Baked masala peanuts

It's been years since I first saw this recipe on Bee & Jai's amazing food blog, Jugalbandi, and every so often since then I've thought to myself "I really should try making those peanuts" but never got around to it.


Finally, last week I broke through the "must make it" barrier to burst triumphantly into the "WILL make it today" arena... only to find that I was out of raw peanuts. Cue frantic trips to Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons on a desperate hunt for peanuts - whole, skinned, broken, unskinned, whatever I could get - but all I found were monkey nuts or the ready-to-eat salted/roasted kind.


You can have no idea just how thwarted I felt, because I'm certain that most of you wonderful people are the kind that don't thwart easily (especially if you live close to any ethnic food-stores). But me, I had to go back home empty-handed and log on to an Internet site that sells all manner of ethnic goodies... and peanuts. Raw, whole, broken, unskinned, pink, red, jumbo - pretty much every kind of peanut I could think of.


Reader, I bought them.


For my first batch of these addictively good masala peanuts, I changed the quantity of the spices used, not the spices themselves, and added fresh curry leaves. But the procedure was otherwise exactly as set out by Bee and Jai. (I made another batch for Pete with no chilli powder at all, and he scarfed the peanuts down like they'd been made for him. Oh. Wait...)


A note of warning - I used an enamelled metal tray to bake these peanuts, and I must say that it took some serious elbow grease to get it cleaned of the rock-hard baked-on chickpea flour mixture. Did I mind the effort? Not in the least - all I had to do was think of the container of uber crunchy spicy peanuts, and the hard work was totally worth it. Just - whatever you do, don't use a non-stick tray. You have been warned.


Recipe for: Baked masala peanuts



Ingredients:
1.5 cups raw peanuts (skinned or unskinned)
1.5 cups chickpea flour (kadala maavu/besan)
2 htsp red chilli powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp ground ajwain (bishop’s weed)

1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
1.5 tbsp rice flour
Handful of fresh curry leaves, roughly torn up
Salt to taste
Water as required


Method:
1. Mix together the chickpea flour, red chilli powder, ground ajwain, fenugreek leaves, curry leaves, rice flour and salt to taste.

2. Take half the spiced flour in a bowl and carefully add just enough water

to make a thick paste that drips slowly off a spoon.

3. Add the peanuts to this and mix well.

4. Now add the remaining spiced flour and mix it gently. Be warned, this is an exasperatingly sticky job.

5. Spread the peanuts onto a metal baking tray. (See warning above of exasperating stickiness. Persevere.)

6. Bake at 180C/350F for 15 minutes, then stir the peanuts around, using a metal spatula to scrape and loosen the worst bits.

7. Bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the peanuts turn a darker colour in spots. They will crisp up as they cool down.

Stir them around once or twice as they cool.

Store in an airtight container.


RECIPE: BAKED MASALA PEANUTS
Ingredients:
1.5 cups raw peanuts (skinned or unskinned)
1.5 cups chickpea flour (kadala mavu/besan)
2 htsp red chilli powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp ground ajwain (bishop’s weed)
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
1.5 tbsp rice flour
Handful of fresh curry leaves, roughly torn up
Salt to taste
Water as required
Method:
1. Mix together the chickpea flour, red chilli powder, ground ajwain, fenugreek leaves, curry leaves, rice flour and salt to taste.
2. Take half the spiced flour in a bowl and add enough water to make a thick paste that drips slowly off a spoon.
3. Add the peanuts to this and mix well.
4. Now add the remaining spiced flour and mix it gently. Be warned, this is an exasperatingly sticky job.
5. Spread the peanuts onto a metal baking tray. (See warning above of exasperating stickiness. Persevere.)
6. Bake at 180C/350F for 15 minutes, then stir the peanuts around, using a metal spatula to scrape and loosen the worst bits.
7. Bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the peanuts turn a darker colour in spots. They will crisp up as they cool down. Stir them around once or twice as they cool. Store in an airtight container.