Bhel Puri

One of my favorite chaat is Bhel Puri. The best ones I’ve found are sold by street vendors at their stalls.  It is a very famous push cart food in India. It is similar in style to America’s food trucks.  Bhel has been very famous in the Gujarati community for centuries. It is eaten as a snack, sometimes as an appetizer and sometimes as a main meal. In any form, Bhel is always appreciated by any guest and host, too. It is a medley with an array of flavors to tantalize the taste buds including sweet, sour, crunch and rich aromas.

Cooking Time: Varies
Assembly Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Level:  Easy
Recipe Type: Vegan
For Jain Recipe: Omit potatoes & onion & add cubed apple and/or cucumber

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Mamara (rice krisipes) available at Indian store
(Bhel mixture is readily available at Indian stores)
1/4 lb. Thin Sev (crunchy noodles available in Indian store)
3    TBsp Roasted Peanuts
2    Small Potatoes, cubed
1    Small Onion, cubed
Green Sauces (also ready-made available)
Date Sauce
Garlic Sauce
Few Cilantro Leaves, chopped
Lemon Wedges, optional
1    Small Raw Mango, cubed

Directions: 

  1. Mix all the ingredients very well. 
  2. Garnish with thin sev, cilantro and onions.
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment! I love to hear from my readers!

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This Week’s Healthy Tip

Popular North Indian Chaats (Snacks) & Their Health Benefits 


From fitho.com:

Aloo Chaat: Crisp brown deep fried potato pieces served with, chaat masala and a mixture of sweet and tangy chutney. Potatoes are healthy, but deep frying them makes them unhealthy. So, clearly this chaat is not something you can indulge in, when you’re trying to watch your weight. If you want to make it healthier, you can pan fry or bake the potatoes with less oil, but it still doesn’t make aloo chat healthy :) . So follow the golden rule ‘mind the portion size’ while eating aloo chaat.

Calories: Approximately 350 calories (based on serving size)
Bhel Puri:  Made from puffed rice (murmura, muri) with mash boiled potatoes, sev (yes, they are fried) with, tomatoes, onions along with tangy tamarind sauce and spicy coriander sauce. Bhel Puri is a healthy option in chat and and a good snack if you’re watching your waistline.
Calories: Approximately 200-250 calories (based on serving size)
Pani Puri:  Called by varied names across India- Puchka, Gol Gappa, Bataashaa, Gup Shup, is a round hollow fried crispy shell, and filled with water mixture of tamarind, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and boiled chole (chickpeas).
Yes, the shell is fried, but the filling is mostly healthy, so this one is on our approved list of chats.
Calories: 150-180 calories for 4-5 medium sizes pieces.
Papri Chaat: A mixture of crispy fried dough wafers made from refined wheat flour, chick peas, boiled potatoes and yoghurt, tamarind chutney which is garnished with sev. This chaat is a borderline case. Its got the benefits of the boiled vegetables, and the benefits of yoghurt nutrition, but the base (papri) is fried and made from refined flour, which has a high glycemic index and is loaded with calories and fat.
Calories: Approximately 300 calories for a medium size serving.
A really healthy chat is yellow matar chat or a fruit chat. As you can see, with most chats, there is a part of it that’s unhealthy. Now, you know what is unhealthy, and what to avoid. So, next time you’re at a chat stall, you won’t be left wondering about the nutrition. If you like to indulge occasionally, its alright.  Just make sure you eat healthy most of the time and you get your exercise in!

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