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Baked Masala Peanuts … and Pumpkin Seeds
March 1, 2009 |
Nut and seed clusters with a spicy chickpea flour coating. These are uber-crisp and addictive.
Bonus: no added oil.
Any nuts or seeds - cashews, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, pecans - will work. We used to make this in the microwave, but found that the end result is much more crisp and uniform after oven-baking. Moreover, you can make a very large batch in the oven in practically the same amount of time.
Adding the chickpea flour in two batches - first wet and then dry - prevents the nuts/seeds from clumping together into what Jon Stewart would call a royal clusterf#@k.
We don’t bother to pre-roast the nuts or skin them.
A note about peanuts: You can use the roasted and skinned Planters peanuts or the pain-in-the-ass peanuts with the skin from the Indian store, or the self-actualised pre-skinned but raw peanuts from the Thai store. (Details in this post.)
We like the ones from the Thai store. These disappear fast, so make a double or triple batch. They stay crunchy for a few days.
BAKED MASALA NUTS/SEEDS
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Measure out and mix
1.5 cups chickpea flour (kadala maavu/besan)
salt to taste
spices of choice
**we used
3/4 tsp cayenne powder
1/3 tsp ground ajwain (bishop’s weed)
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
1.5 tbsps rice flour (brown or regular)
**This is optional. It makes the end result crisper.
Take half the mixture in a bowl. Add 1/3 cup water. Mix it until it has no lumps. The consistency should be very thick.
It goes drip …. drip … drip into 1.5 cups nuts/seeds.
Mix the whole thing.
Another batch with pumpkin seeds.
Add the remaining chickpea flour-spice mix.
There will be some dry flour and that’s fine. If there’s too much loose flour, barely wet your hand and mix gently.
Try to break up the clusters and spread them on a baking sheet. There’s no need to use a liner ‘cos there’s enough dry flour to ensure it won’t stick. Besides, putting them directly on the metal sheet makes them crisper.
Bake for 15 minutes, stir around and bake for another 10 minutes or so. They should turn golden with just a few hints of darker spots in some areas. If they don’t disappear right away, cool and store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Good with tea, better with Scotch.
Spicy nut and seed clusters - our entry for Heart of the Matter: Finger Foods hosted by Michelle @ The Accidental Scientist.
CLICK: Wood
Event Details HERE
Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
Photographer: Jai
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: 100 mm macro
Shutter speed: 1/5 sec
ISO Speed: 400
F-stop: f/4
DEADLINE: March 30, 2009
- Jai
ajwain, cayenne, chickpea-flour, Fenugreek (Methi), kasoori methi, Peanut/Groundnut, Pumpkin Seeds, rice flour, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes
Killer. Thats all.
new to me, but looks *yummy*!
Gorgeous
You do serious business @ your side tables, huh ?? Have heard so much about these peanuts, time to make them now
I love masal peanuts, always did the unhealthy version of deepfrying. Will try this one next time.
AWESOME!! no oil! my MIL has been on my case about going on a killer-no-food diet… maybe i can make these and keep a stock in my bedroom for the times when I am starving!
Where’s the fave button! The pics are fabulous! *Love* the one of the peanuts with the whisky bottle in the background.
And I maintain that the peanuts from the Indian store have the best taste.
cudnt see the voting checkboxes even after clearing cache and refreshing. not sure if using firefox on ubuntu is the problem.
we think it’s a plugin called super-cache that was creating the problem. we’ve disabled it. please try again. sorry about that.
Yum, these look really tasty!
Got to try with pumpkin seeds, gorgeous pict!
Tried everything under the sun but couldn’t vote. I see results already, and it says thanks for your votes!
nags, i’ve sent you an e-mail. please try voting again. it should work now.
Pain in the ass peanuts! Lol I agree. These look fab. I just bought roasted and skinned ones from Trader Joe’s, I’m gonna have to try these out.
ooh…mouth-watering! these brought back memories of our visit to your beautiful home and how good these (and all the other food you made) tasted. now i got to go make some.
I can see how addictive these peanuts and pumpkin seeds can be. I like the bonus of no added oil. And I love the photos, of course.
Great clicks!
we call the one with peanuts besan phalli…. this i have to try!! love the pic of the peanuts in the paper bag.
droool, can’t wait to get home and try my hand at this one. Loved the beetroot red bowl, have been looking for something similar.
OMG! Looks so yumm and it’s not deep-fried! Looks like a killer must-try recipe.
Like the idea of oven-baking, never tried making them, even the “normal” version.
I just mailed you about your site this morning, guess you’ve seen the mail.
I meant to add that I DO use IE6 and Firefox 3
Definitely just the cure for a damp rage!
Oh yum yum YUM.
Those look absolutely gorgeous ( and mind you, I am not a very big fan of masala peanuts)
Oh, yum! I’d love to taste these!
Paz
That’s a neat recipe. Nice pictorial.
This is a super cool recipe! I am going to have to do this soon, real soon!
The nuts in the paper bag looks wonderful. We used o deep fry this and is my father’s all time favorite. Need to try baking them.
I am going to die if I cannot find chickpea flour. These look fantastic. My Smell-O-Vision barometer is freaking and the dog is even on the scent.
It should be a sin to post such heavenly content.
Seriously, I’m about to Google a search for chickpea flour. I’ll pass on the scotch though; I need to be sober so I can enjoy my snack.
We just made a batch of these masala peanuts and they are fabuuuuuuulous! Thanks Jai
I also used to prepare it in the microwave oven and as you said it does not crisp evenly. The same thing is true for the finger chips (fryums) you get in Indian stores. I used to cook it in the microwave without frying in oil. Once I was baking something so I put the finger chips also in a cookie sheet and in 5 minutes it puffed up well evenly and was very crisp. I tried the same with some pasta and it burnt.
Awesome!!! Thank you!! I’m on a diabetic diet where I can eat more nuts and seeds than grains and this one makes a perfect snack.
CRUNCH…CRUNCHHHHHH…..
Just the thing for our wintery summery Melbourne day.Yah, I am also confused.Lovely photos.
Any leftovers??If yes,do pass it on to me,coz for a change i agree with you guys that a baked version is tastier than the fried version of Masala peanuts.
NO I haven’t made these in oven(i am yet to get one)but i love the roasted peanuts more than the fried ones,so i guess baked version will be more pleasing for me
And hey,voted for the Click,hope that the best will win this time too !
I love the fried version but unfortunately, now that I’m getting older, its not good for me.
You guys made my day with this one. Thanks.
Loved the drip drip snap!
great looking snack with so much flavor! scrumptious!
i used to use the “pain in the ass” ones from the Indian store and microwave it but found that method too tedious and the results were not uniform.let me try this.
I am going to try the trick with the first wet mixture and then dry one. That’s a neat trick. Also have to try in oven this time.
Wow this is pretty good and healthy too.
wow lovely recipe. dear hubby loves these a lot
Gosh, these must smell heavenly with the methi, very well illustrated. And thank goodness we can use the ‘pain-in-the ass’ Indian store peanuts :), I have a whole packet of it lying around!!!
My favorite snack! great idea of making these in the microwave.
We eat lot of peanuts besides the almonds,I love this baked snack:)
I was wondering what ajwain was until I looked it up — seems to be called carom around here. I really appreciate how they’re baked instead of fried.
So new to me. Can you pls send some by parcel? I cant wait to try it. Pls send me some. So drolling and crunchy. If you dont send me some, then I wont allow u to post ur new entry becos ur recipes made me to die for.
[...] Spicy Pumpkin Seeds ~ Jai-Jugalbandi (Host) [...]
Hey Bee, I made these over the weekend, AH-MAZING!!! Loved them!
Sadly, my plan of smuggling a lot upstairs failed … the in-laws liked them too and in the end I got advice not to much on them as that would increase my acidity, so i should leave them well alone……(Q@#R@$#^&*%*)
I could not believe how crunchy these turned out Bee! I had made a deep fried version many months back and it flopped big time. This is way better and healthier. I made a whole 2lb batch for my frnds to take home
Thank you soo much for the recipe.