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Masala Peanuts/ Masala Kadalai/ Fried spicy peanuts

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Masala Kadalai-4Perfect tea time snack! Peanuts coated in spicy marination with garlic and deep fried.

My dad used to buy me spicy peanuts from Indian snack stores like ananda bhavan, saravana bhavan or other snack shops when I was a kid. Actually not only when I was a kid, still when I go to India, he gets me this. He likes all kind of nuts like peanuts, cashews, pistachios. I don’t like them raw. I just have them because its healthy. 😉 However if you fry with some spices like this, I am always ready to finish it.

I went to visit my sister last month. I wanted to make some snacks and sweets to her before going. So, made some ribbon pakoda, coconut barfi and this. 🙂 I feel good when I make something special for someone I like 🙂

Evening when you need some tea or coffee, of course it would be great with some cookies, a slice of cake or some spicy snacks. This is perfect for that!

My other favourite snack recipes: Almond butter murukku, Spicy curry leaves seedai, Mushroom cutlet, Onion chilli bajji pakoda.

Some use red colouring. However, I find it not healthy. So, I did not use. You can use it if you want bright colours.

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Masala Peanuts/ Masala Kadalai/ Fried spicy peanuts
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Peanuts – 3 cups ( Raw)
  • Rice Flour – 5 tbsp
  • Gram Flour – ¾ cup
  • Kashmiri red Chilli Powder – 1.5 tbspn (For spice and color)
  • Amchur/ Mango powder - 1 tsp
  • Baking Soda – ¾ tsp
  • Garlic (with skin) – 10 cloves
  • Fennel Seeds / Sombu – 1 tsp
  • Asafoetida / Hing – ½ tsp
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil to deep fry
Instructions
  1. Roast the peanuts in medium flame for 5 mins. If you are using roasted peanuts, you don't have to do this step.
  2. In a mixing bowl, add everything except peanuts. Mix well. Add the roasted peanuts and combine it well.
  3. Now add water little by little. Actually sprinkle and make it soft dough. It should not be liquid form.
  4. Heat kadai with enough oil to fry.
  5. Take some dough in your hands and slowly drop the dough in small batches.
  6. Dry fry the pakodas till they are golden brown. Drain it by placing in a kitchen tissue.
  7. Store it in an airtight container and can have it for 7-10 days.
Notes
Adding a tsp of hot oil to the mixture makes it crispy.
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Spicy sweet kiwi lamb walnut puffs

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A bite size crusty buttery pastry filled with spicy lamb masala and kiwi. Delish! The idea of Savory puffs and hot chai combination is irresistible. Try it! Spicy, crispy, sweet with ginger and garlic flavor.

I have never tried the combo of lamb and kiwis. However I have read that kiwis can tenderize meats and that make a great combo. So, I tried it J and distributed at my work place 🙂 they loved it. Kiwi complemented lamb perfectly! I was wondering which recipe to try when I received the lovely package from sungold zespri kiwi,had lot of gifts like tidbit plates from katespade, special mentions about kiwi benefits. Did you know that “Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit also contains Vitamin C, E, potassium and fibre “! ?:) I am using the kiwis sponsored by them. They also gave a spoon 😉 ofcourse! Right? We all use the “Cut & scoop” method. J I always love to scoop my kiwis rather than chopping them 😀 try it! I used the kiwis after three weeks of receiving them J they still stayed fresh. IF you would like to buy them, Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit can be found at your local supermarket from May to October, so keep your eyes out!
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I love Savory puffs. Here in Canada, I don’t find much of savory puffs, but in India 🙂 we have vegetarian puffs, paneer puffs, samosas, chicken puffs, lamb puffs, egg p:)ffs J Drooling!!!! I made chickpeas corn capsicum puff and it tasted out yum! Whenever there are some parties or dinner gatherings, these are perfect!  I have done the pastry dough myself before and it is easy too except that it is time consuming. The idea of Savory puffs and hot chai combination is irresistible.  Perfect as appetizers and you can have more  Try it!
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You can freeze the lamb mixture before making a patty or freeze the patty in ziplock bag. You can thaw the patty or lamb mixtures when needed and shallow fry them. Try not refreezing after thawed. If you think you have a big batch stored, try to store them in small batches.
My Other Favorite snacks/appetizers: Jalepeno Herbs cheese muffins, Indian spiced kale chips, Potato Garlic Tikka,lamb shami kebabs.

4.7 from 3 reviews
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Spicy sweet kiwi lamb walnut puffs
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
  • Sungold kiwi – 2, chopped
  • Readymade pastry – 2 sheets
  • Minced Lamb – 200gms
  • Walnut – 4, crushed
  • Ginger – 1 tbsp, freshly grated
  • Garlic – 3 cloves, minced
  • Chilli powder - ½ tsp
  • Sriracha – 1 tsp
  • Coriander powder - 1 tsp
  • Cumin powder - 1 tsp
  • Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp
  • Sodium soy sauce – 2 tbsp
  • Red chilli Flakes – 1 tsp
  • Cheese blend mix– 2 tbsp
  • salt - as per taste
  • oil - 1-2 tsp
  • butter - 1- 2 tsp ( to brush- optional)
  • Egg yolk - 1, small ( to brush- optional)
  • Parsley leaves - 1 tbsp, chopped finely
  • Sesame seeds – to garnish
Instructions
  1. Heat a pan with 1 tsp of oil in medium heat; add red chilli flakes, garlic, ginger and sauté for a minute. Add the minced lamb with little salt, chilli powder, coriander powder,cumin powder and sauté for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the soy sauce, and sriracha sauce. Keep the heat to low, close the lid and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Stir it once in a while. Switch off, squeeze some limejuice, garnish with parsley leaves, mix well and keep aside.
  3. Pre heat the oven to 220 Deg C.
  4. Allow the pastry sheet to soften slightly, then unwrap, cut into desired sizes. I cut them to round sizes.
  5. Spoon the Lamb mix, spoon some kiwi, walnuts and top with cheese.
  6. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and grease it with oil and arrange the puffs. Brush the puffs with oil/butter/beaten egg. Sprinkle some sesame seeds.
  7. Bake for 15-20 mins, until golden brown in colour.
  8. Brush again with oil or butter if desired.
Notes
You can also blend this lamb after sautéing.
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Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by the Zespri Kiwi fruit and I have been compensated monetarily! However all opinions are my own as always.

Chickpeas Corn Capsicum Puff

by 11 Comments

chickpeascorncapsicumpuff-14A handy pastry filled with a perfectly crusty, buttery and flaky crust filled with classic Indian flavoured chickpeas, corn and capsicum masala. Delish!

These spicy vegetable pastries make a great vegetarian alternative to sausage rolls or chicken puffs. They are packed with healthy vegetables and chickpeas!

They are the quintessential Indian tea-time snack .Whenever you think of Indian snacks and the first thing that pops up is Samosa. After coming here, I understood that it has got a big name in the foreign world. Many of my colleagues have told me that they love samosas so I made some of my Christmas potluck  at work sometime back. So, this time I wanted to make another classic Indian Puffs this time for valentines potluck at work. But for potluck, I wanted to make more, so thought of making these beauties using the advantage of easy availability of samosa pastry these days. You can just use the puffs with classic potato peas carrot veggies filling. But I am using chickpeas, corn and capsicum filling. You can ditch this and use chicken  filling, egg masala or potato cheese filling and so on. I took mine to work 🙂 and it was a big hit 🙂 I was super happy!

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Whenever there are some parties or dinner gatherings, these are perfect! I was so scared to make them, not because it is hard to make  It is for the reason that the first batch would be finished before the second batch even gets baked. I should accept the fact that they are super easy to make except that in my area it was hard to find readymade pastry and if the pastry dough is store bought, it’s quick. I have done the pastry dough myself before and it is easy too except that it s life consuming


The idea of Savory puffs and hot chai combination is irresistible.  Perfect as appetizers and you can have more  It is easy to prepare savory’s at home and it is hard to get some here in Canada. I could always get great sweet pastries but savory ones are hard.

My Other Favorite snacks/appetizers: Jalepeno Herbs cheese muffins, Indian spiced kale chips, Potato Garlic Tikka.

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Chickpeas Corn Capsicum Puff
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 9
 
Ingredients
  • Readymade pastry
  • Corn(Cleaned & Boiled) - 1 cup
  • Chickpeas(Cleaned & Boiled) - 1 cup
  • Capsicum/bell pepper - ½ cup
  • Garam masala - ½ tsp
  • Chilli powder - ½ tbsp
  • Coriander powder - 1 tsp
  • Cumin powder - 1 tsp
  • Ginger - 1 inch, chopped finely
  • Garlic - 3, chopped finely
  • Onion - 1, small, chopped finely
  • Green Chilli- 2, chopped finely
  • salt - as per taste
  • oil - 1-2 tsp
  • butter - 1- 2 tsp ( to brush- optional)
  • Egg yolk - 1, small ( to brush- optional)
  • Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, chopped finely
  • Dry Methi/Fenugreek Leaves - 1 tsp
Instructions
  1. Heat a pan with a tsp of oil and add onions, garlic, ginger and fry for 1-2 minutes.

  2. Add the chopped capsicum and saute for a minute

  3. Add the boiled corn, chickpeas and add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder.

  4. Mix well and saute in low flame till all the masala blends well with with the corn and capsicum masala. Lastly add the salt, coriander leaves, methi leaves, mix well and cool down.
  5. Pre heat the oven to 220 Deg C.

  6. Allow the pastry sheet to soften slightly, then unwrap , cut into desired sizes. I cut them to rectangular sizes.

  7. Spoon the vegetable mix along one of the sides of the pastry, fold and cover the stuffing.
  8. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and grease it with oil and arrange the puffs. Brush the puffs with oil/butter/beaten egg. sprinkle some sesame seeds.

  9. Bake for 15-20 mins, until golden brown in colour.
  10. Brush again with oil or butter if desired.
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Milagu Vadai/ Pepper fritters

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Crispy  and spicy crackers made with peppercorns and urad dal.

I made this again this week 🙂 the very first version I made before two years 😀 I totally had this guilt that it was not perfect so tried again and it came out crispy perfect. I found the reason for it, I soaked for an hour which did not make it crispy I believe and this time I soaked for just 15 minutes.

Today is Krishna Jayanthi 🙂 Happy Birthday, Lord Krishna. For people who do not know what is Krishna Jayanthi, it’s an annual celebration of the birth of the Hindu deity Krishna. Images of Krishna’s infancy are placed in swings and cradles in temples and homes. His devotees celebrate his birthday by today sweets and savory by his name. This pepper vadai/ milagu vadai is usually done for another god “Hanuman”. But it’s a good savory to do for all gods. These vadai’s are usually connected through a thread and garlanded to the Lord. The below picture was my older version. I totally felt it was not that crispy so made it again 🙂 This time it was crispy crispy perfect!

Milagu_vadai_Relishthebite

This is the first time for me to make these. And I guess it turned out good. They used to give this in temple. And I always loved them. But never felt like trying them at home. But today is the day for me to try this. Soak the urad dal only for one hour. It will not have that texture otherwise. I soaked more than that this time 😉 so make sure.

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Milagu Vadai/ Pepper Vadai
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • Urad dal - 1 cup
  • Rice flour – 1 tbsp
  • Pepper corns – 2 tsp (grounded)
  • Ajwain - ½ tsp
  • salt – ½ tbsp
  • Oil – To fry
Instructions
  1. Wash and soak the urad dal for 15 minutes and not more than that.Drain it nicely. If there is water, it can spoil the whole procedure. Grind it in the blender without adding water. The mixture should be little coarse not a paste.
  2. Ground the pepper again roughly. Just a single pulse would do.
  3. Take a bowl, mix the ground urad dal, hing, rice flour,ajwain and broken pepper.
  4. Heat oil in a kadai/pan, add one tbsp of oil to the vadai mixture.
  5. Take a banana leaf/Ziploc cover grease with oil. Grease your hands with oil to tap them thinly using hand or flat shaped cup. Take small lemon sized balls and pat it to make it a circle and thin vadai. Flatten it as thin as you can.Mark a hole in the center.




  7. Remove the vadai from the banana leaf and put them in the hot oil.
  8. Cook the vadai on both sides and till its crispier brown color on both sides.
Notes
1. Try to use whole urad dal. As it gives a nice texture. If not, use the broken ones.
2. When you drain the mixture, drain them completely. If there is water, the vadai’s wont be formed perfectly.
3. If the vadai batter is sticky and with more water, add more rice flour. Continue doing still it is in the perfect consistency.
4. Adding 1 tbsp hot oil to the batter will make the vadai crispier.
5. If you want crispier vadai, after frying them, try to refry them again. It will give nice colour and more crispiness. But mine was fine with the first time.
6. If you don’t have banana leaf, use Ziploc or polythene cover.
7. Marking a hole in the center will cook the vadai faster.
8. Ensure that vadais are patted thin, or else it’s going to be hard.
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