The ‘Mixture” in India is the ubiquitous snack sold across the width and breadth and not limited to any region. More curiously everyone calls it by the english name ‘mixture’.
A close description of it for the west would be the trail mixes and the japanese rice cracker mixes you get of different shapes and flavors.
In India you get a equally different mix of different preparations, the most common in this being the crispy sev (called crispy noodle) of different thickness and sizes with some nuts (fried peanuts, green peas or gram) and boondi (deep fried drops of gram flour).
This is the most common combination and is served in almost all sweet shops in India. This is one item that is less likely to be made at home as most would avoid the tedious laborious process of making different items and mixing them.
Yet it is so common and expected that even in SE Asia the Indian restaurants and sweet shops stock this. I particularly loved the home made flavors of the mixture made in my favorite Indian restaurant in all of SE Asia - the Chennai Kitchen. Yes its that much of a ‘staple’ dish for food suppliers.
In India you get ‘00s of different combinations and they vary by region. The basic combination I described above is most popular in the South and sometimes called the Madras mixture or South Indian mixture.
In Maharasthra and the west the most common ingredient is deep fried rice flakes (Poha) and they make this mostly with a thicker variant - the thinner flatter variant is usually made at home and served with fresh grated coconut. In Maharashtra this "Chivda" mixture is prepared by combining this ingredients and sprinkling a spice mixture ‘masala’ when the ingredients are still fresh and hot, to absorb the flavors. This is what creates even more variants as you can get a spicy one, or a sweet one or a tangy one.
Maharasthrians also make special types of mixture using Sabudana (tapioca starch droplets) which are deep fried, and another one with grated potato - both of them are super super oily.
Another ingredient common to Mahrashtrian mixtures is the deep fried chili and thinly sliced pieces of coconut. Most Maharashtrian home usually make one or more variants at home during the festival of Deepavali/ diwali
As you move up north they make it more richer and with more robust ingredients. Dry Fruits are common so cashews, almonds, raisins are thrown in. The larger versions of Murukku are thrown in. There are different types of deep fried gram (called Dal Moth) which are spiced in a tangy flavor and offer a crunchy tangy sensorial experience by themselves that makes it ultra special. The usual combination for this is an ultra thin variant of Sev.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan they make a thick flakier version of Sev called Ghatia and Paapdi which is gram flour deep fried in a flat shape or a thick uneven twisty pasta shape and they have their own unique flat flavouring.
A popular version of this is when they thrown in flakes of Garlic or sometimes flavor the sev itself with garlic and chili
All of this can be a very spicy experience which can hit your stomach especially since you cannot resist controlling the helpings, it really can get irresistibly tempting. Thats why its important to have it in serving bowls and try to stop yourself from having more than one serving (Ha!!!). But a better way to do this is by combining this with dips and sauces with puffed rice (Bhel) thrown in as they make it in Bhel Puri (which deserves a post of its own).
However you have it, its one of the best offerings from India you can enjoy…
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