Healthy snacking: Iftar hacks: How to make tuna kebabs

Ramazan is a time when we think about food a lot and strangely, imagining the tastes we’ll be savouring with our family later helps us get through the fast. Skipping meals the whole month can make us feel tired and drained, since we are not providing our body with a regular supply of energy. Skipping meals can also make it hard to stick to healthy eating goals. When we finally sit down for Iftar, we are often too hungry to make wholesome choices and end up stuffing ourselves with everything we crave.

That’s not a smart choice to make, however. If you want to maintain your energy levels and keep your performance steady throughout the day, it is essential to make the right choice of meals. This can only be accomplished when we prepare meals with a creative and positive frame of mind.

There is a strong connection between food selection and positive moods. We can enjoy a wide variety of positive food categories like vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, lean meat, chicken and fish, but the real art lies in how we prepare them.

Our food choices affect our overall health and well-being, but particularly in this month what we eat also impacts how we feel. For instance, the week before Ramazan, I like to make samosas and spring rolls and freeze them. But when I serve them on the table to my family I like to bake them instead of deep frying. I also store dates as they are healthy and a good pick-me-up snack.

Last Ramazan, I made tuna fish kebabs which were very popular among family and friends. The recipe is easy, healthy and flavourful and one of the best sources of mood-boosting for Ramazan. I would recommend trying it at least once during this holy month.

Tuna fish kebabs

Ingredients

4 medium sizes potatoes boiled

2 medium-sized tuna fish cans

1 fish stock or vegetable stock

1 tea spoon turmeric powder

1 tea spoon black pepper

1 tea spoon salt

1 table spoon fresh chopped green chilly

½ cup of fresh chopped spring onions

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs

½ cup fresh chopped onions

½ cup of fresh chopped coriander leaves

1 table spoon olive oil

Method

— Boil the potatoes and season with salt.

— Knead together to form a soft dough.

— Now place the tuna fish and fish stock in a large bowl with greased steamer.

— Cook for 5 minutes until opaque and cooked through.

— Add the oil, turmeric powder, and fresh chopped onions into it and mix with tuna fish and cook for less than 5 minutes.

— Flake the fish with a fork and place in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, spring onions, chilies, black paper and fresh coriander.

— For frying mix the eggs well. Shape the kebab and dip in egg and then coat in breadcrumbs.

— Heat the oil and fry the kebab until brown.

— Serve with chilli sauce or chutney.

— Garnish with coriander.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2016.

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