Mumbai Beach-Stand Bhel Puri with Three Chutneys

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The paper-cone snack sold by the fistful along Mumbai's seafront: puffed rice tossed hard and fast with sweet-sour tamarind chutney, fiery green chutney, a rasping red garlic chutney, cold diced potato, onion, tomato and a blizzard of sev. The whole point is contrast — sweet, sour, hot, salty, and a crunch that only lasts about ninety seconds, which is exactly why you mix it in front of the people eating it. All three chutneys are made from scratch and keep for a week, so the snack itself takes four minutes to build.

Ingredients

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

• 2 cups cilantro leaves and tender stems, packed
• 1/2 cup mint leaves, packed
• 2 serrano chiles, stemmed (seeds left in for heat)
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 tbsp cold water, plus more as needed

• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 tbsp warm water

• 6 cups plain puffed rice (murmura / kurmura)
• 1 cup nylon sev (fine chickpea-flour noodles)
• 12 papdi (flat crisp puri), roughly crushed
• 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts
• 1 medium russet potato, boiled, peeled and cut in 1/4-inch dice
• 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/2 cup finely diced firm tomato, seeds removed
• 1/3 cup finely diced raw green mango or tart green apple
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp chaat masala
• 1/2 tsp black salt (kala namak)
• 1 lime, cut in wedges

Instructions

1. Make the tamarind chutney first, since it needs to cool. Combine the tamarind pulp, dates and 1 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cook at a low bubble for 10–12 minutes, mashing with a spoon, until the dates collapse and the tamarind has dissolved.
2. Stir the jaggery, toasted cumin, ground ginger, kashmiri chili, black salt and sea salt into the pan and simmer 2 minutes more. Blend until completely smooth, then push through a medium sieve to catch fibers. You want the texture of thin honey — it should ribbon off a spoon. Thin with water 1 tablespoon at a time if needed. Cool completely; it thickens as it cools.
3. Make the green chutney: blend the cilantro, mint, serranos, ginger, garlic, lime juice, sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth, scraping down twice and adding water only as needed. Keep it thick and vivid — over-watering dulls the flavor. Refrigerate in a sealed jar; it stays bright green for about 3 days.
4. Make the red garlic chutney: pound the garlic and salt to a paste in a mortar (or grate the garlic on a microplane), then stir in the kashmiri chili powder, lime juice and 3 tablespoons warm water. Let it sit 10 minutes so the chili hydrates into a loose, brick-red paste. It is meant to be sharp and raw-garlicky — use it in small amounts.
5. Crisp the puffed rice: spread it on a sheet pan and toast at 250°F for 8–10 minutes, until it smells faintly nutty and shatters between your fingers. Cool on the pan. Do this even with a fresh bag — ambient humidity is the enemy of bhel.
6. Prep every mix-in and keep them in separate piles or bowls: diced potato, red onion, tomato, green mango, cilantro, peanuts, crushed papdi. Everything must be cold and dry; blot the tomato on a paper towel.
7. Assemble only when you are ready to eat, and work fast. In a wide bowl, combine the toasted puffed rice, crushed papdi, peanuts, potato, onion, tomato, green mango and half the cilantro. Sprinkle over the chaat masala and black salt.
8. Add 6 tablespoons tamarind chutney, 3 tablespoons green chutney and 1 to 2 teaspoons red garlic chutney. Toss vigorously with two spoons or clean hands for 20–30 seconds, lifting from the bottom, until every puff is lightly coated but nothing is soggy. Taste and adjust: more tamarind for sweetness, more green for heat, a pinch of black salt for funk.
9. Divide immediately among 4 paper cones or bowls, shower generously with sev and the remaining cilantro, and jam a lime wedge on the side. Squeeze the lime over and eat within a couple of minutes, while it still crackles.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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