After making sweets, now was the turn of savory snacks for Diwali. So thought of making oil-free, healthy ,crispy chiwda with edamame and nuts.

Chiwda can be made in varied styles and with a variety of ingredients.I have invented my own recipe with reference to the modern life-style and health issues. The edamame I used are rich in protein, dietary fiber, and folate, manganese, phosphorus and vitamin K.

I will try to cover the exhaustive list of ingredients which could be added according to your taste and preference. The ingredients marked with optional are not in my recipe. Also this is a hassle free shortcut for those who have less time and have to do a plenty of work. 😉

INGREDIENTS:
1. Thin Flattened Rice (thin poha) – 3 cups
2. Thick Flattened Rice (thick poha) – 3 cups
3. Peanuts without skin (mungfali ki giri ) – 1.5 cups
4. Cashews halved (kaju ) – 1 cup or according to taste
5. Pistachios salted or unsalted (pista) – ¹⁄₂ cup or according to taste
6. Edamame or soya beans dried salted – 1 cup
7. Dry Coconut slices (khopa) – ¹⁄₂ cup or according to taste
8. Dry red whole chillies (sookhi sabut lal mirch) – 4 to 5
9. Curry leaves (kadhi patta/meetha neem) – 7-8
10. Green chillies chopped finely – 1 -2 tbsp according to taste
11. Salt – 3-4 tsp or to taste
12. Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp or to taste
13. Citric acid (tartari ) – ¹⁄₂ tsp or to taste
14. turmeric (haldi)- 1 tsp
15. Chaat masala – 1 tsp
16. Cooking oil – 2 tsp
17. Sugar – 1 tsp
18. Kellogg’s Cornflakes – 2 cups (optional)
17. Foxnuts (makhane ) – 1 cup (optional)
18. Almonds (badam)- 1 cup (optional)
19. Black raisins (kishmish) – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
20. Melon seeds (kharbuje ki giri) – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
21. Puffed rice (murmure ) – 2 cups (optional)
22. Puffed wheat grains (kheel) unsweetened – 1 cup (optional)
23. Onions finely sliced and deep fried – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
24. Garlic salt – 1 tsp or to taste (optional)
25. Dried peas (matar ) – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
26. Roasted Gram (bhune chane) – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
27. Soaked, dried and deep fried Urad lentils – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
28. Chickpea Sev (Besan ki sev) – 1 cup (optional)
29. Potato Sev ( Aloo Bhujia ya lachchha ) – 1 cup (optional)
30. Poppy seeds dry roasted(khus khus) – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
31. Dried pomegranate powder (anardana powder )- 1 tsp (optional)
32. Black Salt (kala namak) – to taste (optional)

METHOD:
| Preparation time : 30 mins | Cooking time : 5 mins | Makes 2.5 lbs of Chiwda |

1. Gather all the ingredients in one place. It’s better to buy dry roasted items as much as possible. They will need less or no oil for roasting then.

2. Take a wok(kadhai) and first of all dry roast the coconut flakes or slices on medium heat with constant stirring. Roasting coconut flakes would ooze some fat in the wok which is sufficient to roast the other ingredients. It gets roasted pretty fast, so keep an eye. As soon as it turns slightly brown take them out in a plate.
   

3. Next dry roast the cashews. on low to medium heat. Keep stirring. If the cashews are already roasted and salted then skip this step.
   

4. Next dry roast the peanuts in batches or whole at a time depending on the space available in wok.You may microwave them on high for 30 secs 2-3 times.
   

5. After this similarly dry roast the pistachios and edamame too. All the nuts and seeds can be dry roasted in a similar manner. Raw cornflakes(I haven’t added though) can be deep fried or roasted in little oil.
   

6. Now dry roast the thin poha for 4-5 mins till it turns crispy and crumbly.Invert it in a big tureen(parat).
   

7. Take some thick poha in a microwave safe bowl .Add ¹⁄₂ tsp or few drops of oil, stir it well and then microwave it for 30 secs 2 times. It will puff up and get crisp. Invert them again in the same parat.

8. If you are adding some lentils or onions then add oil now in the wok enough for them to deep fry and take out in a strainer. I fried the whole red chillies in 1 tsp oil with the curry leaves and strain them.
   

9. In the end add a tsp of oil in the wok. Then add salt, turmeric, red chilly powder and stir them for 30-40 secs.Then add sugar in it and turn off the heat.
   

10. Add this to the whole mixture and mix well everything together with hands. Now add the citric acid, chaat masala and mix everything together till all the chiwda is evenly coated with all the spices.
    

11. Let it cool down to room temperature and then store in an air-tight container to snack on during the festivities.
    

Since this contains minimal oil, it stays fresh for as long as one year without any smell.Just make sure all the items are dried and cooled before you store them.
Enjoy this Chiwda with Tea in the morning or coffee in the evening . It just freshens u 😀
P.S.: The ingredients noted above could be altered in quantity according to your taste.

Please feel free to ask or suggest if need be !! A happy Deepawali to all !!:)