Baked Masala Peanuts and Pumpkin Seeds and Arusuvai Friendship Chain

6:49 AM

It was the Durga Puja time when the package carrying Bharathy's mystery ingredient arrived at my doorstep, but I was not present at home. My cousin sister just moved to town the week before and I went to help her with the unpacking. With two super mischievous toddlers at tow, it was way more difficult than I thought. We were totally drained and were almost shouting after the kids when Hubby called up to say a courier has come for me. With the entire running around my mind was blank and I felt totally clueless. Who could it be? was my first thought and Hubby replied Bharathy. That made me coming to the real world and I exclaimed with joy 'Arusuvai'. It must have been a pretty hard exclamation as when I look up saw sis, bro-in-law and even the two brats looking at me in utter awe. But I wasn’t ashamed a bit and didnt even try to explain what it is all about. As I was pretty sure that non bloggers wouldn’t understand its importance. Just informed Hubby not to open it till I reach home...I wanted to experience and savor every moment of having the package by myself.
That evening when the exhausted us reached home the baby was already asleep and after putting him to the bed I hurriedly reached for the packet. As I thought it came with a lot of goodies, the mystery ingredient and a beautiful handmade card by Bharathy herself. It made me feel special to be a part of a chain that I always wanted to be...for me it was like reaching the end of a full circle. We were exhausted so thought of taking the pictures in the morning. but God did I know what a mistake that was. By the time I opened my eyes, the baby was already up and almost finished the chocolates by himself (with a little help from his father). Am so sorry I cannot show you all the things she sent and below is what I managed to save and click. (Still now when I was editing this picture he was yelling 'thocolate thocolate').

My mystery ingredient was Pumpkin seeds. And with a look at it I instantly knew what to cook with this. I had bookmarked this recipe from Jugalbandi long back. The time was apt as my father who is a big fan of masala peanuts was coming during Diwali. So baked masala pumpkin seeds it was for me. I almost followed their recipe with a little bit of change in the seasoning and it came out delicious. A guilt free snacks, which has become our family (does that count friends too?) favourite and I have already made it twice since then.

I have tweaked the recipe a little bit and added a spoonful of olive oil to make it crunchy and a little less hard. This stays good for a couple of weeks if stored well in an airtight container.

Before I talk about the recipe here is a quick reminder for Arusuvai Friendship chain. This is a very famous Food blog friendship event, which am sure most of you have known. For those who are new HERE is the link of the Arusuvai Post.

 Arusuvai is a friendship chain among food bloggers where one person sends a mystery ingredient to the other to cook with it. The receiver then carries the chain by sending another package with a food ingredient to another friend. That way it not only brings friends together but also gives an opportunity to learn and taste various cuisines. Lathamma of the famour ‘Yum blog’ created this beautiful chain and later Bharathy and Srivalli carried on the good work by coordinating the whole process. This year we have again united to celebrate this unique friendship with Arusuvai Friendship chain. Bharathy has started the Chain by sending the ingredient to me and I am going to send packages full of hope and mystery ingredient to another 2 bloggers very soon. We need all of you to come up and join hands. Have you become a part yet? Please check THIS, THIS or THIS for more information.  

Now the recipe

Baked masala peanuts and pumpkin seeds

Ingredients:
Pumpkin seeds: 1 cup
Gram flour: 11/2 cups
Rice flour: 2 tbsp
Olive oil: 1/2 tsp
Soda-bi-carb: pinch

Seasoning:
Chilli powder: ½ tsp
Carom seeds (ajwain); 1/3 tsp
Chat masala: ½ tsp
Salt

Take same amount of ingredients for a cup of peanuts as well.

Method:
Dry roast the peanuts and seeds for a few minutes. Take out and spread on a paper.

Mix the gram flour, rice flour, soda and the entire seasoning ingredient in a bowl.

With the half of the gram flour mixture make a smooth paste by adding little water. The batter would be thick and lump free.

Mix this to the pumpkin seeds and mix to coat well.

Now start sprinkling the dry flour-spice mixture to it. The seeds would be coated with dry flour.

Spread the coated seeds on an oven proof tray (I lined mine with silver foil to make my cleaning work less messy). Try to break the lumps as much as possible, which wont be too easy.

Bake for 10 minutes at a preheated oven of 200 C.

Mine was done at the end of it, if required bake it for another 4-5 minutes till they turn golden brown and crisp.

Take out on a plate and let it cool.

Repeat with another batch of peanuts.

Store in airtight container. Tastes amazingly good with evening tea or coffee.


Tags:
Snacks, what to do with peanuts, best low calorie nuts, gram flour, rice flour, chickpea flour, pumpkin seeds, no oil snacks, Baked crispies, baked nuts, low oil nuts, calorie free snacks, events, food blog event, crispy nuts, baked savory nuts, nut crackers, gram flour coated nuts, flour coated seeds, savory pumpkin seeds, crispy pumpkin seeds, seasoned snacks, spicy nuts, spicy crispy pumpkin seeds, roasted peanuts, toasted spicy peanuts, best low calorie snack.

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42 comments

  1. Binys RecipesDecember 3, 2010 at 6:53 AM

    great recipe and gorgeous presentation.
    there is an award for you...just tosay thx for all ur support.
    Biny

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pari VasishtDecember 3, 2010 at 6:58 AM

    hi. That'a a beautiful thought dear behind strengthening friendship and I would love to try this as I have some sunflower seeds at home.
    FOODELICIOUS

    ReplyDelete
  3. Padhu SankarDecember 3, 2010 at 7:22 AM

    I love pumpkin seeds .A very healthy and a yummy snack

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  4. Hamaree RasoiDecember 3, 2010 at 7:23 AM

    Masala Peanuts must have tasted wonderfully well.

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

    ReplyDelete
  5. sangeetaDecember 3, 2010 at 7:28 AM

    Great snacks ...I like toasted sunflower seeds and day before yesterday i gobbled a whole bowlful...

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousDecember 3, 2010 at 7:41 AM

    I also bookmarked this recipe from JB long back n forgot abt it.Thanks for reminding me.The concept of this friendship chain is super interesting with food involved.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Suja ManojDecember 3, 2010 at 8:47 AM

    Masala peanuts sounds delicious,looks superb and gorgeous presentation

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vasavi SureshDecember 3, 2010 at 9:11 AM

    Looks wonderful....

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  9. SwathiDecember 3, 2010 at 9:29 AM

    Baked masala peanuts and pumpkin seeds sounds delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  10. harini-jayaDecember 3, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    hv been postponing roasting the pumpkin seeds..shld do it today atleast! thx for a great reminder!

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  11. PreetiDecember 3, 2010 at 11:51 AM

    Sayantani..this is such a lovely snack you prepared.It is healthy and tasty too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. divyaDecember 3, 2010 at 12:00 PM

    Looks yummy and delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Veggie HutDecember 3, 2010 at 12:24 PM

    very healthy snack.. love the idea of baking it..

    ReplyDelete
  14. MadhuDecember 3, 2010 at 12:31 PM

    How are you doing dear? Great recipe. I also make pumpkin seeds but a bit differently. Will post recipe...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Priya SureshDecember 3, 2010 at 12:31 PM

    Wat a beautiful friendship chain, enjoy gals..Baked masala peanuts and pumpking seeds looks extremely crispy..

    ReplyDelete
  16. HayleyDecember 3, 2010 at 1:55 PM

    tasty and crunchy seeds and peanuts...long live your friendship..

    ReplyDelete
  17. RachanaDecember 3, 2010 at 2:10 PM

    Healthy nutty n crunchy Snack!!! Great presentation!

    ReplyDelete
  18. PreeOccupiedDecember 3, 2010 at 5:40 PM

    My husband loves pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Let me see if I can get him to have your baked version. I love that serving dish. But cant make out what it really is.

    ReplyDelete
  19. KurinjiDecember 3, 2010 at 9:34 PM

    nice recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  20. indianspicemagicDecember 3, 2010 at 10:43 PM

    Yummy snack.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Gayathri KumarDecember 4, 2010 at 1:13 AM

    Look so yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sanyukta Gour(Bayes)December 4, 2010 at 1:10 PM

    mouthwatering n healthy snack to munch on.so delicious..hru doing dear...missed ur yummy posts...

    ReplyDelete
  23. aipiDecember 4, 2010 at 3:17 PM

    The pumpkin seeds that have been sitting in my pantry for ages now will be relieved as I finally found a good use for them. Thanks for sharing dear :)

    US Masala

    ReplyDelete
  24. PadmajhaDecember 4, 2010 at 4:31 PM

    looks so crunch and it is definitely guilt free

    ReplyDelete
  25. Jaisy JamesDecember 5, 2010 at 2:33 AM

    peanuts looks superbbbb

    ReplyDelete
  26. IndraniDecember 5, 2010 at 4:14 AM

    Sayantani, dekho...break e o tomar post ta dekhe aar thakte parlam na, darun write-up, I love masala peanuts, with that baked pumpkin seed, lovely, darun presentation, especially the last pic I loved the most...all clicks are fantastic

    ReplyDelete
  27. Santosh BangarDecember 5, 2010 at 9:38 PM

    gr8 recipe droolworthy1st time here lovely dishes
    do visit my blog

    ReplyDelete
  28. MiriDecember 5, 2010 at 10:57 PM

    Oh, this is back?! I was the happy recipient of a similar package some time back and it was absolutely wonderful to have a chance to share in this journey!

    Snacks like these are just what we need in winter!

    ReplyDelete
  29. JayashreeDecember 6, 2010 at 5:15 AM

    What a lovely snack to begin the arusuvai chain with.

    ReplyDelete
  30. AnonymousDecember 6, 2010 at 6:11 AM

    baked masala peanuts, even better, no need of deep frying.. a very healthy snack!

    ReplyDelete
  31. BharathyDecember 6, 2010 at 8:45 AM

    GIRLS, AMN'T I THE LUCKIEST PERSON AROUND TO HAVE TASTED THAT YUMMY LOOKING HEALTHY SNACK ??? ;) ;)

    SAYANTANI, IT TASTED AWESOME!!! :)

    I can see the overwhelming response for Arusuvai, already in your place!

    Cheers!!!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Sweet ArtichokeDecember 6, 2010 at 12:00 PM

    Lovely story of the Arusuvai friendship chain and these pumpkin seeds look delicious! I have tried to make spicy pumpkin seeds last week-end and it ended up nice-tasting but horrible looking (big chunks) so I am going to try your recipe very, very soon :-)

    ReplyDelete
  33. NamithaDecember 6, 2010 at 1:09 PM

    Lovely recipe...and just superb presentation :-)

    ReplyDelete
  34. SatrupaDecember 6, 2010 at 1:22 PM

    Dear Sayantani,

    This looks so yumm ...n I luv d bowl too. Gurl you have an award awaiting at my blog.

    Cheers,
    Satrupa

    http://satrupa-foodforthought.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  35. SulagnaDecember 6, 2010 at 4:02 PM

    Wow lovely recipe..And beautiful presentation !!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Ushnish GhoshDecember 6, 2010 at 9:37 PM

    Dear Sayantani
    How are you? i am back home and reading your postings.
    Very nice write up on house set up and food chain.
    I didn't have any idea how that crispy coating was made. I shall try.
    From where do you get de-husked pumpkin seeds? I used to bring lot of de-husked pumpkin seeds from Korea. You can make awesome dhoka dalna with this.
    If I go to Korea next month, I shall get a pack for you.Let me check if it is available in India.
    bhalo theko, will meet you for sure next time. I will be in Santiniketan end of this month. Will you be there.
    Ushnishda

    ReplyDelete
  37. Sushma MallyaDecember 7, 2010 at 6:35 PM

    looks wonderful,love the way you have presented it...

    ReplyDelete
  38. MeghaDecember 9, 2010 at 10:42 AM

    very interesting recipe.... I can't wait to get my mystery ingredient :)

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  39. TahemeemDecember 9, 2010 at 7:43 PM

    Wonderful presentation...
    Thanks a lot for stopping by my blog and ur encouragement :)

    ReplyDelete
  40. SharmiDecember 9, 2010 at 11:09 PM

    nice looking snack:) would love to be a part of this chain!!

    ReplyDelete
  41. GBJanuary 14, 2011 at 5:05 AM

    Oh, peanuts too!--I can make this now...love the idea of baking! as you say guilt free. LOL the baby finishing off all the chocolate!!

    ReplyDelete
  42. ArchanaMarch 3, 2011 at 4:56 AM

    Hey I love these. I have pumpkin seeds in my fridge and I know what I will be making from them.

    ReplyDelete

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