Tamilnadu's village style mixture

Mixture / namkeen  / மிக்ஸர் is a popular spicy snack of India. Just as the name says, the snack mixture is a mix of various snacks like omapodi, kaara boonthi, nuts, spices etc.
The North Indian namkeen mixtures are made with thin sev and we can see this trend in Chennai mixture too. Most of those namkeens contain a hint of sweetness.  But there is one more mixture variety from my native place, which may not be much popular, but I like it very much. I have seen this kind of mixture in Kerala too. This mixture should be made with thick sev and the spice level should be high. We call it as 'Thisayanvilai mixture'. One of our good relatives, AnnaPazham paatti used to buy this for us. This mixture would be packed in palm leaf containers (olai petti) and that adds more glamour to it.
I tried to create it at home and it turned out to be a great success. Should I say hubby dear and me enjoyed this mixture throughout that weekend with tea!

Tamilnadu's village style mixture

Omapodi and kaara poonthi 

plantain chips

soaked channa dal

frying the channa dal

fried peanut, curry leaf, channa dal

Every goodness in one bowl together, the MIXTURE

After mixing the snacks together...

Fruit of my work ♥ Mixture stored in airtight container.....for snack time !

Ingredients:
Omapodi (thick sev) - 1/4 kg  (or) crushed - 2 cups
kara boondi - 1/4 kg (or) 2 cups
banana chips - from one plantain  (or) 100 gms
peanut  (ver kadalai)- 1 cup (or) fried masala peanut - 1 cup
channa dal (kadalai paruppu) - 1/2 cup
murukku -  1 or 2 (optional)
curry leaf - few
garlic - 4 cloves
red chili powder -  1 tbsp
hing - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
oil - for deep frying

Method:
1.Prepare the omapodi, boondi, chips ahead. I suggest making them a day ahead. Buying them from store is also a good option. Gently crush the omapodi into medium size pieces.
Put them all together in a wide mixing bowl.
2.Soak the channa dal for 4 to 5 hours. Drain water. Pat dry in a fresh kitchen towel. Let it dry in room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat oil to deep fry in a wok. Deep fry the channa dal.
Add this to the bowl.
3. Fry the masala peanuts. My recipe would be for baking, but use the same ingredients and deep fry them for mixture. Put this with other items in the bowl. We can simply fry the peanuts too (like me).  If we add masala peanuts, then it gets the touch of kovilpatti mixture.
4. In the same hot wok, fry a handful of curry leaves to crispy. Put that to the mixing bowl.
5. Peel and crush coarsely few cloves of garlic. Fry till crispy. Add to the bowl.
6. Now add some crushed murukku to the bowl.
7. Then add chili powder, hing , salt to all those items in the mixing bowl. Mix well using a spatula or hands. Check and add salt little by little as many already contain salt.
8.Let cool and store in air tight containers.
Village style mixture is ready !

Serving suggestion:
Serve as snack with coffee or tea.
In my house, we enjoy this with sambar rice too.

Note:
*The difficult to make ingredients like sev (omapodi), kara poonthi, chips, fried peanut can be bought as readymade from any Indian grocery store and this snack can be made in a jiffy.

Kaara boondhi

Kaara boondhi is one of the spicy snacks that can be prepared very easily. The broad multi holed spatula, is the special equipment which makes boondhi preparation very easy. I bought this spatula in a nearby Indian grocery store for $4. This spicy boondi can be used to make raita too. It is a popular snack in Tamilnadu and also this is one of the main ingredients in Tamilnadu / Kerala mixture snack.

Spicy Boondhi (Kaara boondhi)

This is the equipment, boondhi karandi needed to make boondhi (spatula with multiple holes)

Ingredients:
besan flour - 1 cup
rice flour - 1/4 cup
salt - less than a tsp
baking soda - 1/8 tsp
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
oil - for deep frying (300 ml)

for garnishing:
raw peanut - 1 cup
curry leaf - few
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste

Method:
Put the besan flour, rice flour, salt, red chilly powder 1/2 tsp, baking soda in a wide mixing bowl. Using a 1/2 cup water (add little by little), mix to a thick idli batter consistency.
Heat oil in a deep and wide frying pan.Bring it to frying temperature. Reduce to medium heat.
Scoop a ladle full of batter to the boondhi karandi (boondi spatula). Press and allow the boondhi batter to fall as small droplets. These tiny balls of boonthi gets fried within a few seconds. Check and fry till crispy, while maintaining the pale color.
Drain oil, take out and spread over paper towels to absorb excess oil.
Repeat for all the batter and gather the boonthis in a container.
In the same hot oil , fry the raw groundnut and curry leaves separately.
Mix the boonthi with fried items and add chilly powder and salt to taste.
Kaara boonthi is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Store the boonthi in airtight container and serve as snack.
The plain boonthi without adding peanuts can be used to make boondi raita.

Cauliflower fry

Deep fried cauliflower may seem to be the easiest version of cauliflower fry / pakoda, but I like this version also very much. My mom used to make this along with paruppu kulambu with rice and it is our family's favorite. Mostly after frying some appalam (pappad made of blackgram), she would fry this masala coated cauliflowers in that hot oil. Just this fry can turn any ordinary lunch into a grand one:)

Fried cauliflower

Ingredients: 
Cauliflower - 1 (small)
salt - to taste
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
rice flour - 1 tbsp
oil - to deep fry

Method:
Wash and clean the cauliflower. Detach each florets separately. Bring 3 cups water to boil. Add some salt and the cauliflower florets. Bring to one boil. Switch off. It should be 1/4 cooked now. Keep in hot water for 10 minutes. Discard the water. Put the florets in a colander and remove as much water as possible. In a mixing bowl add the salt, turmeric powder red chilly powder, garam masala, rice flour and mix well. Mix the florets with the masala, let it coat well. Heat enough oil to deep fry. Fry the cauliflower in small batches. Deep fried cauliflower is ready!

Note: 
Instead of deep frying, the cauliflower can be baked in oven at 350 deg F for 20 minutes. For baking recipe, add 2 tbsp oil to the masala mixture.

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish with any rice.
Makes a tea time snack also.

Mixed vegetable pakoda

Pakoda / pakora / fritters. A pakoda is a deep fried spicy snack.

In Tamilnadu it is common to see the vendors making these crispy pakoras in front of their stalls to attract the crowd in the evening / night. They prepare the pakora's base batter in a big lot and would make various pakoras by dipping and frying the relevant items as per order. There are many variations in making pakora and the dominant ingredient gets the title (mint pakora, tea stall pakora, cashew pakora, onion pakoda etc.,).
Here is a different pakora with mixed vegetables. We can use almost any vegetable here and I am sure deep frying makes it delicious:) If preparing the pakora as tea time snack, I suggest making a little extra, as it makes a wonderful meal with rasam rice for dinner:)

Mixed vegetables I had.

Crispy mixed vegetable pakoda.

Important Ingredients:

Besan flour - 3/4 cup
(Bengal gram flour / kadalai mavu)
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Red onion - 1 (big)
green chilli - 5
ginger - 2 inch
hing - 1/8 tsp
salt - to taste
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro - 1/4 bunch
mint leaf - a handful
cilantro - a handful
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
curry masala powder - 1 tsp
oil - to deep fry (250 ml)

Vegetables :

cabbage - 100 gm
carrot - 1
broccoli / cauliflower - 1 cup
potato - 1
French beans - 10
(Vegetables with more water content are not suitable for this recipe).

Method:

Cut the vegetables into thin slices of 2 inch length.
Chop the onion into thin slices.
Finely chop the green chilli, ginger, cilantro and mint leaves.
Mix the chopped veggies with the besan flour and rice flour.Add chilli powder, salt and garam masala powder.
Try to knead the flour without adding water.
Heat 2 tbsp oil and add it to the mixture. This makes the pakoda more crispy. Instead of oil we can add a few drops of water also.
The dough consistency should not be like chapathi dough. It should be like a mixture of moistened flour with veggies.
Heat oil in a kadai. Drop small pieces of mixture in to the hot oil. Reduce heat to medium so that the vegetable gets cooked evenly. Flip and fry to get crispy fritters.
Take them out and place over paper towels to remove excess oil.
Crispy mixed vegetable pakoda is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot as an evening snack or as side dish with any variety-rice.
Goes fine with curd rice , rasam or sambar rice