5 simple munchies you can stir up at home
- We love the crunch of a crisp as much as we hate the rustle of the plastic packet that it comes wrapped in. With these home-made recipes, you can skip the noise.
In these quarantined times of ‘Netflix and no chill’, here’s how we’re stocking up on crispies that you can stir up at home. But what we love even more about these is that with a little bit of mindful shopping on our part, these can also be free of plastic packaging! All branded chips arrive in plastic packets, which are multi-layered with plastic and aluminium, and therefore unsuitable for recycling. They invariably end up in landfills or the oceans and lakes. The only way to avoid them therefore is to avoid buying packaged snacks. It’s all good, until you realise that you absolutely need some savouries to munch on while streaming a show!
So here’s what you can do. Some healthy-ish, homemade, package-free alternatives.
Khakhra with Hummus Dip
For the Khakhra:
Ingredients:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2-3 tbsp besan flour
A handful of fenugreek (methi) leaves
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp milk
Water as necessary
Oil
Salt to taste
Method:
Bring together all ingredients and fold them into firm dough. Pinch lemon-sized bits of dough, and roll them into a thin chapatti. Fry the chapatti on an iron tawa while continuously pressing on the chapatti with kitchen muslin.
Store in an airtight container for a fortnight.
For the Hummus Dip:
1 cup chickpeas
Lots of peeled garlic
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
Chilli powder
Salt to taste
Method:
Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Pressure-cook them until soft and mash them. Reserve the water leftover from the cooked chickpeas. Dry roast sesame seeds and grind to a fine paste along with garlic. Now add the mashed chickpeas to the grinder and give it another whirl or two. Add the reserve water that you had kept aside as needed, along with olive oil, cumin, salt and chilli powder to suit that consistency that you’d like.
Put it in a pretty bowl, pour some extra olive oil and give it an artistic swirl!
Roasted Makhana
Ingredients:
100 gms makhana
Butter/ghee as per taste
Salt to taste
Half-tsp turmeric
Half-tsp black pepper
A pinch of asafoetida
Packed with protein, this is a super-healthy replacement for popcorn!
Make sure you buy loose puffed makhana at your grocer’s. Warm up a large wok. Throw in a generous pat of butter/ghee. When it melts, add turmeric powder, ground black pepper, a pinch of asafoetida and salt. Toss in the makhanas and stir around until coated and crisp!
Grilled Sweet Potato Chips
Ingredients:
1-2 sweet potatoes
Salt to taste
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Not crispy but oh-so-yummy! Take a large batch of sweet potatoes and scrub squeaky-clean because we are going to keep the skins on for colour and crunch! Cut thin circlets, coat with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast them on a griddle pan over medium heat. Flip when you see grill marks at the bottom. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan!
Popcorn
Ingredients:
100 gms corn kernels
Butter/oil to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Oh no, don’t reach for the quick 2-minute popcorn in the supermarket aisles. Instead, go to the local grocer with a cloth bag and get some corn kernels. Melt butter in a thick-bottomed pan or a pressure cooker. Throw in the corn kernels. Cover the cooker with the lid, while leaving a small gap for the steam to escape. Wait for a few minutes. Hear the pops? Wait some more until the pops slow down. Then empty the buttery goodness in a large bowl.
If you are anything like us, melt some extra butter, add some extra salt and pepper and pour all over the popped corn!
Corn Chiwda
Ingredients:
¼ kg loose, dried corn flakes (makka poha)
Salt to taste
½ tsp turmeric
1 and a ½ tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
A few curry leaves
8-10 Cashew nuts
Handful Peanuts
Sounds elaborate, we know. But here’s an easy recipe. Buy a quarter kg of loose dried corn flakes (Makka poha) from the grocer. Deep-fry in oil to get crispy, puffy golden cornflakes. Transfer to a big bowl, add salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and mix while still hot. If you have some extra time, throw in fried cashew nuts, peanuts and curry leaves!
Eco-Conscious Shopping- 
