Chevra

"This snack was a favourite in our house, especially as exam season tended to start soon after Deepavali and it was a late-night saviour we enjoyed with mugs of tea or Milo. This version uses fried samoosa pastry shards or phyllo pastry and poppadums instead of the classic cornflakes and puffed rice." - ISHAY GOVENDER

INGREDIENTS: 

• vegetable oil, for frying
• 4-5 poppadoms
• 2-3 sheets samoosa or phyllo pastry, cut into thin strips
• 250 g shelled peanuts
• 100 g cashew nuts, roughly chopped
• 200 g coconut flakes
• 1 T fennel seeds
• 2 green chillies, sliced (adjust to taste)
• 125 g golden sultanas
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt, to taste
• 1 t chilli powder (optional)

METHOD:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the poppadoms and samoosa pastry until crispy. If using phyllo pastry, bake it with the nuts. Crumble the poppadoms and pastry into small pieces, place in a bowl and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the nuts and coconut flakes on a baking tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden, shaking the tray halfway.
3. Place 4T oil, the fennel, chillies, sultanas and curry leaves in a saucepan over a medium heat and fry until fragrant. Drain on kitchen paper.
4. Add to the poppadom mixture, and mix with the sugar, salt and chilli powder.