Bombay-Style Masala Peanuts with Curry Leaves & Chaat Masala

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The paper-cone snack sold at Indian railway platforms and evening markets: raw peanuts jacketed in a thin, spiced chickpea-flour batter and fried until the shell shatters. Fried curry leaves and slit green chiles go into the same oil, a shower of chaat masala hits everything hot, and the whole thing cools into an addictive, gravel-crunchy pile. Serve it the street way — heaped in a paper cone with raw onion, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Ingredients

• 2 cups raw skin-on peanuts (about 10 oz), preferably small Spanish peanuts
• 3/4 cup besan (chickpea flour), spooned and leveled
• 3 tbsp rice flour
• 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder (or 1 tsp paprika plus 1/2 tsp cayenne)
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ajwain (carom) seeds, lightly crushed
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing), optional
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp hot frying oil, taken from the pot
• 5 tbsp water, plus more as needed

• 4 cups neutral oil for frying (peanut, canola or sunflower)
• 25 leaves fresh curry leaves, patted very dry
• 3 green chiles (serrano or Indian), slit lengthwise
• 1 1/2 tsp chaat masala
• 1/2 tsp amchur (dried mango powder)
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp flaky salt, or to taste

• 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
• 3 tbsp cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Pick over the peanuts and discard any shriveled ones. Rinse them in a strainer under cold water, then shake hard and spread on a towel — you want them damp but not dripping. Damp peanuts are what makes the batter cling.
2. Pour the frying oil into a deep, heavy 4- to 5-quart pot to a depth of about 2 inches and set over medium heat. Clip on a thermometer and bring it to 325°F while you mix the batter. Line a sheet pan with paper towels and set a wire rack nearby.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the besan, rice flour, fine salt, Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric, ground coriander, ajwain, asafoetida and baking soda. Carefully spoon 1 tablespoon of the heating oil into the dry mix and rub it in with your fingertips until the flour looks sandy — this shortens the crust so it snaps instead of turning leathery.
4. Add the damp peanuts to the bowl and toss until every nut is dusted. Sprinkle in the water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with your hands after each addition, until the peanuts are coated in a thick, clinging paste and mostly separate — about 5 tablespoons total. The mix should look like wet gravel, not like a single dough ball. If it clumps, sprinkle in another teaspoon of besan.
5. Test the oil with one coated peanut: it should sizzle steadily and rise within 3 seconds. Working in 4 batches, drop the peanuts in a few at a time, scattering them so they don't fuse. Each batch should cover no more than two-thirds of the oil's surface.
6. Fry each batch 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes, stirring gently with a spider or slotted spoon after the first minute to break up clusters. The bubbling will slow noticeably and the coating will turn a deep golden brown; the sizzle should sound dry and crackly. Lift out and spread on the paper-towel-lined pan in a single layer.
7. Let the oil come back up to 325°F between batches and adjust the heat as needed — besan browns fast once the oil creeps past 350°F.
8. After the last batch, turn off the heat and let the oil cool for 1 minute (to about 300°F). Stand back, add the curry leaves and slit chiles, and fry 20 to 30 seconds until the leaves stop spitting and go translucent-crisp. Scoop them out immediately onto the peanuts.
9. While everything is still hot, transfer the peanuts, leaves and chiles to a wide bowl and sprinkle with the chaat masala, amchur, black pepper and flaky salt. Toss with your hands, crumbling the curry leaves as you go, then taste and add a little more chaat masala if you want it sharper.
10. Spread the peanuts back out on the rack and let them cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes — they crisp fully as they cool. Just before serving, toss with the diced onion and cilantro and pile into paper cones or a bowl, with lime wedges alongside.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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