Go to Flavor-town with these Game Day Snacks!

I have to be honest...I'm not an avid American football fan but every year, I'm ready to watch the Super Bowl. It's more than a game; it's an event filled with funny and inspiring commercials, halftime show, and fun with the family. Regardless of who your favorite football team is, everyone comes together to watch the BIG GAME on that auspicious Sunday in February. 

Even my parents get in on the action on Super Bowl Sunday. We're not carnivores, so Game Day doesn't include the usual wings, meaty chili, sliders, etc. We prefer spicy, crunchy munchies and hearty entrees such as the following:

Crackling, Crunchy Cashews

This past December, my husband and I actually bought a lot of crunchy and nutty snacks at Dadu's Sweet shop in Hyderabad, India. One of the snacks is called Cashew pakoda. It looks and tastes similar to the crackling, crunchy cashews on our blog.  The snack is made with besan flour (chickpea flour) and spices.

Picante peanuts

You can also make it with peanuts as shown in the picture above. Other snack ideas that go well with beer or wine for game day are corn flakes mixture or chivda. You can make enough for the whole game and more because we use corn flakes cereal to make the snack. 

Similarly, you can make another type of mixture with rice crispy cereal. As you can see, we like spicing things up with our breakfast cereals. The spices really kick it up a notch. We also spice things up with pancakes. We love our spices.

If you want to get really creative and try an authentic South Indian snack for game day, then you should try making Pappuchekkalu:

Pappuchekkalu (Rice and Lentil Crisps)

Good news for people with gluten allergies, these rice, and lentil crisps are gluten-free; they're made with a combination of rice flour, urad dal flour (white lentil flour) and soy flour. You have to give them a try. 

We also make various raitas or yogurt dips on game day. The most common dips are artichoke or spinach dip. However, our raitas are so much more flavorful than any old dip. 

We make our yogurt dips with all kinds of vegetables: beetroot, long squash, bell peppers, spinach, eggplant, cucumbers, and even tomatoes and onions. You can make raita with any vegetables. It's easy and delicious. 

Beetroot Raita served with corn tortilla chips

My favorite is beetroot raita. It's a little sweet but not like candy-sweet and goes well with tortilla chips, pita chips, potato chips or mini naan. 

It's a new year! New flavors and experiences. Check out the above recipes for yummy and kickass snacks for the Big Game in a few hours. We're serious about SNACKING!

I'm Nutty for Pea'Nutty Pakoda

For father's day, my mom made one of my dad's favorite snacks, peanut pakoda.

Why?

Because my father REALLY likes nuts and nutty snacks. He has a Costco sized nuts box at work and at home. I've gotten his routine down packed: After he gets home from work, he usually gets a handful of nuts and eats them while he enjoys a hot cup of tea or coffee. He also likes cookies with nuts.

I wish it was daughter's day...I couldn't stop eating these pakoda. They were so good. Don't take my word for it, try the recipe for yourself and let me know.
 



Ingredients
- 1 cup peanuts (soaked for 2 hours and drained)
- 1 cup besan/chickpea flour (sieved to remove lumps)
- 1/3 cup rice flour
- 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp crushed green chilies
- 1/4 tsp chili powder (as per taste)
- A pinch of hing (asafoetida powder)
- 1 tsp salt (as per taste)
- 1/3 cup fresh coriander, chopped
- 3 Tbsp oil (for forming dough)
- Water for forming dough, as needed

- 1 to 2 cups oil for frying (based on pan size)

Procedure

1) Using a medium size mixing bowl, mix together: besan, rice flour, chili powder, hing, and salt.  Warm the oil for dough (about 3 Tbsp) and add into the dry mixture and mix well.

2) Now add ginger-garlic paste, crushed green chilies, coriander, and drained peanuts. And mix well.

3) Add water little by little mixing the dough to bring it all together. The dough should hold all the ingredients and somewhat dry but not crumbly, like cookie dough. Taste a pinch of dough to adjust salt and chili powder to your liking. 

4) Heat oil for frying in a frying pan (or wok) on low to medium heat. When you feel the heat on the palm of your hand, test it by adding a small morsel of dough. If the bubbles start immediately and the dough floats to the top, the oil is ready for frying.

5)Take a lemon sized piece of the dough in your hand and bring small morsels of dough between your thumb, index and middle fingers and drop them into  the oil slowly. Make sure the peanuts are included in every bit. Add 10 to 15 morsels (pakodas) at a time and fry them on low heat until golden brown. Collect them with a holed ladle and drain excess oil. Next, transfer in to mixing bowl that has a paper towel in it to collect any extra oil.

6) Sprinkle some chat masala on the hot "peaNutty pakodas for a more chat-pata taste.

Allow these pakoda to cool down and enjoy with your favorite beverage like tea or coffee. The spicy and crunchy flavors also go well with cool drinks like beer.  I had to stop myself from eating too many of these since they were for my dad :(

Did you like this recipe? You'll go "nuts" for these other Indian snacks: Corn Flakes Mixture, Indian Trail Mix, Peanut poppers, Crunchy Cashews, Pappuchekkalu .