Spice Crusted Crunchy-munchy Peanuts (Masala Peanuts)

This is a recipe where hot and spicy peanuts are fried with delicious mix of spices,which is totally impossible to resist. This makes a great snack or munch for sitting around watching TV or playing games with family and friends. If you are bored of eating regular peanuts, try this zesty recipe. It is also made during Indian festivals like Holi, Diwali etc. Serve this snack with some sweets to your friends when they visit you next Diwali or Holi and make them happy.
It is a great party food, too. Goes well with cocktail or any kind of drinks, or with a cup of hot tea. The most important part of this snack, you can make this ahead of time and store in an airtight jar for 3-4 weeks. You guests will wonder where do you get them from. You can get this snack also from Indian Grocery stores, but most of them are with a stinky smell of oil. Spend 15 minutes in your kitchen and result, a freshly made, healthy snack which will be loved by everyone, even good for kids. Store and munch whenever you feel like.
Most of us avoid Nuts for fear of weight gain. But friends, do you know, A prospective study published in the journal Obesity shows such fears are groundless. In fact, people who eat nuts at least twice a week are much less likely to gain weight than those who almost never eat nuts. So munch your peanuts without any fear at least twice a week. Hurray!! now I'll munch even more than before..I love peanuts!!!!!
And there are some obvious reasons, not to avoid them at all

• Nuts lowers the risk of weight gain.
• Help prevent gallstones
• Peanuts contains a higher concentration of Anti-oxidants
• Peanut is a good source of Monounsaturated fats, which is good for the health of your heart, helps lower blood cholesterol.

Ingredients : ( I combined two recipes I knew and it came out real good)
Raw peanuts/groundnuts : 1 and 1/2 cup
Besan/chick pea flour : about 1/2 cup
Rice flour : 1/4 cup
Turmeric  powder : 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder : 1-2 tsp.(adjust to taste)
Coriander Powder : 1 tsp.
Amchur/mango powder/Chaat masala : 2 tsp. (it will give a tangy taste)
Cumin seeds & Fennel/Ani seed : 1 tsp. each (crush a little with a rolling pin)
BakingSoda : a pinch
Salt to taste (about 1 tsp.)
Water : about 3/4 cup or as needed
Oil to deep fry

Method :

• In a frying pan, dry roast peanuts for 3-4 minutes in medium heat, remove and let them cool for few minutes.
• Prepare the spice mix. After peanuts cool a little, take them in a big bowl along with all the ingredients except oil and water. 
• This step is very crucial, do not hurry, do it with a steady hand. Mix them together, them drop water 1 spoon at a time and mix. You should add that much water, so that spices and flour just coat peanuts evenly. It should not be crumbly either. Just a smooth spice paste coated evenly with peanuts. ( See the image below)

•  Heat oil in the same frying pan, the oil should be at least 1 inch high. To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in the oil. The batter should raise to the top but not change color right away. 

• Take a handful of peanuts mix, try to seperate each peanut while droping, by moving your finger through the mix. Wait for a minute. Try to seperate further if there are some lumps. Fry in medium heat, stir occasionally until they turn brown in colour. Fry for at least 5-6 minutes in medium flame for crispier peanuts.
  
• When done, take them out with a slotted spoon and place on a kitchen tissue to absorb extra oil. After cooling to room temperature, peanuts should be more crispy.
• Finally, store to an airtight jar for further use, can store for at least 2-3 weeks or more.
  

This Crunchy-munchy snack is going to take part on this event "Sunday Snack : Festive snacks of Navratri and Diwali" hosted by me this time, deadline is 29th of this month, send me your entries if you wish to participate.
This event is a brainchild of Hima of SnackORama and now organised by Pallavi of All Thinz Yummy. Visit here for future schedule of the event and if you wish to host in future, as Pallavi is engaged with her newborn twins.