Bhel puri is a street food popularly called as "chaat food". It is a puffed rice dish mixed with some common veggies like mashed potatoes, chopped tomatoes , onions and some tangy chutneys like tamarind chutney and mint chutney. One can see Bhel puri on the streets of Mumbai and for those who want to catch a glimpse of how popular this food is , then just look at the popular mumbai spots like juhu beach, chowpaty where lots of people simply love eating them during evening time.
Bhel puri is prepared all over India these days but the name differs from place to place. It is called Churu Muri is Bangalore, Jhaal Muri in Kolkata and so on. The other types of chaat that are famous are paani puri, sev puri dahi puri and so on.Bhelpuri was originally a Gujarati food. It later got merged with Mumbai culture and became synonymous with Mumbai. Bhelpuri is best consumed as soon as it is made. If left for a while, the juices from the tomatoes, chutneys, etc. combine to render the sev and mamra soggy.
Though these days Bhelpuri has many variations like chana bhel, chinese bhel , diet bhel, kurkuri bhel, dry bhel and many such bhels. The basic Bhelpuri is made from puffed rice, sev (a fried snack shaped like thin noodles made from besan flour) , some friend snacks, and veggies like finely chopped onions, tomatoes, chillies, Coriander leaves( for garnishing), boiled and mashed potatoes along with different kinds of chutney to add sweet, tangy and spicy flavour like tamarind chutney and mint chutney. Different chutneys impart a sweet or spicy flavour. There are two popular chutneys used, a dark purple sweet one made mainly of dates and tamarind, and a green spicy chutney made of coriander leaves and green chilis.
Another variation is to sprinkle the chat with chunks of diced sweet mango.Even raw mangoes goes excellent in bhelpuri if chopped finely. The finished snack is often garnished with a combination of diced onions, coriander leaves and chopped green chilis. It is sometimes served with papri puris, a deep fried small round and crispy wheat bread. The result is a sour/pungent/sweet tasting evening snack that is a treat for the tastebuds and a good source of carbohydrates and minerals. Some people add cucumber, and other veggies of their choice as per preference in these days.
Over all, bhel puri is a excellent evening snack , a quick to make recipe and nice to treat the evening hunger. Modern versions of bhelpuri includes, dry bhel, chana bhel, chinese bhel etc where ingredients are adjusted as per one's taste and preference keeping in mind the diet and taste of person. But nothing can ever beat the original Bhelpuri . It is just perfect indian snack. A snack with almost iconic status in Western India, bhelpuri is low-fat, nutritious and delicious!
Ingredients:
1 cup Puffed Rice (Kurmura)
1/2 cup chopped Tomato (Tamatar)
1/2 cup chopped Onion (Pyaj)
1/4 cup chopped Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta)
1/2 cup boiled and mashed Potato (Aloo)
4 chopped Green Chilli (Hari mirch)
1 tblsp Garam Masala or Red chilli powder (use red chilli powder mostly)
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
6 tblsp Tamarind (Imli) Chutney
6 tblsp Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta) And Mint Chutney
1/2 cup Nimkis
1/2 cup Sev
1/2 cup Gol gappas
2 tblsp Lime or Lemon (Nimbu) Juice
1/2 cucumber grated (optional)
1 carrot grated (optional)
For Garnishing:
1/2 cup sev
5-6 papdis
2 tablespoon Chopped coriander leaves
1 tablespoon Chaat Masala
For Green Chutney:
Coriander leaves / Cilantro - 1/2 bunch
Green chillies - 6 nos
Potato wafers - 1 tablespoon (optional- just to give some thickness)
Salt - as per taste
Lemon juice - 1/2 tablespoon
For Tamarind Chutney (Sweet and Sour Chutney):
Tamaraind Extract - 1 cup
Pitted Dates - 1 /2 cup
Brown sugar - 1 tablespoon
Black salt - 2 pinches or 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons
Salt - As per taste.
Method:1/2 cup chopped Tomato (Tamatar)
1/2 cup chopped Onion (Pyaj)
1/4 cup chopped Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta)
1/2 cup boiled and mashed Potato (Aloo)
4 chopped Green Chilli (Hari mirch)
1 tblsp Garam Masala or Red chilli powder (use red chilli powder mostly)
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
6 tblsp Tamarind (Imli) Chutney
6 tblsp Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta) And Mint Chutney
1/2 cup Nimkis
1/2 cup Sev
1/2 cup Gol gappas
2 tblsp Lime or Lemon (Nimbu) Juice
1/2 cucumber grated (optional)
1 carrot grated (optional)
For Garnishing:
1/2 cup sev
5-6 papdis
2 tablespoon Chopped coriander leaves
1 tablespoon Chaat Masala
For Green Chutney:
Coriander leaves / Cilantro - 1/2 bunch
Green chillies - 6 nos
Potato wafers - 1 tablespoon (optional- just to give some thickness)
Salt - as per taste
Lemon juice - 1/2 tablespoon
For Tamarind Chutney (Sweet and Sour Chutney):
Tamaraind Extract - 1 cup
Pitted Dates - 1 /2 cup
Brown sugar - 1 tablespoon
Black salt - 2 pinches or 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons
Salt - As per taste.
- Blend all the ingredients of Green chutney and make a fine paste of it. Reserve and keep aside.
- Take together all the ingredients of Tamarind chutney and boil them in a deep bottom vessel till it is reduced to half. Remove from fire and allow it to cool. Grind it to make a smooth consistency of it and keep aside.
- Chop the onions, tomaotoes and chillies finely and keep aside. Cumcumber and carrots are optional. Grate them and keep aside. As such the original bhel puri recipe doesnt include carrots and cucumber but some add for added taste or for garnishing. Even finely chopped raw mangoes or kairi adds good taste to bhel puri.
- Take a deep bottomed large vessel so that it becomes easy to mix the ingredients .
- Put the chopped onions, tomatoes, chillies and puffed rice in the vessel. Mix them properly. Add the mashed potatoes and mix them.
- Now add the powders like red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder and mix them well.
- Now add the chutneys like tamarind chutney and mint chutney and mix well. The bhel should get coated with the chutney and look reddish orange in colour.
- Now crush the golgappas and few papdis and add them to the bhel. Also add the coriander leaves, sev and sprinkle some lemon juice and mix well.
- Bhel puri is ready to eat. Take a wide plate and put the bhel puri on the plate and garnish it with sev, chopped coriander leaves . Sprinkle little chaat masala on top and place a spoon in the middle of bhelpuri. Do serve this immediately or else the puffed rice would eat up lot of moisture and loose its puffiness.
- Enjoy the spicy tangy bhelpuri .
Preparation Time : 20 minutes
Making time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4 persons
Shelflife: Best fresh
Serving suggestion: Serve them fresh immediately after preparing toppled with good garnishing.
Note:
- Chop the onions and tomatoes finely.
- You can skip the chillies in case if you dont like it.
- Add 1 tablespoon og tomato ketchup to the bhel while adding the chutney and mix. It gives added taste to the bhelpuri
- If you dont have papdis and golgappas, then crush some Khari and add. It gives the same crunchiness and taste to bhelpuri.
- Sprinkling some chaat masala adds a extra taste to bhelpuri. Some add a pinch of black salt too. Even that gives a good taste.
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