Rice Krispies Chivda ~ Savory Snack made with rice krispies and mixed nuts ~ With Stepwise pictures

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Traditionally chivda is a snack served in the western region of India to be had at tea time.It is normally made with thin beaten rice flakes or puffed rice and peanuts and and sometimes, raisins and dried coconuts in them. In an attempt to making this healthier and creating a snack that incorporates more nuts I first experimented with making this recipe with Rice Krispies more than a year back.I loved the way it tasted and this snack has been a regular in my home ever since that first try and has come to my aid numerous times when I have been looking to make a quick savory healthy snack.

This is a very simple recipe and quick to make if all ingredients are at hand.It can also be stored in an airtight container for a week easily.The combination of cumin,green chillies and sesame seeds provide unique flavors that are pretty interesting and irresistible.Try this with a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate or pretty much anytime the dreaded craving for a snack hits.




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Ingredients and method to make this chivda
5 cups Rice Krispies (see notes)
1/2 cup raw peanuts/mungphali/kadalai  (see notes)

1/2 cup raw mixed nuts (almonds/badam, cashews/kaju, pistachios/pista)(see notes)
2/3 cup dark raisins (kishmish)
5 tsp brown sesame seeds (til/ellu)(optional)
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/jeeragam)
4 Thai or Indian variety green chillies cut very fine (hari mirch/pachai molagai)( or according to taste )
1/8 tsp of cumin powder (jeera powder) (optional)
1/4 tsp chili powder (lal mirch) (optional)
salt to taste (namak/uppu)
1/2 tsp sugar (shakkar/sakkarai) (optional)

Heat oil in a large pan.Add the cumin seeds and the green chillies to it. When the green chillies splutter a little and the skin of the green chillies start turning a little white,lower heat and add the raw peanuts and stir for a few minutes until the peanuts get roasted.

                   

Maintain heat at low to medium low and add other nuts and stir until the other nuts get lightly roasted. Then add sesame seeds and stir for about a few seconds on low to medium low heat. They will begin to pop a little. Add raisins and stir a few times.

Add cumin powder and chili powder if using and mix well. Add rice krispies and mix well.

Add salt to taste and sugar and mix well.

Cool the entire mixture thoroughly before storing in an air tight container.

Enjoy this healthy snack.

Notes:
Any combination of nuts can be used in this recipe in addition to peanuts, sometimes I use a combination of cashews, pistachios and almonds. The time that I took the stepwise pics I used only almonds, cut in half. 

If you have roasted variety of nuts, then add them stir a few times, then continue with the rest of the recipe. It will definitely be much quicker with roasted nuts.

If you do not have rice krispies you can also use puffed rice (kurmura/murmura) in its place.

The most convenient thing about this snack is that adjustments are so easy to make, if it has a little bit more heat/spiciness than you expected, just add 1/2 a cup or 1 cup more of rice krispies, mix well and it gets corrected :)