Friday, December 23, 2016

Masala / Spicy Chex Mix


The holiday season is here and I am getting tired of eating sweet things wherever I go. One of my associates brought a pack of chex mix, nuts for all the staff to much on. I tried that and was not impressed as it lacked any flavor or taste. I searched Google and found recipes for chex mix. Many of them called for Worcestershire sauce which had anchovies in them. Suddenly, it occurred to me why not make a desi version of chex mix. After all, we all grew up eating mixture, chivda etc and tried this masala chex mix. There is no actual recipe or measurements. The original recipe for chex mix calls for rice, corn and wheat chex. When I went shopping, I completely forgot to buy wheat chex.

Other things to add include, cheezits, cheerios, bugles etc.

Let us get to the mix now.

Get Ready:

  • 3 cups of rice chex
  • 3 cups of corn chex
  • 2 cups of pretzel sticks ( may use mini pretzel twists)
  • 1 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts ( can use almonds, mixed nuts, pottukadalai/ dalia dal)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 tsp oil
  • Handful of curry leaves
  • Chili powder
  • Idli molagapodi
  • 1/4 tsp hing/ asafetida
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp sugar





Go:

  • Take a big mixing bowl and add all the chex, pretzels, nuts
  • In a pan, melt the butter, add the curry leaves
  • Turn the heat off and add the spice powders except sugar
  • Pour the butter mixture, sugar on the chex mix and toss well till all the butter and spices are well coated.
  • Preheat over to 350 F
  • In a baking dish add the chex mix and bake for 10-15 mins.



Friday, December 9, 2016

Corn & Cheese Balls



These corn and cheese balls are very easy to make and will be absolutely loved by your kids. I made them less spicy and one can add more vegetables as per your taste. They are perfect for school lunch boxes or after school snack. of course, they taste much better when freshly deep fried. Serve them with ketchup or sweet and chili sauce.

You can get your kids involved in making them. My 7 yr old helped me make the initial balls, plop them into the all purpose flour/ maida paste. It was so much fun making with her and she ate the finished product so proudly that she made it.

Get ready ( makes 10 -12 balls of ping pong ball size)


  • 1 medium sized potato boiled, peeled and mashed
  • 1/2 cup of frozen corn
  • 1/2 cup Grated colby and montery jack cheese ( this is what I had at home)
  • 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
  • 1 tsp besan
  • 1tsp rice flour besan and rice flour can be substituted with corn flour, I did not have corn flour)
  • salt to taste
  • chopped cilantro
  • Oil for deep frying


To make the paste:


  • 2 tbsp maida/ all purpose flour
  • water
  • Bread crumbs , no measurement for this
Go

Take half of the corn and pulse it in a blender.
In a bowl add the mashed potato, whole corn and pulsed corn, cilantro, cheese, salt, pepper etc and combine everything.
Make small balls as per your liking, rubbing some oil between your palms.
Set aside.
In a bowl add the all purpose flour, add water little by little and mix to form a thick paste. Set aside
Take potato corn balls, dip them in the all puropse flour batter. take them out and roll them in bread crumbs till all sides are well coated.
Do this with all the balls and keep them refrigerated till you are ready to fry. Just refrigerating them for a little while helps the balls to hold together while deep frying.



In a pan add enough oil for deep frying the balls.
Once oil is hot, add the balls and deep fry them till they are golden brown on all sides.

Serve hot with ketchup, chutney. You can add grated carrots, finely diced bell peppers for some pop of color and crunch.