Sustainable snack 1 - Chiwda

 Ok I am super tired of the usual snack options, and dad turns to Murukku, Chegodi, Jantikalu, Biscuits every evening. I know we got Khakhras and Makhanas, but hey, let's put some more thought into it. 

Ok I am writing this post just 20 mins before going to sleep and I am already very sleepy, so this is gonna be a free style writing and stop trying to analyze my psyche when I am sleepy.

Ok these are my principles of tea time snacks(Called as snakes from here on, as my ex flatmate used to call to my astonishment. Snakes. OMG LOL 😂 )

1. They need to be crunchy. Like Crunch MAXX.
2. They need to be healthy. Like Duuhh! 
3. They need to satiating for tummy - My idea is that by replacing white poha with red poha, we see an increase in the crunchiness, and by keeping whole almonds in the snack, the bite will be filling and in a sense, satisfying.
4. They need to hit the bliss point. 
1. The bliss point for salt, sugar, or fat is a range within which perception is that there is neither too much nor too little, but the "just right" amount of saltiness, sweetness, or richness

Enter - Sustainable Chiwda. Lil' sus huh?!

Not your average chiwda. I mean at least I would like to think that. 

1. Crunch : Choose Red Poha 😁
2. Health : Choose good nuts. Almonds are the best 🫡
3. Satiating : I assure you this would be a natural by product 😝
4. Bliss point : We are going to include multiple elements for a holistic gustatory experience. Spice, sweetness, Saltiness, Umami, Good fats.
1. Spice - Green chillis, Red Chilli powder
2. Sweetness - Caramelized onions. You can go with raisins if you like.
3. Umami - Garlic
4. Fats - I just use a bit of Gir Cow Ghee
5. Salt - I go with pink salt. Because why not? 

Ok go and grab all the kadai.s you got at home. Mom's gonna be angry at the ruckus you are going to create in kitchen. HueHueHuee..

Quantities I used:

• Red Poha - 800gm
• Almonds - 400 gm
• Cashew - Split - 200gm - You can choose to omit this. 
• Green Chilli - 6
• Onions - 3 medium sized
• Garlic - 8-10 cloves - medium sized
• Sugar, as necessary - Finely ground
• Salt, as necessary - Finely ground
• RedChilli powder, as necessary
• Ghee - 3 tbsp
• Olive Oil - No need of extra virgin olive oil - 3 tbsp

Spice Mix 1: Sugar-Salt-Red_Chilli Powder mix:

Finely grind salt and sugar separately and then add Red chilli powder to it. So the fun part about finely grinding sugar and salt is that, they really make their way into the nuts and poha. Trust me you won't be disappointed.

Take salt, sugar, Red Chilli powder in the ratio 1:2.5:3.5. 

Condiment Mix 1: Green Chillis

Take upto 6 Green chillis, finely cut them, take 1.5 tbsp of Olive oil, Deep fry the chillies until they are no longer raw-green. Separate the finely sautéed chillies and if there is any remaining oil, keep it aside.

Condiment Mix 2: Garlic

Take upto 8 garlic cloves, finely cut them, take 0.5 tbsp of Olive oil, Deep fry until they are no longer raw. They will turn golden-ish and crnchy-ish. Do this on low flame though as we don't want olive oil to at higher temps.

Condiment Mix 3: Caramelized onions

Finely sliced onions(They look like noodles 😜), like 3 of them. Take 1.5 tbsp of oil, deep fry the onion at preferably high flame. Stir them often so they all turn golden. Make a bit of space in the middle and drop 1 tbsp of sugar, let it melt, and them mix the golden brown onion with the melted sugar.

Look at the above image. And don't burn onions like I did 😝 Fry them until they are all consistently deep-deep-brown. 

Nut Mix : Be it almonds or cashews or pumpkin seeds, whatever you choose

Idea is to roast the nuts until they lose the moisture in them. Now you can do this in Air-fryer, or simply in a kadai. If your nuts are popping, it usually is a good sign but make sure the temperature is not more than Medium flame. Take your time with this as slow roast is a good roast :)

Once you feel like they are sufficiently roasted, add 1 tsp of Ghee, let all the seeds/nuts be covered in it. Add the Spice Mix 1 based on your preference. Toss it around for about 2 mins and turn off the heat.

Never roast nuts of different kind together while you roast them. Also, keep the nuts whole, so that the biting into them increases satiety.

Also, eating nuts and seeds after soaking them in water is always better than roasting, but hey, this is a snack page. We aren't aiming for perfection, we are aiming for something better than Chegodi.

Chiwda Base - Red Poha:

Remember the chilli flavoured left over oil from Condiment Mix 1: Green Chillis ? 

Yeah use the same in the kadai, add all the Red poha, add 2 tsp of ghee, slow roast them, keep tossing the poha very regularly. 

You will know it is done when tossing poha sounds similar to sand paper rubbing against a surface. Don't puff them up - That would lessen the chewability of poha🫡

Add a teeny bit of finely powdered salt. (Teeny. No more than 1/2 tsp of powdered pink salt.)

Yeah you done. Mix them all. 👍

You really don't need to eat much. This much is MOOORE than enough for a tea time snack. 

And please don't forget to keep this in an airtight container or your work will have to be revised.

Yep, I made dad eat it, and he approves 👍. I am seeing mom and dad competing for their respective share 🤣🤣 Dad said keep the garlics separate, and I did. He likes it without Garlic.