Spiced Puffs.

"Spiced Puffs" ... these are I believe prepared using grains and millets and the taste is closer to lotus seeds ... found them in a organic stores today ... believed to be less in calories as they are popped and you just need to roast them crisp, season them with spices and enjoy for those in between hunger pangs or when you catch up to chat with friends ... prepared just like our chuda/ chivda/ mixture ... Yummilicious ... 

** I came across these today in a store under organic section, though there was no label claiming the same, so I really cannot pinpoint on this one except for the assurance of the store keeper. 2 yeas back during Diwali I had prepared spiced puffed Lotus seeds which is available throughout the world and this one tasted close to the same. I just bought a packet to try out the same as I was assured it was very less in calorie content. Well, its Diwali time when we hog in goodies which means somewhere we need to balance on not overloading ourselves with high calorie food, so prepared these today. As mentioned on title I just roasted them and spiced them. I have also added on some roasted gram and peanuts to it to make it more appealing while the recipe is the same as for chuda/ chivda etc. 

** To prepare "Spiced Puffs" … I have used these puffed snack available in the stores. 

** Heat a thick bottomed kadai and add in the puffs and fry on medium heat till they turn crisp. It will take about 8-10 minutes depending upon the amount added on. Do not overcrowd the kadai, add only upto half level, so that you are able to stir it easily without scattering them out. Once they are crisp, remove them on a plate and repeat till all are done. I prepared a pack of 500 gms. 

** Now in the same kadai add in 1 tsp of any edible oil/ tel, when hot add in ¼ tsp of mustard seeds (sasam/ rai), when they splutter, lower the heat and add in a few curry leaves (kadipatta/ karbevu) and stir for a second. Now add in a pinch of haldi (turmeric) powder, 1 tsp of red chilly powder (mirsangi pitti/ mirchi powder), ¼ tsp of hing (asafoetida) powder and fry for a few seconds. 

** Now add in ½ cup of roasted gram (putani) and handful of roasted groundnuts (peanuts/ kadlo) and fry for 2 minutes. Add in a large pinch of kala namak or any salt (namak/ meeta) to taste and stir a bit, now add back the roasted puffs and keep tossing them till they are evenly coated with the spices. It will take just about a minute or two. Let cool before you store in air tight container. 

** "Spiced Puffs" are done and ready to be served. Wasn’t that fast and easy. Now relax and enjoy them when you catch up on a good movie on the TV or want to watch your favorite serial. Children love to munch on these and if some of the members in the family do not want them spiced for health reasons or any other reason, you can even consume them just roasted, with a pinch of salt mixed in. 

** Note : These puffs already had a little bit of addition of salt so I have added just a dash of the same. You can leave it out if you do not want to add more salt or more if you like salty, but do check the salt content before adding the same. 

** Note : I must confess here that these are store bought puff/ popcorn sort of crisps prepared I believe with a combo of grains and millet. I really have no knowledge of its contents, but they are safe I presume as I bought them in authorized store.