South Indian Diwali Mixture

As we enter the Deepavali festival, I wanted to bring you my favorite savory snack and a sweet snack that is very popular in most South Indian households.

When I would visit Chennai, the Grand Sweets store was a must visit. They have held their authenticity over time. They continued to maintain their small business model without focusing on expansion and marketing. There was no way to get their treat in the US until a few years ago. I have fond memories of going there with my grandfather to load up on some incredible sweet and savory goodies.

A South Indian mixture (AKA Indian Chex Mix) is quite different as compared to the popular Cheveda. To make this from scratch is very labor intensive so I took the help of my favorite Grand Sweets crunchies.

Ingredients

1/4 C Raw Peanuts

1/3 C Roasted Channa Dal

1/4 C Raw Cashews

15 curry leaves

1/8 Tsp Asafoetida

1/4 Tsp Salt (optional)

1 C of Thick Flattened Rice

1 C of Ompodi

1 C of Ribbon pakora

3/4 C of boondi

Methods

• Heat 2 Tbs of sesame oil in a fry pan and add your peanuts. Once the peanuts have browned, take them out of the pan and drain the excess oil on a paper towel.

• Next repeat the same step with the cashews and the roasted Channa Dal. You should have oil left the pan to “fry” all three ingredients.

• Next add the flatted rice to the same pot. At this point you may need to add 1 Tbs of oil for to brown the flattened rice. Once the flattened rice has browned, remove it from the pan.

• The final ingredient to fry is your curry leaves. Add the asafoetida to the curry leaves. This is also a good step to add salt. I only needed 1/4 Tsp.

• In a large pot mix all the ingredients together and enjoy!