Indian Spiced Nuts With Coconut

These spiced nuts from Aarti Sequeira of Food Network would make a great Christmas gift from the kitchen. Put them in clear cellophane bags and tie with a festive ribbon.

Ingredients
For the garam masala:

3 large cinnamon sticks,
broken into pieces
3 tablespoons whole cloves
2 tablespoons green cardamom seeds (from 1/4 cup green pods)
1 tablespoon black cardamom seeds (from 4 black pods)

For the nuts:

1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
Kosher salt

Directions

Make the garam masala: Put the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and green and black cardamom seeds in a spice grinder and pulse until finely ground. Store in an airtight container, away from direct sunlight, up to 6 months.

Make the nuts: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the peanuts, pecans, coconut, vegetable oil, cumin, coriander, 2 teaspoons of the garam masala and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl and pour onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake 40 minutes, rotating halfway through for even baking. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. (If you want, serve the nuts in little parchment-paper cones!)

Picture and recipe are the property of Food Network and can be viewed on their website at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/indian-spiced-nuts-with-coconut-recipe/index.html