South Indian Mixture, Madras Mixture

          Today's post is going to be the last snack that I have made for Diwali 2016, in fact I am a little tired of the oil and deep frying, and the final snack is the most favorite South Indian Mixture, Madras Mixture. Though I like other types of mixtures, my favorite will always be this, mainly because of the less masalas and the simple flavors from the asafoetida and curry leaves. This is also my daughter's favorite snack, so I decided to make it this time for Diwali. Making mixture takes a little time, and the major task is making the ompodi/sev and kara boondi. If you want, you can make them the previous day and then fry the remaining ingredients the next day and finally mix everything, but the time and effort is all worth it, so do give it a try..

Need To Have

• Kara Boondi - 2 cups
• Ompodi/Sev - 2 cups
• Cashews - 12, broken into pieces
• Groundnuts/Peanuts - 5 tablespoon
• Roasted Gram Dal/Pottukadalai - 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon
• Rice Flakes/Aval - 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
• Curry Leaves - 20 - 25
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste
• Oil For Frying

Method

          I have already posted Kara Boondi and Ompodi on the blog, make them accordingly, we'll get 2+1/2 cups kara boondi and the same amount of ompodi, if you follow the recipe and quantity given in those posts. for the kara boondi, fry the boondis, but don't do the final seasoning. Measure and keep 2 cups of the kara boondi and ompodi and keep.

          Now measure all the other ingredients, wash and towel dry the curry leaves and keep everything ready. Heat the oil for deep frying, first add the cashews, fry till golden, remove and keep. Then, next add the peanuts, fry them well, remove and keep.

          Next comes the roasted gram dal, fry it in batches and along with it add some curry leaves, fry and remove.

          Then finally, add the rice flakes/aval in batches, fry and remove. Since we'll be removing them fast from the oil, drain them properly on paper towels.

          Take all these fried ingredients in a mixing bowl, add the asafoetida, salt, chilly powder, pepper powder and toss them well. Lastly add the ompodi and kara boondi, toss or mix them gently, once it's fully cooled, store it in an airtight container.

Note
I did everything, ompodi, karaboondi and the final mixture the same day, it will take 2 to 21/2 hours from start to finish for this quantity.
I have used thin rice flakes, that's the only organic variety available.
Be careful, not to burn any of the nuts and rice flakes while frying, keep the heat on medium.
I have added a little bit of pepper powder for flavor, if you don't want you can leave it.
You can also add some roasted almonds, karasev, murukku pieces to the mixture.
I used 3 or 4 paper towels to remove the excess oil from the fried nuts and rice flakes, so the final mixture is not oily, but do it gently without crushing them into pieces.