Saturday, November 8, 2014

Homemade Mixture

Searching for a snack with a satisfying crunch on a weekend afternoon, I tried yet another recipe from the wonderful Nupur's blog. Honestly, I have lost count of the number of recipes I have tried from her blog! Well, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that! I feel truly lucky to live at a time when the internet facilitates the sharing of wonderful ideas.

It all started when I spied a bag of puffed barley at a grocery store and was struck by how it resembled Pori or Puffed Rice. I was also momentarily seized by a feeling of virtuousness. "We shall have no more store bought fried snacks at home!", I decreed to R. I shall make a healthy mixture that we can snack on using this undeniably healthy puffed barley.

I tasted the puffed barley upon returning home and it was nothing like Pori. In fact, it tasted awful. A bit like rotting cardboard, I thought to myself. But I had to salvage this gigantic bag! I quickly found inspiration in Nupur's Chivda and Bhadang recipes and decided to combine the two.

I have to say, since that first time, I have made this Mixture 3 times. We usually run through it pretty quickly. And you do end up feeling virtuous after eating a bowl of this Mixture.



Ingredients

2 T sunflower oil
1 t mustard
1 t saunf
10 - 15 curry leaves
1 t red chili powder
1 t sugar
1 t turmeric
2 C poha
1/3 C raw peanuts
1/2 C dried cranberries or raisins
1/2 C Pottu Kadalai or Roasted Gram
1 C store bought Sev
1 C puffed barley
Salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan, preferably wide and not very tall. Add mustard seeds and once they have popped, add the peanuts and curry leaves. When the peanuts begin to turn light brown, add the poha and turmeric and stir well. The poha will absorb all the oil and get toasty.

Another way is to roast the peanuts separately and add them after the poha has got toasty. Add the red chili powder, salt, Pottu kadalai and puffed barley at this point and continue to roast for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the sugar, dried cranberries and store bought Sev.  Allow to cool completely before storing in an air tight container. It stays fresh for about a week, by which time we usually finish it.