Crunchy Soya Nuts

I have been experimenting with many soya recipes recently. Soya and soya products are protein rich foods and hence are especially good for vegetarians who are not careful with their regular intakes of plant protein. There are conflicting opinions on how healthy Soya products are – Some believe they are the best while some others believe they are cancer-inducing! To me, the key is if my body gets along with Soya. It cannot really be cancer-inducing if more than a billion people in Asia use it without any issues but then again, they are used to it for generations. I think the best way is to try it out, see if one gets along with it, have no allergic reactions, no drastic changes in bowel movements, etc. In case of women, having no cycle-related issues would be a good indicator. The other thing would be to not over do it and replace all sources of protein purely with Soya for the rest of your life. Alavakku minjinal amudhamum nanju !

What do you need:
- Soya beans
- half a teaspoon of Olive oil/Butter
- Salt
- Baking oven
- Spices (Optional)

Time needed: <5min work, 35 min baking time

Kind: Very healthy, has a protein content of approx. 40%

How to do it:
- Soak soybeans in water at least for 4 hours
- Drain the water, wash the soybeans
- Grease the oven plate with olive oil/butter
- Spread the soybeans on it as a layer
- Bake them at 200 C for 30-40min (until they are dark brown)
- Add salt and spices (chilli powder or chaat masala) and mix well
- If you want to store it, do so in an air-tight container.

Result should be crunchy soya nuts that are ideal (to replace groundnuts) as 'a something to munch on' for a movie or a cricket match and will not push up your calorie intake too much :) !