Beer and Poha Chiwda

When my fella's Mom came to visit at Thanksgiving last fall she brought will her a container of Poha Chiwda that had been made by his sister because she knew how much he loved it. What is it? Think Spicy Indian Chex mix. Typically it's served in a bowl with a spoon. You spoon some into your hand and eat it from the palm of your right hand. You don't put your hands into the bowl. When we finally finished it up I requested the recipe from his Mom which she gladly passed along! I finally remembered to get the last missing ingredient and voila -- my own Poha Chiwda. The perfect World Cup snack to go with a beer or iced tea!

Ingredients:

1 lb. *Thin Poha (pressed rice often sold in 1lb. & 2lb. bags - poha shown at right)
1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup peanuts

1/2 cup *split grams (Daliya Split)

1/4 cup broken cashews

4-5 green chilli cut into pcs.

8-10 pc. *curry patta (curry leaves - use fresh if at all possible)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

small pinch of red chili powder (optional)

3/4 cup vegetable/canola oil (I used only 1/2 cup)

1/2 tsp *rai (black mustard seeds)

2 tsp sugar

Heat oven to 350F.

Bake Poha on a dry pan (ideally a jellyroll pan as shown in photo above right) for about 5-7 minutes, stirring often. The poha will go from tough to crunchy. Remove from oven and pour cooked poha into a large bowl. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil and add rai, green chili,curry patta and salt to taste. BEWARE. The rai will start to pop, so have a cover nearby to put above it after you put them in. When rai begin to pop and the curry leaves have begun to give off their scent (they smell SO GOOD when cooking!) set aside cover, stir, then add peanuts, raisins, cashews and grams. Continue to stir as nuts brown and raisins puff.

Add turmeric and red chili (optional) stir. Add to bowl of baked poha. Stir to combine well until all poha is slightly covered with a yellow color from the turmeric.

Sprinkle 2 tsp sugar all over, cover for 2 minutes.

Uncover, stir and let it cool completely. I stirred it a few times over the next few hours to help it cool without becoming soggy. Store in air tight container. Enjoy!!

* Commonly found in an Indian market near you.