Kolkata Street Style Jhal Muri (Spicy Puffed Rice) is a popular street food of Kolkata made using puffed rice, onions, tomatoes, and a few other ingredients. Raw mustard oil gives it a very unique flavor (vegan).
Here are some more Indian snack recipes that you may like – Aloo Chaat, Namakpare, Corn Pakora, Chicken Cheese Samosa, Bhel Puri, Palak Pakora, and Dahi Papdi Chaat.

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About Jhal Muri
Kolkata Street Style Jhal Muri (Spicy Puffed Rice) is a popular street food of Kolkata made using puffed rice, onions, tomatoes, and a few other ingredients.
Jhal means ‘spicy’ in Bengali and puri means ‘puffed rice’.
Jhal muri (jhaal muri, masala muri, jhal mudi) is basically puffed rice flavored with spice powders. The addition of raw mustard oil gives it a very unique flavor and makes it very different from its other cousins like masala madakki, girmit, or churmuri.
If you have ever been to Kolkata, I am sure you would have come across this Bengali snack in every possible street, where you’ll find people flocking to the nearest cart to get their hands on a cone (thonga) full of this delicious snack.
This street food snack was sold by Bihari migrants on the street of Kolkata during World War II to the soldiers. British chef Angus Denoon has been selling it on the streets of London for almost a decade. He tasted this deliciousness on the streets of Kolkata and fell in love with this humble dish.
This chaat (Indian street food), unlike most other chaats, is not deep-fried, making it much more nutritious and a healthier choice. It’s low cal, light, and vegan and comes together in under 15 minutes.
If you make it at home, do serve it in the traditional thonga or paper cone that’s really simple to give a feel of the authentic Kolkata snack.
It’s also really light on the stomach and hence perfect as a tea-time snack or accompaniment with your chai. You could try this at a kid’s party or even for a get-together with friends.
One serving of this spicy puffed rice snack has approx 200 Kcal. Since it is not deep fried and contains mostly good ingredients it has very fewer calories per serving.
This jhal muri recipe is vegan and can be easily doubled or tripled.
Ingredients



You will get all the ingredients to make jhaalmuri at Indian grocery stores.
Puffed Rice (muri, marmara, pori, kurmura, murmura) is used to make Jhalmuri.
Sev Mix – You can use any sev mix available to you.
Coconut – The use of fresh coconut adds a nice flavor to this dish. You can either grate the fresh coconut or chop it into very small pieces.
Mustard Oil – This is a must ingredient to make Bengali Jhal Muri. It adds a pungent flavor to the dish, which makes it unique and so yummy.
Vegetables – To give a nice crunch to your jhalmuri recipe, add veggies like tomatoes, cucumber, onions, potatoes, green chilies, and cilantro (fresh coriander leaves).
Others – You will also need cumin powder, chaat masala powder, black salt (kala namak), Kashmiri red chilli powder, salt, and freshly squeezed lime juice (lemon juice).
You can also add roasted skinned peanuts, roasted Bengal gram, boiled yellow peas, sprouted chana, finely chopped raw mangoes, chana jor garam (chana chur), etc to your recipe.
Adjust the green chillies as per your taste.
How To Make Jhal Muri
Add 2 cups of puffed rice to a large bowl.
Tip – If the murmura is not perfectly crispy, make sure to dry roast it in a pan for 2-3 minutes on low flame. You can also microwave it for 60-90 seconds until it gets crisp.

Add
- 3 tablespoon sev mix
- ¼ cup finely chopped onions
- 2 tablespoon boiled, peeled, and finely cubed potatoes
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped green chilies
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped cucumbers, peeled or unpeeled
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh coconut
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon black salt
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoon raw cold-pressed mustard oil

Mix all the ingredients together and serve immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions
Jhal muri is very similar to our good old bhel puri, yet very unique in terms of its taste. It has raw mustard oil added to it while chutneys like green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney are added in bhelpuri.
Jhalmuri is a popular street-side snack that is popular in Kolkata, whereas churmuri is popular in Karnataka.
Jhalmuri uses mustard oil, whereas churmuri is made using coconut oil. Jal muri have boiled potatoes and cucumbers added to it while churmuri has grated carrots.
No, jhal mudi is a traditional recipe and mustard oil gives it a very unique taste. By replacing mustard oil with any other oil, you will not get that same flavor.
All the ingredients except sev mix are gluten-free in this recipe. You can either skip adding it or use a gluten-free mix.
Jhalmuri loses its crunch when kept for longer. I highly suggest making it just before serving.
You can, however, keep all the components ready to save some time.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve it with your evening cup of Masala Chai or Filter Coffee for a delicious snack.
This healthy snack can be served in between your meals or whenever hunger strikes.
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Recipe Card

Kolkata Street Style Jhal Muri Recipe (Spicy Puffed Rice)
Ingredients
- 2 cups puffed rice (murmura)
- 3 tablespoons sev mix
- ¼ cup finely chopped onions
- 2 tablespoons boiled, peeled, and finely cubed potatoes
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped green chilies
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cucumber (peeled or unpeeled)
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh coconut
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ½ teaspoon black salt (kala namak)
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons raw cold-pressed mustard oil
Instructions
- Add puffed rice to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl.
- Mix all the ingredients together and serve immediately.
Merianne
One of your recipes called for Sev Mix. Can that be bought commercially in USA?
Neha Mathur
Yes merianne. It’s available in all the Indian stores. It comes in huge variety so just specify which recipe you need it for.
Shalini Sachdeva
Tangy and tasty
Neha Mathur
Thnx