Kara boondi

Ingredients:

• Besan flour -2 cups
• Beaten rice (Aval/poha) - 1 cup
• Roasted channa dal (pottu kadalai) - 1/2 cup
• Peanuts – ½ cup
• Chilli powder -1 to 2 tbsp (based on spice level)
• Cashew nuts - handful
• Curry leaves -2strings
• Asafoetida/Hing - a generous pinch
• Sodium Bicarbonate (cooking Soda) -3 pinches
• Food colour – a pinch(optional)
• Oil for frying
• Salt for taste

Method:

Step 1: preparing boondi

1. Take besan/chick pea flour in a bowl,food color and add Cooking soda. Don’t add salt.
2. First add little water and mix it well without lumps.Then add water little by little and make a slightly thin batter.The batter should neither be very thin nor should thick.The consistency be that of dosa batter.
3. Heat oil, then take the boondi ladle and pour a little batter on the ladle. The batter will fall through the holes into the hot oil. Pour little by little without over crowding.
4. Fry the balls till golden brown and drain it on a paper towel.
5. Heat oil and fry pottu kadalai (Roasted channa dal).Keep it aside.
6. Then fry peanuts, cashew nuts and curry leaves separately and keep it aside.
7. Then fry Aval and drain it on a paper towel. It gets fried very fast. So cook it in slow flame.

Step 2: making mixture

1. Take a bowl; add above mentioned ingredients all together and sprinkle salt, hing and chilli powder on it. Mix it well.you will get tasty mixture. There are no rules regarding measurements. If you like boondi more, you can add more.
2. Enjoy it with a hot cup of tea or coffee. It will stay fresh for a week.