Diwali Special: South Indian Mixture

Its back again this year - Yay!! Diwali is here! Its festive season and that wonderful warm feeling is back. And the calories too - but we'll take it all in happily. Right?

I'm hoping to have a post every day until Diwali and blog about all the snacks and sweets made at our place. Here are some of the sweets that were done last year.

Badusha
Jangiri
Coconut, Chocolate and Nuts Burfi
Mysore Pak
Bhoondi Ladoo

This year, I'm still writing down my list and planning on what to make - so I don't know yet. But as soon as I do know and I make it, you'll know it as well!

Starting off this Diwali season with a traditional South Indian style mixture. A mixture of kara bhoondi, sev and nuts. This is TH's favorite of all and so this is a must do at our place! He does not get into the festive mood unless he's downed a few cups of these!!

So with no further ado..here it is.

You will need -

Besan (kadala maavu) - 3 cups (This makes a lot - if you are making for only a couple of people, cut it down to 2 cups)
Rice flour - 3/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Red Chilli powder - to taste
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Cashews - 1/2 cup
Peanuts - 1 cup
Curry leaves - 1 cup
Ghee - about 1-2 tbsp

Sieve the Besan and Rice flour together into a bowl. Add the baking soda to this. Mix well.

Add salt and red chilli powder to taste. Some people add it later on top of the done mixture and then mix it up. But, I like it this way and don't add any salt later.

Then, add about 1 heaped tbsp of ghee to the flour.

Adding water a little at a time, make a thin batter.

It should be thin but not runny. Here's a tip - while frying, if you get elongated bhoondis, that means the batter is too watery. If it does not even fall freely, its too thick.

Before we start frying the bhoondis, let's fry the accessories!

Fry the cashews to a golden brown.

Fry the peanuts also to a golden brown. I use shelled peanuts. If you have the ones with the skin on, you can either fry them or roast them to a crisp.

Then fry the curry leaves too. Make sure you wash them and pat them completely dry before you fry - you don't want a eruption of the oil with the water droplets. These do crisp in a few seconds. Take them out quick.

You will need a bhoondi ladle like this one below.

Just place it over the oil and pour a few ladles of the batter on top. Using the ladle, just gently tap it on the bhoondi ladle. This helps in the batter falling down in perfect form. Thank to my little girl for taking this picture!

Fry for about half a minute until they turn a golden color. Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel for the oil to drain out. Then move to a big mixing bowl.

For the next addition to the mixture, here's some sev.

I made two different sizes of sev. The batter is the exact same as above but instead of a thin batter, make this into a thick dough consistency. Then, using a murukku maker and the medium holed disc, make this thick sev.

Once the sev has cooled down a little, just break it apart into small pieces.

Then make some thin sev. The ingredients are same as above. But, make a dough out of the flour and then pass through a murukku maker with the disc with the smallest holes. Once again, make it, break it and add it to the bhoondi mix.

When all is done - move it all to a big newspaper or a plate (if you have that size) and then using fingertips, gently mix them well.  Here's my mountain of mixture!

Store in an air tight container and you can keep this for at least a couple of weeks - I mean if its not all eaten up by then!

Happy Diwali season to you...more wishes coming everyday of the week!

Enjoy. Peace Out!