Spicy mixture ~ South Indian Trail mix | Diwali Recipe

This spicy mixture of peanuts, lentils, rice flour and lentil crisps simply called Mixture is a popular South Indian snack.

Diwali is one of those festivals where the emphasis is so much on the sweet and savory snacks that are made and not so much on the food otherwise, like lunch or dinner. Of course, any celebration calls for a festive lunch or dinner spread. But these savory and sweet snacks are the highlight for Diwali as they are planned and made several days ahead and are distributed among friends, family and neighbors. Some families have their staple special delicacies that are made year after year. Others like me try to make something different every year. It is a lot of fun to plan ahead and decide what to make that year.

This year I wanted to make mixture – a savory trail mix of sorts that is primarily made in the Southern parts of India, though the rest of India have their versions too, but I just couldn’t find the time to make and shoot before I left Seattle to India. Yes, I am celebrating Diwali with my family this year in India. I land here and an aunt of mine sends over some mixture and other goodies that she made for Diwali. Well, lucky as I maybe, she is an awesome cook and I did not feel the need to make another version of mine to share with you all here. This is her recipe I am sharing here and trust me it is pretty good!

Spicy Mixture ~ South Indian Trail Mix – The Recipe

• 4 cups besan / chickpea flour
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder / cayenne powder
• salt, to taste
• oil, for deep frying
• ½ cup aval / poha / flattened rice flakes
• ¼ cup pottu kadalai / roasted bengal gram
• ¼ cup roasted unsalted peanuts
• ¼ cup curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon asafetida / hing
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder / cayenne powder
• salt, to taste

Method

• Mix the besan and rice flour and divide into ⅔rds and ⅓rds. To the ⅔rds mix, add salt and enough water to make a thick doughy paste.
• Heat the oil. Add the dough to a sev press / omapodi press and press into the hot oil. Sev / Omapodi are like thin noodles that are deep fried. Fry over medium heat and drain on paper towels. Repeat till all the dough is used up.
• To the remaining ⅓rds mix of besan and rice flour, add salt, cayenne and water to form a pancake like batter. Use a ladle with big round draining holes in it and pour the batter into the oil through this ladle to form small balls of fried batter called boondi. Fry over medium heat and drain on paper towels. Repeat till all the batter is used up.
• In the same oil, deep fry the aval and drain on paper towels as well.
• Fry the curry leaves as well and drain.
• Add the sev / omapodi, boondi, aval, curry leaves, pottu kadala, peanuts, hing, chili powder and salt all together in a large mixing bowl and mix well while it is still hot. Taste test and add more salt or spice as needed.
• Let it cool and store in an airtight container.