Bhel Puri Chaat is a popular Indian street-style snack made using puffed rice as its base ingredient. This tangy, spicy and very slightly sweet chaat can be made in just 10 minutes if you have the ingredients ready. Here is my easy recipe to make at home (vegan, low-cal).
If you love street food like me, then you have to try some of my best chaat recipes – Samosa Chaat, Papdi Chaat, Aloo Tikki Chaat, Dahi Puri and Chana Chaat.
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About This Recipe
Bhel Puri Chaat is one of the most popular street food in India. It is a delicious and flavorful medley of puffed rice, chutneys, and an array of spice powders traditionally served in paper cones.
This Mumbai street style chaat is made using puffed rice (murmure) as its base ingredients. Cilantro mint chutney, tamarind chutney, and a few spices are added to it to create a flavor burst.
If you venture out on the beaches of Mumbai or go to any Indian markets, you will find street vendors selling this popular snack on street carts along with other chaats like pani puri, sev puri, jhal muri, etc.
Bhelpuri is sweet, salty, and spicy with a little hint of tanginess and it is low-calorie and nutritious too. The best part is that you can customize it to suit your taste.
You can make it either dry (sukha bhel) or wet (geela bhel). The dry version is made without the chutneys while the wet one has spicy and sweet chutney added to it.
I personally like the one with chutneys added to it as they elevate the flavor of this savory snack a lot.
You will find many variations of bhelpuri in India. In West Bengal, it is called jhalmuri and in Karnataka, it is called churmuri. Each version is slightly different from the other but delicious in its own way.
One portion (Approx. 1 cup) of bhelpuri has approximately 125 calories. It is a fairly healthy dish to eat and it keeps you full for a long time.
On days when I want to serve a quick, healthy yet delicious evening snack to my family, bhelpuri is my savior.
This Indian street food is vegan, low in calories, and gluten-free (if papdi is not added) too. You can easily double or triple the recipe if making it for a crowd.
Ingredients
You will get all the ingredients to make bhelpuri in an Indian grocery store. You can also find the ingredients online.
Puffed Rice – Puffed rice (Murmure) are very light and low on calories making them a delicious guilt-free snack. Make sure they are perfectly crispy and not soggy.
Fresh Ingredients – Puffed rice is mixed with fresh tomatoes, onions, boiled potatoes, cilantro (coriander), and green chili peppers. You can adjust the green chili peppers as per your taste.
Chutney – To make geeli bhelpuri, you will need two chutneys, sweet tamarind chutney, and spicy green chutney.
You can make these chutneys at home or buy them. If you are not pressed with time, I suggest making the chutneys at home as they are much more delicious than the store-bought bottles.
If you like it to make spicy bhelpuri, you can add some red garlic chutney to it. I am not a big fan of red chutney in my Mumbai bhel puri but feel free to use some if you like it.
I am sharing the recipes to make these chutneys in the post below.
Spice Powders – To add more taste, we will add in some everyday spice powders such as salt, Kashmiri red chili powder, and chaat masala spice mix. While red chili powder adds a nice spicy kick and chaat masala adds to the tanginess.
Lime Juice & Sev – Finish it off with some freshly squeezed lime juice and garnish it with fine sev (a vermicelli-like snack made from chickpea flour). These fine sev are also called nylon sev. If you do not have the fine sev, you can add any sev that you prefer.
You can even add some roasted or fried peanuts for a nice crunch.
Mixed Sev Mixture (Misal Farsaan) and crushed papdi also work great in this recipe.
Add chopped green raw mango if they are in season. They add a lovely crunch and crunch to the bhel poori.
Top the bhel puri with pomegranate seeds for a pop of color and a lovely crunch.
How To Make Bhel Puri Chaat
Preparation
Boil The Potatoes
Boil the potatoes, peel and cube them. You can boil them in an instant pot, traditional pressure cooker, or in a pot over the stovetop.
1. Traditional Pressure Cooker – Wash and scrub the potatoes nicely. Add the potatoes to the cooker along with 2-3 cups of water. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook for 1 whistle on high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and cook for another 2 more whistles. Remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release on its own.
2. Instant Pot – Add the potatoes and 1 cup of water to the pot. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 5 minutes. Set the valve to the sealing position and let the timer finish. Let the pressure release on its own for 10 minutes and then move the valve to release the remaining pressure. Open the lid.
3. Pot – You can also cook the potatoes in a pot over the stovetop. Cut the potatoes in half. Heat water in a large pot. Add the potatoes and cover and cook on medium-low heat until they are softened.
Make The Chutneys
Cilantro Mint Chutney (Green Chutney)
Add 2 cups of cilantro (packed), 1 cup of mint leaves (packed), 3-4 chopped green chillies, 1-inch piece of ginger (chopped), 3-4 peeled garlic cloves, ¼ teaspoon asafoetida, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoon lime juice and 2 ice-cubes to a blender along with 2-3 tablespoon of cold water.
Blend until smooth. Scape the sides of the blender a few times while blending.
Check for salt and add more if required.
Check out my detailed cilantro mint chutney recipe here.
Tamarind Chutney
Add ½ cup tamarind paste and 2 cups water to a saucepan and mix well.
Add 1 cup crushed jaggery, 2 teaspoon grated ginger, 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1 teaspoon fennel powder, ½ teaspoon asafoetida, 1 teaspoon black salt, and 1 teaspoon regular salt to the pan and mix well.
Cook the mixture on medium heat for 10-12 minutes.
Add ¼ cup raisins and cook the chutney for another 15–20 minutes. Keep stirring very frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and cool the chutney.
Check out my detailed tamarind chutney recipe here.
Other Preparation
Chop the onions, tomatoes, green chili peppers, and cilantro.
If the puffed rice has become soggy, then roast it in a pan until crisp again.
Mix The Ingredients
In a large bowl, mix together 3 teaspoon coriander mint chutney, 3 teaspoon tamarind chutney, ½ cup chopped onions, ½ cup chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies, 3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves, ½ cup boiled and cubed potatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, and 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder.
Add 2 cups of puffed rice and 1 tablespoon lime juice to the bowl and mix the contents of the bowl together.
Transfer immediately in shallow bowls and garnish with fine sev. Serve immediately.
Once you mix the puffed rice with other ingredients, make sure to serve it immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make a dry version of bhel puri, just skip adding the chutneys to the recipe. You can add some crumbled papdi, roasted peanuts, and masala chana to it too. You can add some grated cheddar cheese on top of it too.
Yes, it is a very healthy snack. Puffed rice is very low in calories and keeps you full for a long time. All the other ingredients added to bhel puri are also quite healthy except the tamarind chutney which has sugar added to it. To make healthier bhel puri, add less tamarind chutney.
To make a Jain version of this snack, skip adding onions and potatoes to the recipe. Use Jain-friendly chutneys that have no ginger added to them.
Pro Tips By Neha
Serve it as soon as you make it otherwise it will turn soft and soggy which won’t taste great.
Prep is important! Keep all the ingredients ready before assembling the bhel puri.
To keep the bhelpuri crisp for a little longer, you can dry roast the puffed rice a little bit and then cool it down completely.
Mix the wet ingredients with dry ingredients only when ready to serve.
The chutneys and other ingredients can be at room temperature or chilled.
You can also make variations and add veggies such as grated carrot, grated beetroot, chopped cucumber, etc.
Adjust the chutneys and spice powders as per your personal preferences.
This is a great snack to carry for your picnics. Just pack each ingredient separately in small boxes. Once you are ready to serve, just mix everything together in a large mixing bowl and serve immediately.
This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
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Recipe Card
Bhel Puri Chaat Recipe (Mumbai Street Style)
Ingredients
For Cilantro Mint Chutney (or use 3 teaspoon store-bought)
- 2 cups cilantro (coriander) (tightly packed)
- 1 cup mint (tightly packed)
- 3-4 green chilies (chopped)
- ½ inch piece of ginger (chopped)
- 3-4 garlic cloves (peeled)
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 ice cubes
For Tamarind Chutney (or use 3 teaspoon store bought)
- ½ cup tamarind paste
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup crushed jaggery
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon fennel powder
- ½ teaspoon asafetida
- 1 teaspoon black salt
- 1 teaspoon regular white salt
Others
- ½ cup chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (coriander)
- ½ cup boiled and cubed potatoes (¼-inch cubes)
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala spice mix
- 2 cups puffed rice
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ cup fine sev
Instructions
Make Cilantro Mint Chutney
- Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
Make Tamarind Chutney
- Add tamarind paste and water to a saucepan and mix well
- Add jaggery, ginger, cumin powder, red chili powder, fennel powder, asafetida, black salt, and regular salt to the pan and mix well.
- Cook the mixture on medium heat for 10-12 minutes.
- Add raisins and cook the chutney for another 15–20 minutes. Keep stirring very frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and cool the chutney.
Make Bhelpuri
- In a large bowl, mix together 3 teaspoon coriander mint chutney, 3 teaspoon tamarind chutney, onions, tomatoes, green chilies, coriander leaves, potatoes, salt, Kashmiri red chili powder, and chaat masala powder.
- Add puffed rice and lime juice to the bowl and mix the contents of the bowl together.
- Transfer immediately in shallow bowls and garnish with fine sev. Serve immediately.
Divya Shivaraman
bhel looks so yummy and fresh dear
Harshad
Bhel Puri is one of my favorite snacks in the world. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Neha!
Neha Mathur
I ma glad you liked it 🙂