Halloween 'Tikki'

I am always trying to make my 5 year old eat vegetable, and most moms know this is a hit-or-miss most days. Sometimes, I try to add new vegetables to dishes he already likes, and it usually works!

My Halloween Tikki experiment was something on those lines. My 5 year old likes mashed potato tikkis (a cutlet of sorts), and I made these with red beets and ricotta, added to potatoes. We called them Halloween Tikki because they were red (like blood), and we had them for breakfast on Halloween.

Red beets are a very healthy root vegetable - they contain vitamins A,B,C, E and K, and also potassium, folic acid and manganese. (For more nutritional information : visit www.shedyourweight.com/the_health_benefits_of_red_beet_nutritional_value_of_red_beet.html)

This recipe serves 3 people. It can be served with whole grain bread or as is with tomato sauce and/ or mint sauce.

Ingredients
4 medium sized potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed
1 and a 1/2 medium sized beets, steamed and grated
100 gms ricotta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 table spoon of gram flour

Mix all mashed potatoes, grated beets and ricotta in a bowl. Add salt and pepper, and the gram flour (this hold the Tikki together, and does not allow it to break into crumbs). Make balls out of the mixtures, and flatten them with your hand. (I let my 5 year old try it, and he had a great time!.). Grease a pan with 1 tsp of oil, and place the flattened Tikkis on the pan, and let them cook. Keep turning them over, till both sides are nice and crisp (You might need to add some more oil, while cooking).

Remove from pan, and serve.