Masala kadalai | Masala peanuts | Masala fried groundnuts
Masala kadalai or masala peanuts, the yummiest crispy snack item prepared by deep frying spicy masala coated peanuts. Explained with stepwise pics and video.
Masala peanuts or Masala kadalai as called commonly in South India has a nice crunchiness in the outside and considered a tasty delicacy as a tea time snack. I still remember my mom making this and store in jars for our quick evening snacks when we were kids.
I use raw peanuts/ ground nuts to make this masala kadalai. Hence frying should be proper until the outer layer becomes crispy as well as the inner groundnuts. I will give you the tips to reduce the total time of frying in the last section of the post.
Now let’s talk few good things about this peanuts or ground nuts.
As the name suggests peanuts or not nuts and actually belong to the legume family. In western countries, peanuts are mostly consumed through peanut butter and salted whole peanuts. But in India, we use peanuts or groundnuts in a variety of foods like snacks, variety rice, gravies, with veggies and also widely used as peanut oil. Peanut butter is widely popular as a spread.
Not only they taste good but also rich in protein, fat and various healthy nutrients.
Earlier it is widely believed that peanuts are very harmful to heart health because of the high-fat contents in them.
But in recent years many studies proved that even though they are high in fat, most of them contributed from mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Hence they are actually heart-friendly legumes, and taking them moderately helps in multiple health benefits.
They are an exceptionally good source of protein for vegetarians.
Rich biotin content in these peanuts is highly important during pregnancy.
They are a good source of vitamin E, folate, Phosphorus and magnesium.
Peanuts are very filling and promoting satiety and considered an effective way to get a weight loss diet.
I have used garlic in this masala kadalai preparation for a nice fragrance and good digestion.
For other snack recipes: Crispy ribbon pakoda, Omapodi mixture, Aloo tikki, Potato bonda, Medhuvadai, Sweet bonda
Masala kadalai | Masala peanuts | Masala fried groundnuts
Ingredients
Ingredients:
Main ingredients:
- 500 g peanuts groundnuts
- Oil to deep fry
For outer masala:
- 1 cup besan flour 200g
- ½ cup rice flour 100g
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp cumin jeera seeds
- 6 garlic pods crushed
- Few curry leaves
- Water to mix
- ¼ tsp hing optional
Instructions
Recipe to make masala kadalai:
- In a wide mixing bowl take raw peanuts.
- Add besan flour and rice flour.
- Now add salt and chilli powder.
- Half a teaspoon of cumin seeds is good for digestion. You can also add hing if you like.
- Crush garlic pods and fine chop the curry leaves and add them both into the bowl. Garlic gives an excellent aroma to this masala kadalai.
- Now mix all the dry ingredients.
- Gradually add water and start making a thick masala coat. Add water slowly in tablespoon such that the masala coats well on each groundnut as shown. Do not use more water while mixing, otherwise, this batter becomes like bajji and will not crispy fried peanuts.
- Heat enough oil for deep frying. Check oil temperature by dropping a pinch of dough and if it rises immediately to the top then we can start frying.
- Drop the masala coated peanuts one by one carefully into the oil. One or two can be stuck together, later after frying, you can separate them. While dropping the coated nuts don't put a bunch of them together, because the middle ones cannot get enough heat to get fried.
- If you are a beginner then you can arrange them separately in a plate as shown for each batch and drop them carefully in the oil.
- Let the kadalai fry for few minutes in medium flame. As we use raw peanuts, it may take at least 5 minutes for each batch. If you use already roasted peanuts, then only the outer layer needs 2 to 3 minutes to become deep brown color.
- When the bubbles settle down and oozing sound stops nice brown color comes.
- Wait until you see color as shown below. If not fully fried the nuts inside would still be chewy instead of crispy.
- Remove from oil and drain the excess oil in kitchen tissue.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Stepwise pictures:
Recipe to make masala kadalai:
- In a wide mixing bowl take raw peanuts.
- Add besan flour and rice flour.
- Now add salt and chilli powder.
- Half a teaspoon of cumin seeds is good for digestion. You can also add hing if you like.
- Crush garlic pods and fine chop the curry leaves and add them both into the bowl. Garlic gives an excellent aroma to this masala kadalai.
- Now mix all the dry ingredients.
- Gradually add water and start making a thick masala coat. Add water slowly in tablespoon such that the masala coats well on each groundnut as shown. Do not use more water while mixing, otherwise, this batter becomes like bajji and will not crispy fried peanuts.
- Heat enough oil for deep frying. Check oil temperature by dropping a pinch of dough and if it rises immediately to the top then we can start frying.
- Drop the masala coated peanuts one by one carefully into the oil. One or two can be stuck together, later after frying, you can separate them. While dropping the coated nuts don’t put a bunch of them together, because the middle ones cannot get enough heat to get fried.
- If you are a beginner then you can arrange them separately in a plate as shown for each batch and drop them carefully in the oil.
- Let the kadalai fry for few minutes in medium flame. As we use raw peanuts, it may take at least 5 minutes for each batch. If you use already roasted peanuts, then only the outer layer needs 2 to 3 minutes to become deep brown color.
- When the bubbles settle down and oozing sound stops nice brown color comes.
- Wait until you see color as shown below. If not fully fried the nuts inside would still be chewy instead of crispy.
- Remove from oil and drain the excess oil in kitchen tissue.
Tips:
- To speed up the process, dry roast the peanuts first in a separate pan for five minutes until they pop. Let them cool down and continue the same process as given in the recipe. This way you can reduce the total frying time.
- If you use raw peanuts like me then while frying they may pop lightly. Do not panic, just keep in mind and be aware while handling hot oil. If the ground nuts are nicely coated with masala then they won’t pop out.
- Avoid using garlic if you don’t like. But do add curry leaves.
Excellent.
Pingback: Badusha | Badhusha | How to make badusha | Sangskitchen
Pingback: Ridge gourd cutlet | Peerkangai cutlet recipe | Sangskitchen