Bhadang

spicy puffed rice snack

After a long productive Saturday of decluttering my Philadelphia apartment, I didnt realize it had been 4 hours since I had had dinner and I was starving! I made this at 11.30 p.m and devoured two bowls, so you know its a legit midnight snack 😛

Its crispy, tasty, hits the spot when you are craving spicy and crispy, without taking you on a guilt-trip (you know I am thinking of chips here).

You will need:

8 cups of churmure (kurmure, puffed rice) – you can use any kind, I used the fat roundish ones that are most popularly used for making bhadang

3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed)

1-2 green chilies – cut in small pieces

6-8 curry leaves

mustard, hing and turmeric powder for tempering

2 tbsp oil

The spice mix:

1 tsp red chilli powder (you can use more if you like)

half a teaspoon salt

1 tsp powdered sugar

1 tbsp metkut (I used K-Pra brand)

Procedure:

1. Make sure that the puffed rice is crunchy. If you feel its a little chewy, run it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time and let it get back to room temperature. This should get rid of any moisture in it and bring it back to life!
2. Heat oil in a big pan or kadhai and heat it.
3. Add mustard seeds, turmeric and hing to the tempering
4. Add in the crushed garlic, green chillies and the curry leaves. Let it heat until the crackling stops completely, to ensure all the moisture is gotten rid of. Take care that it does not burn.

1. In a bowl, mix the powders for the spice mix and keep it ready.

1. Add the puffed rice to the oil tempering and mix till all of the puffed rice is coated with the yellow oil and the mixture is warm.
2. Add the spice mix at this point, the sugar and salt sticks to the puffed rice since it is is already hot.

1. Let it cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container.

You can make this without the spice mix also, just add salt and sugar when hot. You can also add half a cup of whole untoasted peanuts to the oil mixture and let them roast for a while before adding the puffed rice.