A plateful of tantalizing and tangy bhelpuri is all we need to satiate our hunger pangs at any time of the day. One of the most popular street foods of India, bhel puri has the power to please any crowd. No wonder it can be found anywhere in the country. Not only is it inexpensive but is easily available right from the street vendor in your local market to a fancied version in a restaurant. And there’s no doubt that it is light on the pocket, as well as on our tummy, but is high on flavours. Bhel puri has gone under various variations too in different parts of the country. The snack which is perfect for your healthy evening binge as well as a picnic snack to gorge on with family and friends, have been well-experimented with. And is loved in all its avatars.
Made with puffed rice, spices and chutneys including tamarind and green chutney, bhel puri can be traced to Mumbai, where several theories suggests that it was invented at a restaurant called Vithal near Victoria Terminus. It later on became a beach snack sold popularly at Chowpatty and Juhu. Another theory suggests that it was a creation of Gujarati housewives, who made it by adding complex flavours to the simple North Indian chaat. From there on it spread to Sindhis and Mangaloreans, who then gave it their own spin. While these are theories, we know how south India has its own bhel puri called ‘churumuri’ and Bengal has ‘jhalmuri’
Bhel Puri v/s Churumuri v/s Jhalmuri
You might think of why the same street food has different names, but the difference lies a little bit in the ingredients as well. Bhel puri perhaps has the most number of ingredients, the primary being the chutneys. You can go all out and experiment with mint, dates to coriander chutney along with tamarind chutney, tossed in with roasted puffed rice, onion-tomato and sev. On the other hand, churumuri doesn’t use any chutneys but just a bit of lemon juice to toss with spices such as black salt, red chilli powder and cumin powder besides coriander leaves and green chilllies. Instead of sev you have roasted peanuts on top.
West Bengal’s jhalmuri has the goodness of refreshing cucumbers too besides onion, tomatoes and green chillies. It also adds in boiled kala chana to puffed rice, which unlike bhel puri and churumuri isn’t roasted.
Isn’t it amazing how one dish can be moulded in so many different ways? And there are still many experiments you can do with bhel puri. Add in more veggies, spices and chutneys and go all out. Bhel puri is a relatively healthy snack that perfectly balances with tasty.
Here we have the classic bhel puri recipe for you to try. Find the full recipe of bhel puri here.
Try it at home and let us know your experience.