried fruit and nut sandwich like this one is a treat for the senses. I know you’ll really enjoy it with your afternoon tea! Mix softened cream cheese with apricots, craisins, walnuts, and mint. Then spread this mixture over slightly toasted bread slices to make these wonderful sweet sandwiches. The filling is dense, so using slightly toasted gluten free bread makes it easier to spread. These sandwiches are perfect for serving at afternoon teas.
If you love these dried fruit and nut sandwiches, also check out this delish strawberry sandwich, made with fresh strawberries and cream cheese.
Hope you enjoyed some of these simple, easy but tasty tea-time recipes. If you make any of these, please let me know what you think in the comments below. And don’t forget to tag me with a pic @simpleglutenfreekitchen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest so I can see your masterpiece.
Ideas for quick and easy tea snacks with common ingredients found at home
Ingredients
- 2 cups makhana (foxnuts)
- 1/2 cup raw peanuts
- 1/2 cup whole cashews
- 1/4 cup coconut slices
- 5-8 curry leaves
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon amchur powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 1 can chickpeas
- 2 small boiled potato
- Beet root chips
- Mint chutney
- Sweet tamarind chutney
- Besan boondi or sev
- Whipped plain yogurt
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Few seed crackers
- Mango chutney as required
- Paneer pieces as required
- 6 Slices white gluten -free bread (I used a wide slice)
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (+) dried fruit, chopped (I used cranberries and apricots)
- 1/3 cup toasted walnuts (+), chopped (or any nuts of your choice)
- few leaves fresh mint, finely chopped
Instructions
- Add makhana to Airfryer basket and air fry at 350 F degrees for 5 to 7 minutes. You might hear noise as they makhana circulates in the air fryer (they are super light so this happens), that is normal and okay.
- When done, makhana should be crisp and break easily. Remove makhana into a bowl.
- Now air fry cashews and peanuts at 350 F degrees for 5-6 minutes. Every air fryer is different and you might need more time to roast. Open the air fryer at 4 minutes and check.
- Heat oil in a pan for tempering. Add curry leaves when hot. Next add coconut slices. When lightly brown remove pan and add the tempering to foxnuts mixture.
- Season the makhana namkeen with spices.
- Break few beet root chips and put it in individual serving bowls. Layer it with chickpeas, potatoes, yogurt, mint chutney, sweet chutney and add more chips on top. Garnish with cilantro boondi and little bit of more chutneys. I didn't use any extra spices.
- Lay crackers on a plate. Put a tsp of mango chutney on each. Top it with paneer pieces.
- Soften the cream cheese with a fork.
- Add the chopped dried fruit, walnuts and chopped mint and mix together well.
- Slightly toast the gluten free bread slices in a pan or in toaster (just so that you can spread the filling easily).
- Divide filling mixture on each slice. Spread filling onto the bread leaving 1/4" from sides.
- Combine two slices. Cut off the crusts and then cut the sandwich into 2 or 4 pieces.
- Wrap in moisten muslin cloth to compress. Unwrap when needed to serve.
angiesrecipes
These are some healthy party appetizers. The rice patties are really a fabulous way to use up leftover.
Pattie
Who doesn’t love tea snacks, and these look exceptionally good. The seed crackers with the mango chutney would certainly turn my head because I love both. That reminds me that I didn’t get around to making mango chutney this summer, and I’m rather disappointed in myself for that. Thanks for the great recipes, and the fun idea.