Bhel Puri
Servings: 3
Bhel puri is a crispy, sweet, tangy, spicy dish made with puffed rice, onions, tomatoes and assorted chutneys. This bhel puri recipe is easy to make and includes quick recipes for the three chutneys.
Ingredients
For Cooking Potato
1 large potato or 2 medium sized potatoes
¼ teaspoon salt
water – as required
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For Sweet Sour Chutney
3 tablespoons jaggery
3 teaspoons amchur powder (dry mango powder)
¼ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder
¼ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1 to 2 pinches dry ginger powder – optional
1 to 2 pinches black salt or regular salt
3 tablespoons water
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For Spicy Red Chutney
16 to 18 garlic cloves (medium to large-sized)
2 teaspoons kashmiri red chili powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons water or add as required for grinding
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For Green Chutney
½ cup coriander leaves or ¼ cup mint leaves + ¼ cup coriander leaves
½ inch ginger – roughly chopped
½ teaspoon chopped green chillies or 1 to 2 green chillies
½ teaspoon chaat masala
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoons water or add as required
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Other Ingredients
2 cups puffed rice – murmura, mandakki, pori
1 tablespoon masala chana – optional
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts – optional
½ cup boiled moong beans or boiled moong bean sprouts – optional
½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice or add as required
¼ cup sev
½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala
½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
5 to 6 papdi or puri broken in pieces – optional
black salt as required
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For Garnish
2 to 3 tablespoons sev
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
2 to 3 papdi or puri
Instructions
Step 1.
Cooking potatoes – Boil 1 large potato or 2 medium sized potatoes in a 2 litre pressure cooker or in a pan with enough water. Let them cool or become warm.
Step 4.
Making Sweet and sour Chutney: In a small pan take jaggery, amchur powder (dry mango powder), kashmiri red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, dry ginger powder (optional) and black salt or regular salt. Add 3 tablespoons water. Mix very well. Keep this pan on the stove top and heat on a low flame. Let the mixture gently heat. when the mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly, then switch off the flame. Keep aside. Check the taste and if required you can add some more jaggery or mango powder if required
Step 2.
Making Green Chutney: Rinse and roughly chop ½ cup fresh coriander leaves (or ¼ cup mint leaves + ¼ cup coriander leaves). Then add the coriander leaves in a small grinder jar. Also add chopped ginger, green chillies, chaat masala, salt and lemon juice. Further add 2 to 3 tablespoons water or as required and grind to a smooth chutney. Avoid making green chutney thin. Remove green chutney in a bowl and keep aside.
Step 5.
Preparing Veggies: Peel and chop the potatoes. Finely chop 1 small to medium sized onion and 1 medium sized tomato. You can also chop 1 green chilli if you want. Chop some coriander leaves too.
Step 3.
Making Spicy Red Chutney: Peel 16 to 18 medium to large sized garlic cloves. Rinse them and add in the same grinder jar. Also add kashmiri red chili powder and salt. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water or as required and grind to a smooth consistency. Remove red chutney in a bowl and keep aside.
Step 6.
Roasting Puffed Rice: ake the puffed rice (murmura) in a pan. On a low flame stirring often dry roast the puffed rice. Roast the puffed rice for 2 to 3 minutes they become crisp. You don’t need to brown them. Let the puffed rice cool at room temperature.
Step 7.
In a bowl now take the chopped boiled potatoes, onions and tomatoes. You can also include some boiled moong beans or steamed moong bean sprouts. Add sweet chutney, green chutney and red chutney. You can add the amount of chutneys as per the taste you want in a bhel puri.
Step 8.
Sprinkle ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala and ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder. Also add some black salt as per taste. If you do not have black salt, then use pink salt, rock salt or white salt. Drizzle ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice or according to taste. Mix very well. Now top with 1 tablespoon masala chana (optional) and 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts. You can also add some crushed puri or papdi. Add the puffed rice and cup sev (fried gram flour vermicelli)
Step 9.
With a spoon, just swirl the whole bhelpuri mixture together. Serve bhel puri immediately in individual bowls or plates. Top up with some sev and more coriander leaves if you want.
Notes
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Spicing: The salt, chutneys and spice powders in the bhel puri can be adjusted as per your liking. You can use readymade chutneys too.
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No onions: If you don’t have onions, then too you can make the bhel without onions.
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Soggy bhel: Serve bhel puri as soon as you make it. Serving even after a couple of minutes will make the it soggy.
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Assembling: Keep all the ingredients ready before you start mixing everything.
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Roasting: The puffed rice should be crisp. If they are not crisp then roast them for some minutes in a pan on a low heat until they become crisp.
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Variations: You can even add grated vegetables like carrots and beetroot. When raw mangoes are in season, add them for a tangy taste and crunch.