Chivda known as chevda in South Africa and also sometimes called chora, is a spicy savoury snack containing cereals, nuts and other legumes. It may also contain sev, the long gram flour fried sticks, often packed with peanuts and available in most supermarkets.

Ingredients

250g of cornflakes
250g of rice crispies
200g of roasted peanuts (place nuts in a tray and roast for 30 minutes without oil)
100g of roasted peas
200g of roasted coconut slices (use the same method to roast as the nuts)
½ a medium sized onion
5og of butter
1 tablespoon each of fennel and cumin seeds a
2 tablespoons of chilli powder
2 slit green chilli
Salt to taste

Optional

  • Grate 1 medium sized potato and fry till golden brown. Drain oil thoroughly.
  • Any nuts of your choices.
  • Sev can be purchased and added to the mixture.
  • Small balls of boondhi can also be added to the chevda and this is the same as the boondi ladoo recipe but should not be coated in the ladoo syrup.

Method

  1. Fry the onions and green chilli in butter until the onions become transparent in colour. Keep the butter to a minimum to avoid a greasy fry.
  2. Combine the rice crispies, corn flakes, nuts, peas and coconut slices and set this mixture aside.
  3. In a saucepan add in the fennel and cumin seeds and fry for about 1 minute.
  4. Remove the seeds from the heat and grind into a powder.
  5. Add the powder into the cereal, nuts, peas and coconut mixture.
  6. Stir in the chilli powder, onions and chillies.
  7. Stir in the salt to individual taste.
  8. Place the chevda into an oven proof tray and roast for approximately 15 to 20 minutes on 180 degrees.
  9. Allow to cool. The chevda should be crispy and crunchy and ready to serve.