boiled peanuts with garam masala

Pretty much everything on Route 1 is gorgeous but for some reason I’m in love with Half Moon Bay. There are breathtaking views of rocks standing tall against the ocean waves and while sea gulls dive into the water to catch fish. But what I love most is to see stretches of farms that adorn this portion of the beautiful coast line! If I were to live on a farm and if I could choose, I would love to live right there on one of those farms facing the ocean so I could wake up to it every morning. 

However, in real life, I make do with occasional trips to Half Moon Bay. Last Sunday, we took a short hike up one of the trails and walked our way across the mountain with the dog. Though, it was a little foggy and chilly, the view was as always, gorgeous! But I had a little surprise waiting for us at home, M has been begging for boiled peanuts for the past few weeks and I had set the slow cooker up to do its magic while we are away. 

I haven’t used my crockpot much since we moved and I think it was happy to get some action. This recipe, itself is simple and easy, you just toss in a few ingredients and let it cook. Though, I have recommended a cooking time below, you may need to cook the peanuts a little longer as the time to cook the peanuts inside the shell to tenderness might vary based on the crockpot model you use. I like my peanuts to be tender but not mushy. 

boiled peanuts with garam masala 

yields: 1.5 lbs boiled peanuts/about 6-8 servings

ingredients

1.5 lbs raw peanuts in the shell

2 bay leaves

4 dried red chilies (I used Kashmiri chilies)

2 teaspoons garam masala

2 tablespoons kosher sea salt

water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1. Place all the ingredients from the peanuts to the salt in your crockpot. Pour enough water into the crockpot to cover the peanuts, the water level should be approximately 1 inch above the peanuts. 

2.  Set the crockpot to cook for 5 hours at the high heat setting. Stir the contents of the crockpot and cover with a lid. Allow to cook for the first 4 hours, then in the last one hour of cooking time, add the cider vinegar and cover back with the lid. At the end of the cooking time, the peanut shells should be soft but not mushy, the peanuts inside the shell will be completely cooked and tender. You can increase the cooking time, if you feel that the peanuts are not as soft or tender as you like them. Serve the peanuts warm with a little bit of the broth that they were cooked in.