Marine Drive Bhel Puri with Tamarind-Date Chutney

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The great Mumbai beach snack, built properly at home: puffed rice re-crisped in a dry skillet so it shatters instead of sags, then tossed at the last second with a sweet-sour tamarind-date chutney, a fiery mint-cilantro chutney, boiled potato, onion, tomato, peanuts and a snowfall of sev. Sweet, sour, hot, salty and crunchy all in one spoonful — make the chutneys ahead and the assembly takes ninety seconds.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup seedless tamarind pulp (or 3 tbsp tamarind concentrate)
• 8 Medjool dates, pitted and torn
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 3 tbsp grated jaggery or dark brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp ground roasted cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp black salt (kala namak)
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

• 2 cups cilantro leaves and tender stems, packed
• 1/2 cup mint leaves, packed
• 1 to 2 serrano chiles, stemmed
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 tbsp cold water

• 6 cups plain puffed rice (murmura/kurmura)
• 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, boiled, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/2 cup seeded, finely diced Roma tomato
• 1/3 cup diced unripe green mango or tart green apple (optional)
• 1 1/4 tsp chaat masala
• 12 papdi (flat puri crackers), lightly crushed

• 1 cup fine sev
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds (optional)
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

• blender or small food processor

Instructions

1. Make the tamarind-date chutney: combine the tamarind pulp, dates and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook 10 to 12 minutes, mashing with a spoon, until the dates collapse and the tamarind softens completely.
2. Off the heat, stir in the jaggery, roasted cumin, ground ginger, chili powder, black salt and sea salt. Blend until smooth, then press through a medium sieve to catch any tamarind fibers or date skins. You want the consistency of thin honey — loosen with a tablespoon of water at a time if it stiffens. Cool completely; it thickens as it cools.
3. Make the green chutney: blend the cilantro, mint, serranos, ginger, lime juice, sugar, salt and cold water until bright and smooth, scraping down the sides. Taste — it should be aggressively sharp and hot, since it gets diluted by everything else. Chill until serving.
4. Re-crisp the puffed rice: heat a large dry skillet over medium and add the puffed rice in two batches. Toss constantly for 3 to 4 minutes per batch until it smells toasty and a grain snaps cleanly between your teeth. Spread on a sheet pan to cool completely, about 10 minutes. This step is what keeps bhel crunchy — do not skip it.
5. While the rice cools, set up your mix-ins: the diced potato, red onion, tomato, green mango and peanuts each in a small bowl. Pat the tomato dry on a paper towel so it doesn't wet the mix.
6. Just before serving — no more than 2 minutes ahead — tip the cooled puffed rice into your largest bowl. Add the peanuts, potato, onion, tomato, green mango and chaat masala.
7. Drizzle in 1/2 cup of the tamarind-date chutney and 3 tablespoons of the green chutney. Fold with two big spoons or clean hands for about 20 seconds, lifting from the bottom, until every grain is streaked and glossy but the mix still rattles.
8. Taste immediately: add more tamarind chutney for sweetness, more green chutney for heat, a pinch of chaat masala for sourness. Fold in the crushed papdi and half the sev.
9. Pile into bowls or paper cones, shower with the remaining sev, the chopped cilantro and pomegranate seeds, and squeeze a lime wedge over each portion. Eat right away, standing up, while it still crackles.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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