Chili Peanuts – A delicious deep-fried snack (Vegan + Gluten Free)

Nearly everyone loves peanuts (groundnuts). In India, one finds beaches and marketplaces dotted with pushcart peanut vendors, roasting salted, shelled peanuts in hot sand and selling them in little newspaper cones to eager buyers. Such a delight to eat, peanuts are brain food – great for children and adults alike.

Chili Peanuts – A delicious deep-fried snack.

When peanuts are coated with aromatic spices and deep-fried, they become irresistible. The commingled flavors of rice, chickpeas, cumin, asafoetida, curry leaves and chilies brings out such a heavenly aroma as you deep-fried them, that you will find yourself drooling. The peanuts will disappear in minutes! Do make and enjoy.

Print Recipe

Chili Peanuts Yum

A delicious, spicy, deep-fried peanut snack.

Cuisine

Indian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Passive Time

1 hour

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 1 kg shelled peanuts
• 30 gm fresh, ripe, hot red chilies (not dried chilies)
• 100 gm raw rice
• 50 gm besan flour (chickpea flour)
• 2 gm cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 gm turmeric powder
• 2 gm asafoetida powder
• 12 gm powdered salt
• 4 sprigs curry leaves
• 50 ml water
• cooking oil to deep fry

Cuisine Indian Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 15 minutes Passive Time 1 hour Servings servings Ingredients 1 kg shelled peanuts 30 gm fresh, ripe, hot red chilies (not dried chilies) 100 gm raw rice 50 gm besan flour (chickpea flour) 2 gm cumin seeds (jeera) 1 gm turmeric powder 2 gm asafoetida powder 12 gm powdered salt 4 sprigs curry leaves 50 ml water cooking oil to deep fry

Instructions

To prepare:

1. Soak the rice for 30 minutes. Wash and drain.
2. Put the rice, the chilies and the water into your food processor and grind to superfine paste.
3. Put the peanuts into a mixing bowl. Tip in the turmeric powder, the asafoetida powder, the salt and the cumin seeds.
4. Chop the curry leaves to fine bits and tip them in.
5. Pour in the paste and mix thoroughly with your fingers.
6. Sprinkle the besan flour (chickpea flour) and mix nicely again.

To deep-fry:

1. Set a wok or a deep frying pan on high heat.
2. Pour in the cooking oil.
3. As soon as the oil is hot (it should not overheat to the point of smoking), gently tip in the peanuts. If there is enough oil to cover the peanuts, they can be deep-fried in one batch. If not, take care to fry in two or three batches.
4. Stir gently and occasionally to fry the peanuts uniformly.
5. You can hear the peanuts popping for around 3 minutes. As the popping stops, lower the heat and continue to fry, stirring now and then for 2 more minutes. You can feel the crispiness of the peanuts as you stir them.
6. Lift out gently with a perforated ladle and drain off the excess oil. Let the peanuts cool naturally for 30 minutes or more.
7. When cool, transfer to airtight containers and enjoy. Crunch crunch! 😀

Recipe Notes

The frying time may vary depending on the heat of the stove, the utensil used, the quantity of oil and the size and the maturity of the peanuts. Incidentally, the bigger, the more mature the peanuts, the better the taste!