Anshu's Food Odyssey

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 beautifu