Bombay Bhel Puri with Two Chutneys

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A no-cook Mumbai beach snack: puffed rice tossed with crisp potato, onion, tomato and cilantro, drenched in sweet-sour tamarind chutney and bright mint-cilantro chutney, then buried under crushed puri and a snowdrift of sev. Both chutneys keep for days, so the only thing you do at the last second is toss — which is exactly how you keep it crunchy.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup seedless tamarind paste or wet tamarind block
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup packed jaggery or dark brown sugar
• 2 pitted Medjool dates, chopped pitted Medjool dates, chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin, toasted
• 1/2 tsp black salt (kala namak)
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cayenne or red chile powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 1 cup packed mint leaves
• 2 cups packed cilantro leaves and tender stems
• 1 small serrano chile, stemmed (seeds removed for less heat)
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp cold water, plus more as needed

• 1 medium russet potato (about 8 oz)
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 1 medium firm ripe tomato, seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 cup peeled, finely diced cucumber (optional)
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp minced serrano chile (optional)
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

• 6 cups plain puffed rice (murmura / kurmura)
• 1 cup fine sev (chickpea flour noodles)
• 1/2 cup roasted or fried chana dal, or crushed roasted peanuts
• 12 papdi or flat puri crackers, crushed
• 1/2 tsp chaat masala
• 1/4 tsp black salt (kala namak)

Instructions

1. Make the tamarind chutney: soak the tamarind paste in the 3/4 cup hot water for 10 minutes, mashing with a fork. If using a wet block, press the pulp through a fine sieve and discard fibers and seeds.
2. Combine the strained tamarind liquid, jaggery, and dates in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat, stirring, for 8-10 minutes until the jaggery dissolves and the mixture coats a spoon like thin maple syrup. Stir in the cumin, black salt, ground ginger, cayenne and kosher salt. Cool completely — it thickens as it cools; thin with a tablespoon of water if it goes past pourable. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
3. Make the mint-cilantro chutney: blend the mint, cilantro, serrano, ginger, lime juice, cumin, salt, sugar and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth, scraping down and adding water 1 teaspoon at a time. Keep it thick enough to cling to a spoon. Refrigerate in a tightly sealed jar up to 3 days.
4. Boil the potato whole in salted water until a knife slides through with no resistance, 18-20 minutes. Drain, cool completely, then peel and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Spread on a plate and refrigerate uncovered so the surface dries — wet potato is the fastest way to soggy bhel.
5. Prep the vegetables: dice the onion, tomato and cucumber small (1/4 inch), and pat the tomato and cucumber dry with paper towels. Combine them with the potato, chopped cilantro and minced chile in a bowl. Refrigerate. Everything to this point can be done up to 6 hours ahead.
6. At the table, set out a very large dry bowl. Add the puffed rice, chana dal, crushed papdi, chaat masala and black salt and toss with your hands to distribute.
7. Add the chilled vegetable mixture, 1/3 cup tamarind chutney and 3 tablespoons mint chutney. Toss quickly and firmly with two spoons for 15-20 seconds, just until everything is coated — no longer.
8. Taste one bite: it should hit sweet, sour, salty and hot at once. Adjust with more tamarind chutney for sweetness, mint chutney for heat, a squeeze of lime for sharpness, or a pinch of chaat masala for funk.
9. Divide immediately among 4 bowls or paper cones, shower generously with sev, and add a final drizzle of both chutneys and a lime wedge. Eat within 5 minutes — that's not a suggestion, it's the dish.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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