Bhel Puri
Cooking potatoes
1. Boil 1 large potato or 2 medium sized potatoes in a 2-litre pressure cooker or in a pan with enough water. If using a pressure cooker, then pour water just about covering the potatoes. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt and pressure cook for 4 to 5 whistles.
Once the pressure settles down in the cooker, remove the water and place the potatoes in a bowl. Let them cool or become warm. I was making some other snack as well, so I cooked more potatoes.
Making green chutney
2. Rinse and roughly chop ½ cup fresh coriander leaves (or ¼ cup mint leaves + ¼ cup coriander leaves). Place the coriander leaves in a small grinder jar. Also add ½ inch ginger (peeled and roughly chopped), 1 to 2 green chillies, ½ teaspoon chaat masala and ¼ teaspoon salt.
3. Add ½ teaspoon lemon juice.
4. 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.
Making spicy red chutney
5. Peel 16 to 18 medium to large sized garlic cloves. Rinse them and place in the same grinder jar. Also sprinkle 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder and ¼ teaspoon salt.
6. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water or as required and grind to a smooth consistency. Remove red chutney in a bowl and keep aside.
Making sweet-sour chutney
7. In a small pan take 3 tablespoons jaggery, 3 teaspoons amchur powder (dry mango powder), ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder, ¼ teaspoon roasted cumin powder, 1 to 2 pinches dry ginger powder (optional) and 1 to 2 pinches black salt or regular salt.
8. Add 3 tablespoons water.
9. Mix very well.
10. Keep this pan on the stovetop and heat on a low flame.
11. Let the mixture gently heat on a low flame.
12. 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 more jaggery or mango powder if required.
Prepping veggies
13. 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.
Roasting puffed rice
14. Take 2 cups puffed rice (murmura, pori, mandakki) in a pan. On a low flame stirring often dry roast the puffed rice.
This is not an essential step and you need to roast the puffed rice if they are not crisp. If they are crisp and crunchy, then you do not need to roast them.
15. Roast the puffed rice for 2 to 3 minutes till they become crisp. You don’t need to brown them. Let the puffed rice cool at room temperature.
Making Bhel Puri
16. Assemble everything before you begin. Keep the chutneys in a bowl. These chutneys stay well for about a week in the fridge. So you can keep the leftovers in the fridge.
17. 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 at this step.
18. Add sweet chutney, green chutney and red chutney. You can add the quantity of chutneys as per the taste you want in a bhel puri.
For a spicy bhel puri recipe, include more of the red chutney and green chutney. For a sweet taste add more of the sweet chutney.
19. Sprinkle ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala and ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder. Also, sprinkle some black salt as per taste. If you do not have black salt, then use pink salt, rock salt or white salt.
20. Drizzle ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice or according to taste.
21. Mix very well.
22. Now add 1 tablespoon masala chana (optional) and 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts (optional). At this step, you can also top up with some crushed puri or papdi.
23. Add puffed rice.
24. Add ¼ cup sev (fried gram flour vermicelli).
25. With a spoon, just swirl the whole mixture together well and be quick.
26. Serve bhel puri immediately in individual bowls or plates. Top up with some sev, puri or papdi and more coriander leaves if you want. If you don’t serve bhelpuri immediately then it will become soggy and you won’t enjoy it. So be quick in serving.
Expert Tips
- Soggy bhel: Bhel puri has to be served as soon as it is made and immediately. Serving even after a couple of minutes will make the whole bhel puri mixture soggy and you won’t enjoy it.
- Assembling: Keep all the ingredients ready before you start mixing everything for making bhel puri.
- Roasting: The puffed rice should be crisp. If not crisp then roast them for some minutes in a pan on a low flame till they become crisp.
- Variations: You can even include grated vegetables like carrots and beetroot. When raw mangoes are in season then you can even include them. Adding raw mangoes gives a very nice tangy taste and crunch.
- Spicing: Spice powders and the chutneys can be adjusted as per your taste buds. You can make chutney at home or even use readymade ones. Best is to use homemade chutneys as you can make them as per your taste and they are fresher.
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Thank you so much for such a yummy recipe with pictures. I love the little tips you give. It truly helps. Although I dint have all the ingredients it turned out well. The chutneys tasted yum.
thank you neha. glad to know that the tips help. yes, some ingredients can be given a skip if you do not have them. thanks again and happy cooking.
I like dosa and pav bhajji
Hi Dassana – I wasn’t sure what you meant by “no English tradition for bhel puri” but thought you might like to know that there used to be two restaurants in London actually called The Bhel Puri House back in the 70s where people queued to eat the bhel puri amongst other wonderful things! One of the restaurants is still there but the food not as good as it used to be. Your recipe looks wonderful and authentic so I’m going to give it a try. I love bhel puri!
gerladine, i meant english translation and not tradition. by translation i meant there are no words for translating the words bhel puri in english. thanks for sharing this info. i have read earlier about the bhel puri house earlier somewhere.don’t remember where.
yes you do try the recipe. i am sure you will like it.
so I just ate this and it was yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!
thanks nia
Great Recipe. Perfect Mumbai Bhel!!
Thanks Bhavay
Dassana, this is my absolute top fav type of chaat. Always ate it in restaurants, never thought I’d be able to make it at home. Now there are no good Indian restaurants near me (I’m in the US), but thanks to you, I can!! Thank you as always!!
thanks a lot anjali. bhel puri can easily be made at home. its our favorite chaat too. but we are in india and we do have access to the chaat stalls. but best it to make at home ?