Smitten by the brittle bug, I continue my jaggery journey with peanuts and dry fruits. If anyone tells you – Kadalai Mittai and Ellu Mittai are one of his or her favourite snacks, waste no time in guessing their age. They must surely be in their late thirties or beyond…. Rarely early thirties…. More certainly, they grew up in a traditional environment with no space for the likes of popular fast food Giants.

Before our children look at us as bizarre creatures from an alien world – who say no to burgers or croissants for snacks, it’s high time we train them to accept the goodness of healthy traditional stuff. If you are already an alien, waste no time. Start immediately. Make them feel comfortable with their snack boxes with no junk. Now, before defining what is junk to our children, I think WE should understand JUNK.

One can’t actually make out what is junk and what is not. Correct me if am wrong…….

Junk can just be that which is craft fully made, temptingly displayed, yet made with UNHEALTHY ingredients.

A good snack or food can be equally craft fully made, temptingly displayed, yet not accepted as it is what your mother served you at home.

This acceptance of home made or even store bought traditional foods, would develop only if we change as a community of parents. Peer pressure seems to be the most common and simple reason for falling into certain traps… especially into the trap laid by fast food Giants . Peer pressure contributes to what children prefer packing to school for snacks and lunch.

With no more thoughts to elaborate, let us start making Kadalai Mittai (peanut brittles) and dry fruit brittle… Anytime healthier than snacks that constitute white flour, white sugar white butter. Brittles are called Chikkies in the northern part of India.

I didn’t want to do separate posts for both brittles… The method being the same and just alteration of nuts, this is a post with dual recipes.

Kadalai Mittai (Peanut Brittles)

Ingredients

• kadalai/peanuts – 2 cups
• vellam/jaggery – 1 1/2 cups
• water – 1/2 cup
• chukku podi/dry ginger powder – 2 tsp
• elakkai podi/cardamom powder- 2 tsp

Dry fruit Mittai (Dry fruit brittles)

Ingredients

• combination of almonds, walnuts, cashewnuts, peanuts (one may also include pecan nuts, hazelnuts) – coarsely chopped – 2 cups
• vellam/jaggery – 1 1/2 cups
• water – 1/2 cup
• chukku podi/dry ginger powder – 2 tsp
• elakkai podi/cardamom powder- 2 tsp

Method of Preparation

1. Dry roast peanuts and keep aside / Coarsely chop mixed nuts, dry roast them and keep aside.
2. The procedure is the same for any brittle…
3. Grease a flat tray
4. Heat up jaggery and water until jaggery dissolves
5. Strain the liquid
6. Boil the jaggery water along with cardamom and dry ginger powder until it reaches hard ball consistency – place a bowl with water and drop the syrup into it. If the syrup doesn’t melt and turns to a harder ball, that’s right for making brittles
7. Switch off stove, mix the roasted peanuts and spread on greased tray.
8. Make slices while hot with a greased sharp knife
9. Break the pieces when cold.
10. Store in air tight containers.

Note:

1. If one is unable to cut perfect bars, just break the brittles into random pieces… The crispy bars are what you want.
2. If one hasn’t got the right consistency, if the brittles are chewy…no worries they are equally good while sticky
3. If they turned out harder…. they taste like toffees, first suck the jaggery juice and then eat the peanuts.

Come along, Life is all about positivity.