Chiwda Namkeen Recipe (Fried Poha Chivda) - Spice Up The Curry (2024)

Published: Oct 29, 2015 · Last Modified: Oct 11, 2019 by Kanan Patel / 8 Comments

Chiwda namkeen recipe for Diwali festival! It’s medium spicy with a balanced flavor of sweet and tangy. In short, it has ‘chatpata’ taste. It is one of the popular Diwali namkeen recipes where all the ingredients are deep fried and tossed with spice mixture. Hence the name fried poha chivda.

Region by region; the taste, flavor, and name of it may vary. This is also known as namkeen or poha mixture or jada poha chivda or chevdo or chivda.

What is Chiwada & it’s variations?

• Chiwda or chivda is the savory dry snack (namkeen) made with a mixture of many fried elements like sev, poha, nuts, green chilies.
• Today’s recipe is fried poha chivda. This is indulging and high-calorie snack because everything is deep fried. But that is fine, after all, we are making this only once a year during Diwali.
• Another version is roasted poha chivda which is healthier than this fried one.

Check out other chivda recipes
Corn flakes chivda // Cereal chivda // Sabudana chivda

What kind of poha to use in Chiwada namkeen?

In this fried poha chivda, always use thick poha (jada poha or mota poha). This is the same poha which we use in making batata poha.

How to make Poha Chiwda Recipe?

1) First, measure all the ingredients and keep handy on the countertop. Because we will need them one by one.

2) Get all the spices (red chili powder, turmeric powder, fennel seeds powder) and salt, sugar, citric acid and sesame seeds in a bowl. Mix well and keep it aside till needed.

3) Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat for deep frying. we will be frying all the ingredients one by one.

4) We will start with the nuts. Once the oil is hot, take peanuts in a sieve and immerse the sieve in the oil. fry the peanuts till they are light brown in color. It won’t take much time. Remove them in a large bowl.

5) Next, fry the cashew nuts the same way. They will get a light golden color, again remove them in the same bowl.

6) Next fry the raisins. Within seconds, they will get plump up. Immediately remove them, If fried for longer then it will become chewy.

7) Now we have fried all the nuts and raisins. Next is to fry the poha. Fry them in batches. I have fried 2 tablespoons at a time.

8) Fry them till they are expanded in the size. No need to brown them. It won’t take that much time to fry, so you need to work quickly. Keep frying and keep collecting them in a bowl till you are finished with all the poha.

9) Now poha is still hot or warm, sprinkle the spice mixture on it. Mix it immediately. Keep in mind that always mix spices while poha is still warm.

10) Now back to the frying, fry the slit green chilies till fried completely. We do not want any moisture left in the chilies.

11) Do the same with curry leaves. Fry till leaves are crispy and no more moisture in them.

12) Add them to the chivda and mix well.

Let it cool down completely. Then store in the dabba or container. It stays good for 2-3 weeks.

Notes on making BEST Chiwda:

• The quantity of peanuts, cashews, raisins, dalia are adjustable. I prefer more poha compared to the nuts. While many prefer more nuts vs poha. So adjust it accordingly. This proportion works for my family.
• Be careful while adding citric acid. a very small pinch is enough this quantity of chivda. When I say pinch, I really mean it. Little goes a long way.
• Instead of citric acid, you can use amchur powder.
• Do not over fry the raisins, otherwise, they become chewy.
• Always add, mix the spice powder mixture while poha is hot/warm. Otherwise, spices will not stick to the poha.
• If making a bigger batch of it then fry small portion, add spices, mix. Then fry next batch do the same and then fry the third batch and so on. Because poha is still hot/warm, turmeric will get its color quickly and evenly on the poha and spices will get mixed properly.
• Also as soon as spices hit the warm poha, the raw edge of spices will go away. So you won’t get the raw flavor of spices.

Check out more Diwali namkeen recipes
Chakli // Namak pare // Tikha gathiya // Aloo sev

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