The Diwali Savoury Tin: Chakodi, Janthikalu and Mixture

Ask anyone who grew up in an Andhra home what Diwali tasted like and the answer is usually as savoury as it is sweet. The week of the festival is a long run of sweets, and a tin of crisp, spicy snacks is what keeps it from becoming too much.

Janthikalu are the backbone of the tin: a rice and gram flour dough pressed through a mould straight into hot oil, making crisp, tangled strands. Garuku Janthikalu are the crunchier, harder-fried version that many people prefer with tea.

Chakodi are small rings made from rice flour with chana dal or moong dal folded in, which gives them a bite that plain murukku does not have. They are the snack children pick out first and the one that disappears fastest.

Mixture brings everything together: Karam Boondi, fried peanuts, curry leaves, sev and roasted dal, seasoned with chilli and salt. A good mixture is balanced, with no single ingredient dominating, and it should taste fresh rather than of old oil.

The rule for a savoury tin is simple: keep it airtight. Andhra in October and November is still humid, and anything fried goes soft within a day if the lid is left open. Store savouries separately from sweets, because the moisture from sweets is exactly what turns a crisp snack limp.

If you are ordering for the festival, a mix of three or four savouries in quarter-kilo or half-kilo packs works better than one large bag. Each pack stays sealed until it is needed, and the last one opened is as crisp as the first.