Tuesday, December 16, 2008

South Indian mixture with a healthy twist.

Mixture is a term commonly used in south Indian cuisine with reference to a mixture made out of a variety of deep fried fritters made of chick pea flour in various shapes. These deep fried fritters are mixed together with fried peanuts, raisins and flavored with salt and spices to make the most delicious and crunchy snack. In the past I had adapted chivda  (a snack from Maharashtra) and given it my own spin with the use of rice krispies. Similarly I have been trying to duplicate the taste of the south Indian mixture using more healthy ingredients and without the frying of course :-) 

I tried it with a variety of ingredients and this has been the closest I have come to the taste of the original mixture. The major difference between my past attempts and this one was that this time both the cereals I used were not very sweet making it easier to blend with this taste, additionally I crushed the cereal slightly which helped a great deal too.The other thing I have noticed is that dry roasting the red chillies and curry leaves and grinding it makes a huge difference to the taste, using red chilli powder does not have the same impact. So if you plan to try this, do try not to skip this one step, trust me it makes a lot of difference to the final taste.So what are you waiting for, go ahead and give this one a try and enjoy it with a nice hot cuppa tea :-)




Ingredients and Method to make the Healthy south Indian mixture
1 cup golden flax cereal (uncrushed) loosely packed ( I got this at Trader Joe)
3 cups organic corn flakes (uncrushed) loosely packed( I got this at Trader Joe)
3/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup roasted chick peas (pottu kadalai/dalia)
1/2 cup raisin
2 tbsp corn oil (or any other oil)

3 red chillies
6 curry leaves
1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing)
salt to taste

Dry roast red chillies and curry leaves for a few minutes until the chillies start turning darker and the curry leaves look a little dried out. Keep aside to cool.

In a large bowl add the flax cereal and roughly crush it up into smaller pieces. I used the bottom part of a small bowl and used that to press the flax cereal until it broke into little bits.

Keep the flax cereal aside and in the same bowl repeat the process with the corn flakes. Mix together the corn flakes and flax cereal.

Grind the red chillies and the curry leaves in a spice grinder. Add to this, salt and asafoetida and give it a another spin in the spice grinder. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add peanuts, roasted chick peas and raisins to this and saute for a few seconds.

Add the cereal mixture and the ground spice mixture and mix well.

Cool thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

Notes
In case you want you can use any other plain unflavored cereal which is not sweet in place of the cereal I have used.

Additionally you can add some dry roasted cashew nuts too along with peanuts


38 comments :

Srikitchen said...

very good twist to the classical recipe!

anudivya said...

Hey Usha, I make a different kind without the flakes, I need to try out your method sometime, when I have all the stuff on hand.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

oh very healthy snacks.. i also make it with all sorts of cereals :) looks yummy.

Gita Jaishankar said...

A very healthy mixture than the regular fried one, great idea :)

Unknown said...

Lovely one Usha. Thanks for sharing a nice recipe.

Deepthi Shankar said...

that looks soo yummy ..

Varsha Vipins said...

Great Usha..homemade mixture..sounds great and looks as good as shop bought..:)

Ramya's Mane Adige said...

Looks delicious!!!

Unknown said...

good one..can be easily made compared to the classic version and is healthy too..

Sharmila said...

Great idea Usha! thanks for sharing ... nice tips too. :-)

Sunshinemom said...

The flax cereal is a good twist, Usha! I love this kind of mixture!

CurryLeaf said...

I too have heard about cereal mixture.But never ever tried by myself.Looks great

Cham said...

Sound like more western style mixed with Eastern taste! That is a nice twist!

Unknown said...

wow nice choice for tea time

Anonymous said...

Hi Usha,

How do you manage to give a healthy twist to all your snacks? I love that :)

Adlak's tiny world said...

nice idea usha. home made mixture.. looks crsp and tasty...

Adlak's tiny world said...

nice idea usha. home made mixture.. looks crsp and tasty...

Unknown said...

looks perfect & delicious... nice entry..

VG said...

I could eat the whole container!

Uj said...

That seems to be a good idea :) a healthy option compared to our regular chuda :)

Laavanya said...

I'm not such a big fan of mixture usually but with those crispy flakes and this low fat method, i might just convert into one... :)

Finla said...

I love this snack, wish a had a huge bowl right now.

AnuSriram said...

Thats a lovely recipe usha!

Priya Suresh said...

Great healthy snacks Usha...yea lovely twist..

Anonymous said...

Can I please have some of that with my tea? :-) very good recipe.

Shama Nagarajan said...

am a crazy fan of this recipe....thanks for sharing

Maria said...

I am always in the mood for a healthy twist!

Chandani said...

I make cereal chivda all the time!! flax cereal from TJ is such a healthy option...will give that a try soon....

Red Chillies said...

Very nice recipe. I am thinking I will make this during next week holidays.

raaji said...

Usha its really one of a kind healthy snack....I sure must checkout cereals at traders joe....thanks usha a lot for rescuing me with this and ur tip......

Vikis Kitchen said...

wow ! a south Indian mixture from cereals. Great ya. Seems healthier than the original mixture. Yummy recipe.

Jaishree Iyer said...

Looks delicious!!!I too prepare it in the same way Usha.Yummy recipe.

Alexa said...

It is always so nice to vary the snacks we nibble on. This one is very unusual... something my husband would love. Nice recipe Usha!

Anonymous said...

This is such a great idea! Thanks for posting this.

Beyond Curries said...

I also prepare it using puffed wheat though. Should try the flakes one of these days.

Rajee said...

First time here too for both of us. Let us celebrate New year. Happy New year 2009!

Rajee said...

Your south indian mixture is really wonderful and fanatastic, Can I have some for New year?

R said...

Planning to make some mixture - should definitely try this! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

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