Deepavali Mixture

One of the 'must' make during deepavali is the Mixture. This can be easily prepared in large quantiies and makes easier while distributing to friends and neighbours. My mother always makes lot of varieties of the deep fried snacks to fill her brass and stainless steel cylindrical drums that might hold some 50 pieces easily. She used to labour a lot and soon after distribution day, the canisters will be almost empty. Then we realised that even if you gave away 200 grams of mixture, that looked sufficient quantity and no body complained. So they would order mixture and buy specifically for distribution.

I make mixture every year to fill a 12 litre pressure cooker vessel. That sounds like loads of work, but the advantage of the mixture is that you may make all the goodies that go into it at your convenience and add them finally.

I fry legumes like the channa, green peas after soaking them and lightly cooking them.

The cashews and peanuts are roasted with the microwave.

The almonds are blanched, dried, slivered and roasted in the microwave.

I usually make the diamond biscuits too, the sweet namakparas baking them.

The boondi, ompodi and the karasev or the ribbon pakodas are deep fried.

The aval/poha can be rubbed with some ghee and dry roasted in small quantities until they puff.
The combination of my mixture this deepavali was boondi, ompodi, kadai murukku, fried legumes and roasted nuts.

Deep frying the legumes:

1 cup each of dried green peas and kabuli channa.

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste.

Soak the legumes separately allowing to stand overnight.

Drain well and pressure cook them separately adding little water until 1 whistle of the cooker.

Drain the excess water and spread each on a dry cloth for about three hours.

Heat about 1/4 cup of oil in a heavy pan. Deep fry just about a fistfull of the legumes at a time.

Keep a lid handy as the legumes will shoot out while deep frying. Do not cover tightly, but just enough to cover that the spluttering oil does not harm your forearms.

Once fried well, drain excess oil on absorbent tissues. Repeat the process until all the legumes are fried well.

These make a very crunchy addition to the mixture.

Boondi:

Gram flour 2 cups

Rice flour 1/4 cup

A pinch of cooking soda

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Powdered black pepper to taste

Special utensil: The boondi ladle that has perforations to press the batter through.

Seive the flours and the cooking soda together. Make a batter adding water. The batter shall be like that of dosa batter.

Heat oil in a pan. Holding the boondi ladle as close to the oil as possible, pour on it a small amount of prepared batter. Rub the batter through the pores with the help of the back of the spoon.

The batter will pass through the perforated bottom of the ladle and drop in the oil forming small balls. Deep fry them. They will fry quickly. Remove with a slotted ladle and drain.

While still warm add the salt and the pepper powder to the boondis.

Kadai murukku:

2&1/2 cups rice flour

1 cup gram flour

1/2 cup powdered roasted gram (pottukadalai maavu)

Salt and chilli powder to taste

2 teaspoons oregano seeds

Hot oil 3 tablespoons to add to the dough

Oil for deep frying

Special equipment: Murukku press with one star hole plate.

Mix all the dry ingredients and the 3 tablespoons hot oil. Mix well and make a dough adding water.

Fit the murukku press with the single star plate. Place some of the prepared dough in the press.

Heat oil well and press the dough in the oil in no prescribed shape. we will have to break pieces of this to add to the mixture. Hence it is of no significance.

Deep fry the murukkus well.

Drain and save for adding to the mixture.

Plain Ompodi/ Sev:

2&1/2 cups rice flour

1 cup gram flour

salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Special Utensil: Murukku press fitted with sev plate.

Mix all ingredients but the oil. Make a dough of smooth consistency.

Use the murukku press fitted with the plate that has numerous tiny holes.

Heat the oil and press small portions of the prepared dough into the oil. Allow the sev to fry well.

Drain and break in small pieces and save for the mixture.

Roasting the nuts, raisins etc.:

Break the nuts in small pieces. Rub few drops of ghee thoroughly on the nuts.

Take the nuts in a microwave proof flat dish.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes initially. Toss them around and microwave on high power for a further minute and a half until the nuts are crisp.

This is applicable to cashews, blanched almonds and peanuts.

The peanuts can initially be roasted dry to remove peel and then again roasted by rubbing oil.
Add the salt and keep reserve for the mixture.
Rub some ghee on the raisins and placing on a microwave flat dish microwave them just for a minute until they puff.

Roasting the aval:

Toss the aval/poha in a flat pan in a fanning motion to remove the impurities. Alternatively, sieve and remove the finer impurities.

Heat some ghee in a heavy pan. Keeping the heat low, roast fistfulls of aval until they puff well. Keep tossing constantly so they puff evenly. Add salt while hot.

Similarly the curry leaves can be cleaned and roasted to be added to the mixture.

Thus prepared, all the dishes that combine to form the mixture are ready.

Mix them all in a vey big utensil.

Crunchy deepavali mixture is ready.

The roasted legumes are off to Susan's MLLA being hosted by Srivalli this Eighteenth helping.