Mumbai is a metropolis that is for the working man and by the working man. Till the early 80s, Mumbai was a place where all kinds of mills and manufacturing industries thrived. These factories were often manned by men who came alone to this great city, leaving families behind, to eke out a living.
It is this working populace that gave rise to an assorted range of oddities that are so peculiarly Mumbai. The chawl system, one room tenements with shared sanitation facilities, were built to accommodate this migrant population. Another is the eclectic Mumbai street food. If you observe almost all of Mumbai’s street food is healthy and filling; be it Pav Bhaji, Tava Pulao, Misal Pav, Vada Pav, Sandwich, or Anda Bhurji. While these dishes are primarily used as lunch or dinner, Mumbai also has a vast range of dishes that can be classified as snacks.
The snacks that you commonly find on Mumbai’s streets range from filling Ragda Patties to the light Bhel to boiled & spiced green chickpeas (hara chana) to simple roasted peanuts.
One snack that has almost disappeared from Mumbai streets is the humble boiled peanut. There is no greater pleasure on a rainy evening than warm, salty boiled peanuts with some hot adrakwali chai. Boiled peanuts used to be freely available in Mumbai, but over the past few years it has become difficult to find any. As a result, when I saw peanuts in their shell the other day in the market, I jumped at the chance to make some at home.
Serves: 4
Time: 2 hrs
Ingredients
- Peanuts in Shell – 1/2 Kg
- Water – 3 Litres
- Salt – 1/2 Cup
Method
- Gently scrub the shells and hold under running water to get rid of any dirt.
- In a pressure cooker, add the water, salt and peanuts in the shells.
- Cook for 6 whistles (6 releases of pressure).
- Keep the pressure cooker closed for another 30 minutes.
- Drain the water.
- Shell the peanuts and enjoy with some hot masala tea.
Tips
- Do not fret about the amount of salt. You need that much (or even a bit more) if the salty taste has to penetrate the shell and make it to the peanuts.
- You know the peanuts are done if you bite into a shelled peanut and find that it is soft yet firm and just a tad bit salty. If the peanut is squishy you have overcooked it; if peanut is still hard then you have to cook it somewhere.
Boiled peanuts is served as a snack in the southern US also, its wonderful and I love how you serve with a chai or deeply flavored tea.
Wow !! my favorite snack
I love to have this as a chat, with chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves etc…
We used to get it at almost every street corner in Mumbai, but now it is an esoteric item. 🙁
I love boiled peanuts.
Never visited Mumbai, happy to know lot of intertesing stuff from your post. Boiled peanut is my favorite. In chennai marina beach, boiled peanut sundal with raw mango, onion is very famous after reading your intro I was thinking about those days spent in chennai.
Interesting! Never had these and have lived eight years in Bombay 🙂
If it was the immediate past 8 year, Garima, I am not surprised. 🙁
Yeah it was 🙁
The best ever!
So much to learn about Mumbai and its street food. Boiled peanuts look really good!
Boiled peanuts is popular in South India Aruna. They usually serve it with mixed with chopped onions, spices, green chillies and some grated carrots. It is totally delicious!!!
Will try it that way next time.
Boiled peanuts!!Now dats a good power packed snack in itself Aruna!!
I made some last weekend…what a coincidence! I love the salty taste locked inside the shell. It has an earthy flavour and reminds me of home and all the instances I had it. Thank you Aruna, for the boiled peanuts and a trip down memory lane!
Reblogged this on MAXIMUSOPTIMUSDOMINUS.
wow!! these look tempting 🙂 we often eat these as our evening snack. Raw peanuts will also be good if we roast them 🙂
True. .. but there is something about salty warm boiled peanuts that appeals to me. :’)
I love boiled peanuts and remember them being sold all over the street in Mumbai. It was always a bhaiya selling a mound of peanuts and a mound of cut up sugarcane. I’m not sure what the reason for the tight bond was but it could be something to do with how they are farmed.
Boiled peanuts looks very tempting and Mumbai streets are famous for chats, beverages ……This takes back to our childhood day….good old memories…
my absolute favorite!! And so simple too.