Namkeen Poha/ Aval Chiwda

Cover Story:Namkeen Poha/ Aval Chiwda 

Festival welcomes all your friends at home with gifts and sweets. So what you need to serve them is a quick time snack which is fresh, crisp, crunchy, sweet, savoury and mildly spiced mixture made with rice flakes or poha, dry fruits and spices with tea or soft drinks.
Cuisine: Maharashtrian
Ingredients

• 8 1 cup red or white poha/aval/flattened rice
• 8 1/2 cup peanuts
• 8 1/2 cup roasted chana
• 8 1/2 cup cashews/ kaju
• 8 1/4 cup chopped dry coconut slices (optional)
• 8 2 tbsp golden raisins
• 8 10-12 curry leaves/ kadi patta
• 8 1/4 tsp mustard seeds/ rai
• 8 1/2 tsp cumin seeds/ jeera
• 8 1 tsp white sesame seeds/ safed til
• 8 1/4 tsp red chili powder/ lal mirch powder
• 8 1/4 tsp turmeric powder/haldi
• 8 A generous pinch of asafoetida/ hing
• 8 1 tsp sugar or as required
• 8 1 tsp oil for tempering
• 8 Salt as required
• 8 Oil for deep frying

Method

• First rinse the curry leaves, cashews and raisins.
• Dry them in a clean kitchen towel.
• Measure all the ingredients and keep them separately in a plate or bowl.
• Heat oil for deep frying in a kadhai or wok.
• Take a fine sieve with a handle.
• Place half of the poha or rice flakes in it.
• Immerse the sieve with the poha in the medium hot oil.
• Fry till they expand and become crisp. Don't brown them.
• Remove the fried poha on a plate lined with paper towel.
• Place the sieve on a dry plate. Add the remaining poha in it.
• Again keep the sieve with the poha in the hot oil and fry till they are crisp.
• Drain them in the same plate.
• Add the chana dal in the sieve and fry them for some seconds till they become crisp. Drain on another plate.
• In the same way fry the peanuts, cashewnuts, raisins, coconut slices and curry leaves.
• Keep all of them separately in a same plate or in separate plates or bowls, lined with paper towels.
• Heat 1 tsp in another pan. Add the mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds pop.
• Then add the cumin and sesame seeds. Let the sesame seeds pop and change color.
• Switch off the flame. Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, asafoetida. Stir and now add sugar and salt.
• Stir and switch on the flame and add all the fried ingredients – poha, peanuts, raisins, cashews and chana dal.
• Crush the fried and crisp curry leaves and add them to the mixture.
• Stir well and roast for 2-3 minutes on a low flame.
• Check the taste and then add more salt or sugar or red chili powder if required.
• Let the chivda mixture cool and then store in an air-tight box and container.

Serve the poha chivda as a tea time snack.