Baked Masala Peanuts / Peanut Bhujiya

Masala peanuts / Peanut bhujiya are loved by everyone equally at our home. Even my 12 year old who considers eating as a punishment needs no nudging when it comes to these spicy peanuts. Though she cannot handle spicy food in general, savory stuff like these peanuts are an exception. She keeps drinking water and goes "ooh aah" because of all the heat but wouldn't stop from munching on this addictive stuff. I too love them equally and so my husband needs no reminders to buy packets of these peanuts whenever he goes shopping. :)
Traditionally peanuts are coated with spicy, thick chickpea flour batter and are then deep fried. I have seen my MIL making them at home but I have never been inclined to prepare them until now. I had promised my daughter the other day that I will make some at home to escape a shopping trip in this cold weather. When I decided to make masala peanuts at home, I thought to make a low cal version instead.
Jugalbandi's version was stuck in my head ever since I saw them posting it and I tried it at last today. This is not the real deal but can be a great substitute if you are trying to cut down some calories. Any other nuts can be used in place of peanuts.

My notes:
1. I greatly recommend using roasted peanuts for this recipe. You will end up with crispier masala peanuts that way. Otherwise you will end up with slightly softer peanuts with a crispy outer shell.
2. I found that the baking time mentioned in the original recipe was longer with my oven settings. After 15 minutes of baking on one side, they were almost on the verge of burning. And so, I baked the second batch for only about 12 minutes, I stirred them and turned off my oven. I left them in the oven for few minutes and removed the tray.

3. 1/3 cup of water used in the recipe is perfectly fine but going by the pictures, the batter I ended up with was not that wet as in the original recipe. While arranging them for baking, separating each peanut is tedious but I did it anyway. You can drop the peanuts in clusters, bake them and then break them to get individual pieces.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of roasted peanuts or any other nuts being used
1.5 cups of besan / chickpea flour
2 tbsp. of rice flour
1 tsp chili powder (Or more if you prefer spicier version)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp. ajwain / carom seeds, coarsely crushed
1/3 cup water

Method:
* Combine flours, salt, chili powder and ajwain in a mixing bowl.
* Divide the mixture into two portions. Add water to one portion and mix well. Then add the roasted peanuts and mix well so that peanuts are coated well with the besan mixture. Now add the remaining besan mixture and mix well. 
* There was no dry flour left at this point, for my batch. If at all there is too much loose flour left, moisten your hands with water and wet the mixture.

* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F / 200 deg C.
* Break the clusters and arrange the peanuts directly on a baking tray. No need to grease or line the baking sheet.
* Bake for about 10 minutes, stir them and bake for another 10 minutes. They turn golden brown and crispy by the time. (See my notes.)

This is going to be a part of
1. BM # 37 under the theme of "Baked Snacks".
2. Srivalli's "Kids' Delight" event, hosted by PJ this month with the theme "Baked Treats For Kids".

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