Roasted Mexican Almonds

I was not raised to consume many dry fruits growing up. My mother still treats dry fruits and nuts with a lot f respect, they are meant to be used for special occasions. So you  can easily find a lot of nuts in a basic sheera recipe to the regal biryani recipes. However munching on nuts as evening snack was unheard of...the side of the this spectrum is my post marriage family...My MIL feeds all and sundry with nuts. From the Gods to the guests everyone can munch freely on nuts as much as you like. Her range of nuts are almonds, cashews and raisins..She is not fond of making very heavy on tummy food recipes barring a few sweets which do not necessarily need any cashews or almonds - the popular nuts in Indian sweets.
This also reflects in our kitchen, while I am always picking small packets of expensive nuts and preserve them like gold in the farthest corner of my refrigerator to use only for special meals, my DH goes on buying this in kilos. 

Roasting nuts for snacks is a mid path we found to  deal with this ...While there is no great recipe to share as we keep playing with various flavors both Indian and non Indian but as part of my JTTC research, I came across this idea when I saw various beverages accompanied with nuts. 

I played with some flavors that I associate with Mexico or say latin america...boy was it good? I am completely hooked 



Ingredients
2 cups Almonds or cashews or pecans whatever you like
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tspn chilly powder
1 /2 tspn cocoa powder
1 tspn lemon juice
1 tspn black pepper
1 pinch of allspice powder
salt to taste
Method
1) In a bowl, mix the almonds with all the other ingredients. Let it seat for 10 min
2) Roast this in a preheated oven at 180 c for 10-12 min. Keep checking and shaking them after every 3-4 min. You can also roast them in a pan.
3) Let it stand. At this point, you can add a little more sugar if you want some crunch on the top. I avoided this..

 

Comments

MySpicyKitchen said…
With all those spices, it must have tasted great.
Crunchy roasted almonds are very addictive, one just can't stop munching these.
Srividhya said…
Thats a great mix of all spices and tastes. Bitter, sweet and spicy. great snack.
Suma Gandlur said…
I am loving the play of contrasting flavors here.
I guess most of our mothers in India are like yours when it comes to stocking dry fruits. Here in U.S. buying nuts in pounds is so common that my daughter snacks on them as if it is her meal.
Srivalli said…
Almonds must have tasted yummy with all that flavours..good one..
Priya Suresh said…
Wish to munch some rite now, ultimate almonds, prefect snacks.
Gayathri Kumar said…
Tempting bowl of roasted almonds. The spices in it sound so flavourful..
Love the spices that went into the snack, looks and sounds flavorful
Pavani said…
I'm like you -- I guard my nuts with my life while my husband eats them by the palmful every time he sees them :-)
Those roasted almonds sound delicious -- may be I should try them for my husband.
Smruti Ashar said…
So good to find like minded people :) I do exactly as you. I loved your almonds with all the spices.

Popular Posts