Chivda - Something Special for Honey :-)

For the first time after marriage we are staying apart for some time so Raj is going to miss me for sure and me too going to miss him.

One of these snacks I am sharing with you is simple but tasty, chivda. Chivda was just crunchy as desired. Give it a try and Let me know how it works.

Serve: 10

Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

1lb poha or thin flattened rice

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida

15-20 fresh kadipatta or curry leaves

15 fresh green chillies, sliced fine

4-5 large garlic cloves, sliced thinly

1/4 cup raw peanuts

1/2 cup cashew broken (optional)

1/2 cup split Dalia

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Method:

1. Add 3-4 cups of thin poha at a time and roast on medium flame for 4-5 minutes until the flakes of poha are crisp.

2. Spread on a large cookie sheet and repeat until all of the poha is crisp.

3. Wash, dry and slice the green chillies. Slice garlic cloves, Wash and dry the kadipatta, too.

4. Heat 1/4 cup oil on medium flame. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and when they start crackling and bouncing about, add asafoetida. Have a splatter guard or lid ready, you will certainly need it now.

5. Add the green chillies and kadipatta and quickly cover the pot for few seconds otherwise you will have droplets of oil everywhere.

6. Mix well, Add finely chopped garlic cloves, goal is to have crisp kadipatta, garlic slices and green chillies but you don't want to burn them either.

7. After a minute or so, add peanuts, cashews and dalia. Stir well. Add turmeric powder last as this tends to burn and leave an undesirable flavor if added earlier.Turn off the heat and add salt, sugar. Mix well.

8. Add 3-4 cups of crispy poha at a time to this oily mixture of spices and nuts and toss together each time. The oil should coat the crispy poha in a tight embrace.

9. Taste for spice level and if you need to up the heat, add red chili powder now and toss to mix well.

Note:

1. You can add/skip the ghee in combination with oil. Using ghee adds a level of homemade flavor not found in store-bought chivda.

2. I like the flavor of green chillies in chivda and prefer not to add dried red chillies or red chili powder. But green chillies can be replaced by red chillies or red chili powder.

3. You can use dried coconut add it just after peanuts.