Masala Kadalai Recipe (Masala Peanuts)
Masala kadalai (peanut fry or peanut pakoda) is a crispy and flavourful Indian snack recipe. It is prepared by coating the raw peanuts with gram flour, rice flour and some spices which are then deep fried in oil. This masala kadalai is also known as verkadalai (groundnut) pakoda in Tamilnadu. It is a perfect quick evening snack recipe which can be made in less than 30 minutes.It goes very well with a cup of tea or coffee. The masala kadalai ( peanut fry ) can be stored in a container for a week.
Equipment
- Cooking pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups Raw Peanuts I used Raw
- ½ cup Gram Flour
- 3 tablespoon Rice Flour
- 1 tablespoon Chilli Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 10 cloves Garlic with skin on
- 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Asafoetida / Hing
- ⅛ teaspoon Red Food Coloring optional
- Salt to taste
- Water as needed
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Start by roasting peanuts. If you are using roasted peanuts, then you don't have to do this. Since i used raw peanut, I use microwave to roast them.
- Take peanuts in microwave safe bowl and put it inside oven. Set time for 5 mins. Remove them very 2 mins and give them a toss. Once the timer goes off, take them out and allow them to cool down. Every oven is different, if your peanuts is not roasted in 5 mins, put it back in the oven for couple more mins. Now set them aside till use.
- Heat oil for deep frying.
- Take fennel seeds and garlic in a mixer and run them once. This will crush them very slightly, If you wish you can add them whole, but i think, this makes them even more flavorful.
- Now take the peanuts in a bowl, add in salt, chilli pdr, baking soda, gram flour, rice flour, crushed garlic and fennel, asafoetida and mix well. Now sprinkle over some water and rub them with your fingers. This will make the flours stick to the peanuts and coat them.
- Never add too much water. Add some food coloring if you want to.
- Once they are coated. Fry this in hot oil til they turn light golden. Strain them in some paper towel. Once they are cooled. Store them in an air tight container.
Notes
Perfect crunchy and bakery style spicy masala peanuts can be done by following these steps :
- Marinate peanuts with the list of ingredients and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Make sure the oil is hot,before adding the masala coated peanuts.
- Frying the peanuts in small batches prevents overcrowding and soggy peanuts.
- The masala batter should be thick.
- After frying the peanuts, lastly add a dash of curry leaves to the oil.
- For Kerala style masala peanut fry, use coconut oil for deep frying.
- For tangy flavour, sprinkle chaat masala powder after frying and toss them in a bowl.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingsCalories: 514kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 24gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 13gMonounsaturated Fat: 17gSodium: 197mgPotassium: 753mgFiber: 10gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 601IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 113mgIron: 4mg
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