Chaat Masala Seasoned Peanuts and Chickpeas

Today I am going to share with you a super easy recipe that comes together in a matter of minutes. This is something my mom used to make all the time just for my husband. Before we got married when I was living with my parents, I think sometimes my husband used to come visit me just so that he could get a fresh batch of this stuff from my mom. He LOVES it. My mom used to fill up multiple gallon ziplock bags with this and send it back with him whenever he left our house. After we got married, the first time my mom came to visit us, my husband only requested that she bring this with her. Instead my mom brought the raw ingredients and just made it in front of me to show me how its done. Since then I have been making it every 2 weeks for my husband. These days, he keeps a large container of it at work with him so that if he ever gets hungry during the afternoon he can snack on it. This is a great source of protein and is a snack you definitely don’t have to feel guilty about eating =). 

Indian people, as with most people, LOVE to snack. You will never go into an Indian persons home and not see at least 2-3 snacks sitting in bowls on the coffee table or kitchen island. At least one of those snacks usually always includes nuts. Most people these days just buy the snacks ready-made at the indian grocery store. There is a huge variety of different mixes that you can buy, I am guilty of buying them myself. It’s convenient to keep around for when guests are coming. This peanut and chickpea snack though is a perfect addition to your snack arsenal, and the best part is you can say you made it yourself! Sure we are using pre-roasted peanuts and chickpeas (you can absolutely roast these yourself), but bringing the whole thing together, that’s something that we are doing ourself. So you absolutely can say that you made it! =)

Let me walk you through just how easy it is! 

First we start with our main ingredients. These were the same or equivalents that my mom brought from NJ with her. I just found what I could at my local Indian store. If you do not live near a South Asian Grocery store, fret not, you can easily find these on Amazon. Here are the links: Roasted Chana and Roasted Peanuts. It’s important that they don’t already be seasoned since we are going to be adding the seasoning. The roasted chickpeas I use are the same variety of chickpea that I use in my Dry Kala Chana (Black Chickpeas) recipe. They are not the same white chickpeas that you are used to seeing in regular grocery stores, these are a little bit smaller and a little bit crunchier.

It doesn’t really matter how much you make, the important part is to take equal parts of each and mix them together. I pre-mixed them together into a bowl.

We are going to heat some neutral oil into a large sauté pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the chickpeas and peanuts mixture. At first you will notice that the oil will coat the mixture and give it a shiny hue.

Mix everything around every 30 seconds to ensure that nothing burns. After a couple of minutes the shine will go away and the peanuts and chickpeas will feel really warm if you hover your hand above them. You want them to be heated throughout. If you pick one up, it should be hot. Once it reaches this point you can take the pan off the heat.

After the pan is off the heat, add your Chaat Masala.  Mix it all in. It should stick quite well to the hot peanuts and chickpeas. Taste a piece and see if you have seasoned it enough. You can always add more at this point.

After that you can transfer everything to a bowl to cool. While it’s warm it won’t be as crunchy, but when it cools the crunch will come back. That’s it! It’s so easy and simple! =) Enjoy! =)

I hope you give this recipe a try for yourself! Please be sure to let me know in the comments if you do! I would love to hear what you thought of it! Be sure to subscribe so that you can be notified when I post new recipes! (link in the sidebar). Follow me on Instagram @saltyoversweet and find me on Facebook (the link is in the sidebar).

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