Mixture (Mixer)

Mixture or "mixer" as I have been fondly calling it since childhood :) is a very popular snack in Sri Lanka and India. In our family, we prepare mixture with fried chickpeas, yellow lentils, dry-roasted cashews, salty peanuts and gram murukku. Making mixture is a time consuming process that requires copious amounts of oil but this snack has a long "expiry" date and is usually enjoyed by everyone in the household. It has been ages since we made this but with the upcoming festive season, it was about time we made this protein-packed snack.

Mixture:
2 cups chickpeas
2 cups yellow lentils
1 cup salty peanuts

Cashew nuts
4-5 sprigs of curry leaves
500 ml coconut oil for deep frying
Salt and ground chili powder to taste

Murukku:
2 cups gram flour (ground yellow lentil flour)
1 cup all purpose flour or rice flour
1/2 tsp ground ajwain
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tsp ground chili powder
Salt to taste
Hot water

Step 1: Soak the chickpeas and the yellow lentils for 10-12 hours. Wash them again and drain from excess water. In a large pan heat the oil. Deep fry the yellow lentils. Deep-fry them in 2-3 batches. When you place them in the oil they will sink to the bottom. Once they are properly fried, they will start to float to top (see pictures). It will take about 10 minutes to deep fry them. Take some out and taste. They should be medium crunchy (they will get more crunchy once you have taken them out). Place them on tissue paper to drain the excess oil. Add salt and ground chili powder and mix while the lentils are still warm. Taste and adjust spices.

Step 2: Drain the chickpeas from water. This is very important as some of the chickpeas tend to "explode" and fly off in different directions while you deep-fry them. Place the chickpeas in a spoon and put them in the oil. Don't stay or sit close-by because one or two chickpeas always tend fly out in different directions. Deep-fry the chickpeas for about 15 minutes in 2-3 batches. Taste the chickpeas. They should be crunchy. Take them out and place them on a tissue paper. Add salt and ground chili powder while the chickpeas are still warm and mix with a spoon. Taste and adjust spices.

Step 3: To make the murukku, mix both flour types in a bowl. Add salt, turmeric, ground chili powder and dry roasted, ground ajwain and mix. Heat some water. Pour a small quantity of the water in the flour och wait for 3 minutes and then mix with a spoon and repeat this process until you get the same batter texture as seen below. 

Stuff an idiyappam/murukku maker with this batter and press it into the oil (see picture below). You'll have to repeat this process many a times till you finish the batter. Fry the murukku on both sides until golden brown. Take it out and place it on a tissue paper.

Step 4: Crush the murukku. Mix the deep-fried chickpeas, yellow lentils and the murukku in a large bowl. Dry roast some cashews and add them to the mixture. You can use store-bought salted peanuts or you can dry roast raw peanuts (I used a combination of both) and add them to the mixture. Lastly, add fried curry leaves and mix. Taste and adjust spices, if needed. Good luck! 

I am sending this as my entry to "Snacks Mela" by cooking cooking4allseasons.