The 5 pm hunger - Corn Cheese Balls!

The 5 pm hunger is unbearable. It's the hunger between meals when lunch is good few hours behind and dinner is far away. Ever more so for someone like me, whose struggle with weight and love for food have been constant companions. : P

When you are at home at least you have an option (read: no excuse) to dish out something healthy. But when you are working in an office, it’s hard to follow a diet because:

a)      You are hungry

b)     Junk food sounds a good idea when you are neck deep in work

c)     Skinny people around you (who don’t pile on even 10 grams after gorging on pizzas day in and day out) order chicken lollipops during tea break

d)     You have money and it’s easy to order.

e)     Lastly, there are people to share your guilt with... : D

So it was one of those days in office. The clock struck 5! And the office filled with a very mouthwatering aroma. Our hunger just made it worse. I mean yummier! Everyday there was a tussle between our cravings and resolve to eat healthier. And that aroma didn’t help us any bit to stick to our resolve. It was my x boss and some other seniors who had ordered from a restaurant just next to our office building. It would have been too awkward and rude to turn around our chairs and ask them, “What is it that you guys are eating?” But we were curious and also very tempted to try that amazing smelling snack, which was teasing our taste buds. 

Cheese ball recipe

Finally one of my colleagues asked one of the seniors and just like that we knew what that mystery dish was! Corn Cheese Balls!!! Yes, turns out it was Corn cheese balls. We ordered the very next day!

Now, anything fried filled with cheese has to - has to taste nothing less than Divine. So it didn’t come as a surprise that we weren’t even a tiny bit disappointed as the aroma perfectly matched the actual taste. Crunchy on the outside, soft and cheesy inside, very mild but distinct flavour. A part of us wanted to gobble down everything quickly as it was sooo good and part of us wanted to slow it down so that we can savour it for a little longer. Pure piece of heaven it was. So we ordered, again and again and then again and gorged till our heart’s content (which is never). 

But I felt it was overpriced. So I decided to try and make it at home. The core ingredients were easy to guess but just to be extra sure I researched online. As expected, the recipe was simple and economical. And end result - lip-smacking homemade treat!!

You need:

• 2 cups of crumbled paneer (cottage cheese), 
• 1 cup grated processed cheese (apprx 6-7 cubes)
• ½ cup coarsely crushed - boiled sweet corn kernels
• 1 finely chopped chilly
• 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
• 3 tbsp corn flour
• 3 tbsp all-purpose-flour (maida)
• salt to taste
• ½ cup milk 
• 1 cup (or as much needed) fresh bread crumbs
• Oil to fry. 

Mix all the ingredients except milk, breadcrumbs and oil, to make soft dough. Spread the bread crumbs on a plate. Make lemon sized balls from the dough, dip it in milk and then roll the balls in bread crumbs. Deep fry until golden brown and serve it with tomato ketchup or pudina chutney.

Tips:

* Instead of milk (for dipping), you can also use a mixture made out of all-purpose-flour and water. Mix a teaspoon of all-purpose-flour with enough water until it reaches milk like consistency.

* Test fry one cheese ball first. If the stuffing spills out, add some more corn flour and bread crumbs to the mixture.

* If you don’t like sweet corn or it isn’t available, no worries. Just ditch it. It still tastes delicious without the corn.

*After rolling into bread crumbs, refrigerate the cheese balls for one hour or so to make it firm. 

This recipe may not be ideal for health freaks or for those watching weight. :D It’s definitely not fat free but yummy, easy to prepare and everyone loves it. I and my colleagues convinced ourselves by saying that cottage cheese is the healthiest cheese of all, corn is healthy, cheese in moderation is good for health and we just ignored the part of it being deep fried. You can do the same. It’s fine to indulge every now and then. Isn't it? You can later burn the calories by working out. :D