Masala Peanuts | Low Calorie Snack

Dad and I love love love Haldiram’s Masala Peanuts. It’s a ritual every evening when parents come over to Bangalore – As amma prepares coffee for me and tea for dad, dad would put forth two small bowls on the teapoy. Then he brings a pack of Haldiram’s Masala Peanuts and fills both the bowls. While I quickly finish off mine, dad would take every peanut and really relish it 🙂 When my stock is over, I keep going to his bowl and eat from that too. Aahhh I am missing my parents so much. Over the weekend I was in Chennai and had the chance to stay a night my parents.. Yeah just the night. Sigh! It’s going to take some time for me to get over the nostalgic feeling.

Anyway, moving on to the recipe. I made these Masala Peanuts in microwave with just a teaspoon of oil. As these are made in microwave, these get done in less than ten minutes. After letting them cool off a bit, these can be stored in an airtight container and can stay fresh and crispy for two-three days. But trust me, these won’t last that long as these are super yummy. The best part is no one can find out these are made with a teaspoon of oil. Infact I made a batch of deep fried ones too and taste wise, there was no difference at all. What else – these are so healthy compared to the store bought snacks – I am not even removing the skin of the peanuts.

To prepare Masala Peanuts

Serves – 2

Time to prepare – 15 mins

What I used –

• Raw Peanuts (with skin), 1 cup
• Gram Flour/Besan, 1.5 tbsp
• Rice Flour, 1.5 tsp
• Red Chilli Powder, ½ tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste, ½ tsp
• Salt, as required
• Water, 1.5 tbsp
• Oil, 1 tsp

How I made –

1. In a bowl, add the raw peanuts along with gram flour, rice flour, salt, red chilli powder and ginger garlic paste. Mix well.
2. Add 1.5 tablespoon of water and mix well. The flour should get wet and coat the peanuts nicely on all sides. If required, sprinkle a teaspoon of water. The batter should not be runny but firm and coat on the peanuts.
3. Add oil and mix well. The peanuts would be in clusters. Let them rest for a couple of minutes.
4. In a microwave safe plate/pan, place these peanuts one by one so that they are not touching each other.
5. Place them in the microwave at high for two minutes. Remove the tray out and rest for 30 secs.
6. Place them back in the microwave for two mins again at high. Remove and rest for 30 secs again. Repeat this for one more time or until the coating looks cooked enough.
7. Let the peanuts cool down completely. While hot, they can be a bit chewy but get super crisp on cooling.
8. Serve with coffee or tea as an evening snack.

Note –

• If you wish to deep fry, just keep the oil on medium heat and fry these in clusters. Remove them on to a tissue to drain additional oil.
• The timing on microwave varies from machine to machine. Keep an eye on the peanuts, they can get charred in a second if left for longer time.
• The peanuts have to be rested to get crisp, would stay good for more than a couple of days in an air tight container.
• Garam Masala can be added additionally – I didn’t use as ginger garlic paste gives a nice aroma.
• Rice flour has to be to very fine, which gives the crispness to the peanuts.