Masala Pori/ Spicy Puffed Rice

One cold rainy evening, my friend and I were staying indoors at my friend’s place trying to study for an upcoming test. The weather outside was just not cooperative. It was getting as gloomy as it can get. All we wanted to do then was toss away the books, munch on something crunchy while sipping on a cup of hot tea and then sleep burrowing our heads inside a cozy blanket (of course, after praying that the test should get cancelled due to heavy rain!) 

As a wise man once said, “When you truly want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”, there came my friend’s mom with a bowl of this crunchy snack – ‘Masala Pori’ and a warm cup of tea! It was just the perfect timing…like the universe heard our prayers. Oh don’t give me that look and say it is an exaggeration. You should know what I am talking about, if not, you are not doing something right! Every time I eat this snack, I will be reminded of my friend and her mother. This is easily one of my favorite snack as it is not only tasty but also healthy and can be prepared in a jiffy.

P.S – We did toss away our books and did sleep like the dead after munching on these, followed by of course some gossip time (thanks to the tea), thinking the universe is on our side. But damn, we never knew that the universe can at times be the husband who fails to pay attention to the complete sentence!

(We did have the test. Can we just stop with that and not ask about the results? Thank you!)

Here is the recipe of ‘Masala Pori /Spicy Puffed Rice’, in case you are wondering why I started telling you this story!




Ingredients:

Oil – 1.5 tsp

Puffed Rice – 2 cups

Peanuts – ½ cup

Fried Gram – Handful

Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp

Red Chilli Powder – 1.5 tsp

Asafoetida – a pinch

Curry leaves – few

Salt – as per taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the peanuts for few seconds.

2. Add fried gram and curry leaves. Keep frying till they get crisp.

3. Add asafoetida, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and fry making sure it doesn’t get burnt.

4. On a low flame, add the puffed rice and mix until well combined with the spices.

5. Fry for few more seconds until the puffed rice gets crispy.

6. Masala pori is ready to be served.

Tips

1. Be careful with the frying process as it should be long enough to make it crispy but not too long to burn it. Keep an eye on it.

2. Allow it to cool and then store in an air tight container if you want to store it for future use.

3. Add little salt initially and take it up from there after the taste check.