Mandakki Oggarane / Spicy puffed rice: Beginner Series

I am back with a beginner series recipe. Watch out for more beginner series recipes from now on!

Puffed rice language translations:

Kannada: Mandakki/Puri/Kadle puri

Telugu: Maramaralu

Tamil: Pori

Marathi: Chirmure

Preparation Time: 10mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

Puffed rice: 5 cups

Roasted gram dal powder/hurigadale pudi/kadala pappu powder: 2 tsp

Salt:According to taste

Sugar: 1/2 tsp, optional

Lemon juice: 2 tsp

For tempering:

Oil: 1 tsp

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

Urad dal/Skinned black dal/uddin bele: 1 tsp

Gram dal/Channa dal/kadalebele: 1 tsp
Ground nuts/peanuts: 2 tsp
Curry leaves: 6-8 nos
Onion: 1 no, finely chopped
Turmeric: a pinch
Green chillies: 2 nos, chopped

For garnishing: 
Scraped coconut: 2 tbsp, fresh
Coriander leaves/cilantro: 1 tbsp, finely chopped

Method:

Soak the puffed rice in water for 5 mins.

Meantime, prepare the tempering. Add oil to a broad pan. When oil is hot, throw in mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad & gram dals. When dals turn golden, add peanuts & saute till peanuts turn golden brown.

Throw in the curry leaves & green chillies, followed by onion & turmeric.

Saute till the onion becomes transparent & changes color. 
Squeeze out the water from the puffed rice (Just draining the water isn't sufficient, try to squeeze as much water as possible). Puffed rice would have become soft by now.

Add the puffed rice to the tempering. Mix in salt & sugar.Let it cook on a low heat for a minute or two.

Add the roasted channa dal powder/hurigadale pudi to it & mix it well.

Turn off the heat. Add lemon juice, grated coconut & coriander leaves. Mix well & serve it right away!

Notes:

Soak the puffed rice for a maximum of 5 minutes & squeeze out the excess water from it.