10 Easy Snacks To Make For Your Netflix & Chill Session

I am a couch potato. It’s a fact that I realised for many, many years back when I decided to stay at home and binge-watch movies after movies, series after series instead of going out and live life.

I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who prefers to stay in rather than going out. And I am doubly sure that if you are anything like me, once you sit down on your couch, shows all in sequence, you are not going to get up until you have completed what you planned to do.

Therefore, it is crucial, CRUCIAL, to make sure you have all the things you need be within reach from your comfortable and this includes food.

Quick, Easy, Delicious

Ah. food. A couch potato’s best friend. Your whole binge-watching experience will never be complete without a whole array of snacks to keep your excitement, suspense or even anxiety at bay.

I know this statement is true because I am talking based on experience. How many times you almost die (okay, I am just exaggerating) of thirst or cannot concentrate on the tense scene because of the rumblings of your stomach? If you have something to munch on or drink, you’d save those valuable minutes of pausing or rewinding to watch the same scene.

Imagine a world where binge-watching your favourite series or movies without the customary sounds of the occasional crunch; slurp and burp. It’ll be a boring place to live in.

So, now we have established the importance of snacking, what are the important criteria to look out for? We want quick, easy and of course, delicious snacks to accompany our viewing session. You understand the delicious part, but ‘quick’ and ‘easy’? Well, allow me to explain. ‘Quick’ here refers to food that can be whipped up in a blink of an eye. Besides, we want our preparation to be simple and less messy. So, the fewer the ingredients, the better!

Winter is Here

April is a very special month for many couch potatoes out there, including me. It is the month the final instalment of the Avengers saga is coming out and the long-awaited season 8 of Game of Thrones. Yes, yes, April is a very exciting month.

Although the first episode has came out last Monday, if you are like me, you would like to take the time to ensure that all of the episodes are made available online before spending the whole weekend watching rather than waiting in suspense every week.

So, why not, take this opportunity to join me in my Game of Thrones refresher marathon this weekend while enjoying these 10 delicious snacks. Let’s check out which foods made it to the list.

1. Pisang Goreng

Pisang goreng or banana fritters must be listed in an article about snacks that I am writing. One of the easiest and quickest snacks to prepare, in my opinion, is pisang goreng. Decadently sweet, fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside, you can definitely finish a plate of pisang goreng on your own. The best thing about it? You are not going to get bored just eating this, especially if you try Butterkicap’s 5-minute Pisang Goreng recipe!

2. Cekodok

As a Malaysian, I will definitely say that the best kind of food to snack while watching my favourite show is definitely hands down, Malaysian sweetmeats or kueh. Of course, the easiest option to obtain these kueh for you to munch on is by purchasing them from the nearest makcik but there are a few easy recipes you can try at home.

Butterkicap’s cekodok recipe or fried banana balls is unbelievably quick to make that you will be on the couch within the next 15 minutes. Trust me, I have done it before.

3. Mug Cake

Whipping out quick desserts is sometimes not ideal when you are already preoccupied with a 4-hour long Netflix and chill session. Therefore, an easy and simple dessert recipe is always welcomed to be shared and tried. Like this mug cake recipe, for example. I am hundred percent sure once you tried it, you’ll be repeating it everytime you’re planning of making a sweet snack while binge-watching your favourite show.

4. Homemade Salted Chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 230 C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the potatoes in 1/8-inch thick round slices.
2. In a pot of boiling water cook the potato slices for 3-5 minutes. Drain well and combine with oil, salt, pepper and spices in a large bowl.
3. Place potato slices on prepared baking sheet in one layer. Bake for about 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Gently remove the chips and place on a cooling rack or parchment paper; let them cool for few minutes and they are ready to serve.

5. Masala Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 2 cups of boiled chickpeas
• 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1 pinch of asafoetida
• 1 teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste
• 1 green chilli
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon of garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight for 8 hours. Drain and boil them with 2 cups of water and salt for 10 minutes. Drain the chickpeas and set aside.
2. Heat a pan on medium fire. Add in the mustard seeds, cumin, chilli, curry leaves and asafoetida. Let them splutter for 2-5 minutes.
3. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and saute quickly to remove the raw smell. Add in the cooked chickpeas.
4. Add in the garam masala, salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Mix well and saute for a minute.

6. Bread Pakora

Ingredients

• 4 slices of white bread
• 4 teaspoons of green chutney

a) Stuffing

• 2 potatoes, boiled & mashed
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 inch ginger, finely chopped
• ¼ teaspoon of chilli powder
• 2 tablespoons of coriander, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon of chaat masala
• ¼ tsp salt

b) Batter

• 1 cup of gram flour
• 2 tablespoons of rice flour
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• ½ tsp salt
• pinch of soda
• ½ cup water

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl, placed 3 boiled potatoes, green chilli, ginger, coriander, chilli powder, and chaat masala.
2. Combine all the ingredients wells and set aside.
3. Spread 1 teaspoon of green chutney over the bread and cut in half.
4. Spread a tablespoon of stuffing over the half sliced of bread.
   Cover with another half sliced bread and dip into the batter.
5. Deep fry immediately into hot oil on medium heat.
6. Fry for 5-6 minutes till the pakora turns golden and crispy.
7. Fnally, serve bread pakora with green chutney or tomato sauce.

7. Apple Fritters

Frying is really an underrated form of cooking. People think it’s so easy to do but only with the right kind of food. You cannot just go around frying everything in sight, right?

This recipe was found by accident. I was hungry. I wanted to munch on something while watching Netflix. I opened the fridge and only have apples, cinnamon and sugar. So, what did I do? Check out these apple fritters recipe on Butterkicap to know!

8. Salted Gula Melaka Popcorn

Ingredients

• 300g of popcorn kernels
• 200g butter, melted
• 50g gula melaka, grated
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Method

1. In a pot, pour in 50g of melted butter and popcorn kernels. Cover the pot and placed on medium heat. Let the popcorn kernels pop for 2 minutes.
2. When the popping slows down, take off the lid and let the steam out. Set aside the popcorn.
3. Heat a pan on medium heat. Pour in the rest of the melted butter and gula melaka. Stir until the sugar dissolve.
4. Put in the salt and stir well. Let cool for 10 minutes.
5. Pour the caramel into the popcorn-filled pot and stir around till all the popcorn are coated with caramel. Enjoy!

9. Honey Cornflakes with Mixed Nuts

Ingredients

• 250g cornflakes, half-crushed
• 100ml honey
• 50g butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 100g of sliced almonds
• 50g of walnuts, half-crushed

Method

1. In a bowl, pour in the cornflakes, almonds and walnuts. Mix well.
2. Heat a medium-sized pot on medium heat. Put in the butter, honey and brown sugar and stir til all the sugar dissolved.
3. Pour in the caramel in the bowl and stir till everything is mixed.
4. In a baking tin, pour out the mixture and even it out with a spoon. Let cool for 15 minutes in the fridge.
5. Cut into bite-sized squares and enjoy.

10. Malaysian-Style Sliders

Ingredients

• 200g wheat flour
• 140ml milk
• 2 teaspoons of dry yeast
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 of a cucumber, sliced thinly
• chicken sambal
• 1 cup of oil

1. Mix the flour, milk, sugar, salt and dry yeast in a bowl.
2. Roll the dough until it’s not sticking to your hands. Let it rest for 15 minutes til it doubles in size.
3. Beat the dough so that the extra air will be released. After that, divided the dough to 8 smaller portions.
4. Let the balls of dough rest and double their sizes.
5. In a wok, heat up the oil on medium heat. placed in the dough balls and fry them til golden brown. Don’t forget to dust your hands with sufficient amount of flour so the dough will not stick to your hands!
6. After the balls are slightly cool, cut the balls halfway and sandwiched in a slice of cucumber and half a tablespoon of chicken sambal.

A Viewing Worth Your Time & Tummy

Do you agree with my list? Well, like it or not, there is nothing as easy or as delicious as these Malaysian TV snacks. In fact, they are more satisfying than the usual suspects of store-bought chips  and candy.

Don’t forget to try, share and even suggest more snacks worthy of a try with me. We can make a 2.0 list for our next binge session and I do mean both cinematic and gastronomic aspects.