Method:

Take groundnuts into a bowl and place this bowl under a tap and wash them under running water tap. Rub the groundnuts between fingers and wash well to remove all the dirt. Take a bowl and add the washed groundnuts into it. Add salt and water and press with fingers and see to it that all the groundnuts are immersed in water. Add turmeric powder and mix well. As groundnuts come from earth I believe that boiling these groundnuts with turmeric is appropriate as turmeric acts as antiseptic. Now place the bowl in pressure cooker and cover the bowl with a lid. Close the pressure cooker with lid and cook on high flame. After first whistle, cook groundnuts on low flame for 10 minutes. Switch off the stove and allow pressure cooker to cool. Then remove the bowl from the pressure cooker. Place a colander in a bowl and add the cooked groundnuts into the colander to drain water. Take a boiled groundnut and press it between fingers and it would crack open. Observe the boiled peanuts inside the pod. Taste them and observe that they taste slightly salty. It is advisable to keep the cooked groundnuts in the colander for at least two to three hours so that all water drains into the bowl beneath. If tried to open the pods as soon as they are brought out from the pressure cooker, water drips from the pods and makes the place messy. These boiled salted peanuts are a pleasure to enjoy eating chatting with family members. When you see fresh groundnuts in market, do make and eat these boiled and salted peanuts and share the joy with your family members.

Points To Observe:

Fresh groundnuts are soft and appear wet when touched with fingers. When they are fresh the cooking time would be less and if they are old then we need to first soak them overnight and then cook them in salted water.

Amount of salt to be added is a personal choice. Here I have added 2 Tbsps of salt and cooked the groundnuts and the boiled peanuts are appropriately salty to taste. First I have added 1/2tsp salt and tried and did not get the taste. Then I have tried adding 1/2Tbsp salt and still I did not get the taste. Then I have added 2 Tbsps of salt and I got perfectly salted peanuts. I have used iodized salt to cook the groundnuts. Salt per say do not penetrate through the pods to make the peanuts salty. Salt water passes through the gaps in pods and makes the peanuts salty. Observe that if groundnuts are firm and there are no open gaps then those peanuts do not taste salty. When we rub between fingers to wash the groundnuts then also they may get gaps. So adding more salt is advisable to make the peanuts salty to taste.

Adding turmeric powder is optional. I felt that as these groundnuts come from earth and how much ever we may wash them they might be having some dirt or dust on them. So I prefer to add turmeric powder as it is antiseptic.

We need company to enjoy these boiled peanuts. Watching a TV show or a movie also cannot provide that company. Somebody should be there to chat while eating these boiled peanuts. As we need to crack open the pods and remove the peanuts we need company for time pass. What else would be a better option than family members gathering and recollecting their own childhood days while enjoying these tasty munches. These days we see people watching something on cell phones and laptops---we see them engrossed and it has become an addiction. To come out of that addiction and enjoy a chat with your family members, munching these boiled peanuts is a right option isn’t it? Eating these boiled peanuts is also an art. One need to open the pods and remove the peanuts and eat them. If someone opens and gives us to eat then there is no thrill in it. It also creates a competition (a healthy one) among family members as to who has eaten how many. It is a fun and game and a healthy one to enjoy these boiled peanuts.

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