Shahi Namkeen (Snack) Mixture

Indian food culture is absolutely incomplete without the dry snack mixtures; be it South India or North India, people here need something to munch on either to curb their hunger pangs during the day or as an accompaniment to their evening tea or coffee.

I remember during our childhood days, a huge wooden cabinet in the kitchen was used as a storage for a variety of such homemade snacks; methi nimki, namak paarey, besan ke laddoo, homemade jeera biscuits and nan khatai were some of the regular stuff that was stocked out in small portions whenever we felt hungry or when some guests visited our home. This healthy and absolutely lip smacking shahi namkeen mixture was also one of such snacks and was made quite frequently.
Comprised of assorted nuts blended with spicy, tangy and sweet flavors, it truly used to be an addictive stuff that we loved to have with our tea in the evenings.

Plus, come Diwali, and my Mom would make this mixture in big batches, seal them up in beautiful packets and gift them to close friends and family along with some homemade sweets.

Undoubtedly, an irresistible treat, it certainly needs to be tried out !! Find the recipe and the procedure below.

Shahi Namkeen Mixture

Ingredients

Phool Makhana (foxnuts/puffed lotus seeds) - 1/4 cup
Sabudana (sago) - 1/2 cup
Poha (flattened rice flakes) - 1/4 cup
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Almonds - 1/4 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Sunflower seeds (optional) - 2 tbsp
Pumpkin seeds (optional) - 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/2 tbsp
Saunf (fennel seeds) - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1/2 cup
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Black pepper powder - approx. 2 tsp or as per your taste
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Citric acid (powder) - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1.5 to 2 cups

Shahi Namkeen Mixture

Method

1. First wash and soak the sabudana for 4 to 5 hours. Drain and keep aside.
2. In a wok, pour oil for frying. Let it heat nicely.
3. Put in the sabudana and fry on medium heat. Do this step cautiously as sabudana would pop and splutter.
4. Once it is fried nicely, drain on an absorbent paper.
5. In the same oil, fry the phool makhana on medium flame until they are crisp and golden.
6. Dish them out too on an absorbent paper. Next, fry the poha.
7. Note that poha would be fried in an instant. Dish it out too on a separate absorbent paper.
8. Next, remove the excess oil from the wok, leaving only about a tbsp.
9. On low heat, saute peanuts, almonds, cashews, raisins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
10. Once they turn crisp and golden, take them out on a plate.
11. Let everything cool down a little after which mix them together in a bowl.
12. Now, again in the wok, heat about 1 tbsp of oil.
13. On medium-low flame, put in curry leaves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and saunf.
14. Once the curry leaves are crisp, add haldi and mix nicely.
15. Pour this masala over the nuts, sabudana and makhana mix. Give a nice stir. Let this mix cool completely.
16. Once it is cooled, season it with salt, sugar and citric acid. Mix nicely and enjoy with a cup of hot tea. Store in an air-tight container for later consumption.

Shahi Namkeen Mixture