Peanut Candy (Chikki)

(

Some years back we had booked our vacation from Brussels to India by Al-Italia.  Some friends who had flown Al-Italia before warned us that they go unexpectedly on strikes.  We thought, "that happens to others and not us".  So the morning of our flight, all excited, we headed to the airport only to be told that the staff of Al-Italia were on strike and we should come back the next day.  I remember the feeling of intense sadness.  Here we were, planning our vacation for weeks, if not months and when the day finally comes, we are told we could not go.  Of course there was nothing to be done, but take our bags and go back home and sleep off the day.  The next day we got our flights.  We never booked Al-Italia again and a couple of years later they went bankrupt.  Now, during this holiday season, seeing the hundreds of passengers stranded on airports due to the bad weather conditions in Europe, my heart goes out to all of them.  

This candy is famously called "chikki" in India.  They are packed individually or together in transparent cellophane and sold in these little "mom & pop" grocery shops.  I remember as a child buying these and sucking on them and enjoying the sweetness of the caramelized sugar and nuts.    I have used peanuts in this recipe - but you could substitute that with cashew nuts, almonds or even dry coconut gratings.  Now I like this best with some unsweetened black tea.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Makes 10 squares

Ingredients:

200 grams Peanuts

200 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

Baking sheet

Method:

1. Roast the peanuts in a pan till brown on all sides.  Rub between your hands to get rid of the skin as much as possible. 
2. Coarsely grind the peanuts.   Keep aside.
3. Heat a vessel on low flame and add the sugar. 
4. Let it melt and turn a light brown.  Keep stirring.
5. Now add the ground peanuts and cardamom powder and mix well.  Take off from fire.
6. Pour on a plate lined with baking paper. 
7. Roll or flatten with the back side of a spoon when still hot, mark it, cool and take out the pieces.

Peanut Biscuits

Every evening after school I remember we would be expecting mom to make some snacks for us when we got home. Sometimes they would be sweet and sometimes savoury. For some reason, my daughter gets home every evening and expects me to have prepared something for her. Since I work and get home usually only by 15:30, there is not much time to prepare something. So she settles for something ready-made too - like some cookies or a sandwich or some pastry. However, she loves home baked cookies and the below recipe is as simple as it can get.

Here in the West we call them peanuts whereas in India where I was born and brought up, they are called ground nuts. Whatever the name, they are still the same. Usually I try to make some so it can last for a couple of days, but they get over the same evening. So when we want to snack, we just take a couple of these and have with our tea instead of going for "off the shelf" cookies and pastries.

Preparation Time: 30 Mins

Baking Time: 15 Mins

Serves 24 cookies

Raw Peanuts

Ingredients

100 gms coarsely chopped roasted ground nuts

100 gms all purpose Flour

Roasted & Peeled peanuts

100 gms unsalted Butter

100 gms brown sugar

1 tbsp milk

¼ tsp baking powder

Method:

Roast peanuts till you are able to hold them and the skin comes off.  Once roasted, remove the skin by rubbing between your palms.  For the biscuits, make sure the skin is not mixed with the peanuts or they would be bitter.  

Smoothen butter with sugar nicely. Add ground nuts, flour, 1 tbsp milk and mix to a medium soft dough. Keep in fridge for 10 minutes. Take out, knead lightly, divide into 15 portions, lay them on a greased baking tray. Pre heat oven to 180⁰C. Place the tray in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown. Cool. Store in airtight box.