Jhaal Muri (Spicy Puffed Rice)

Jhaal muri is a simple Bengali snack available as street food. It is a mix of many colourful ingredients and can be prepared in a few minutes if all ingredients are kept ready. Puffed rice is mixed with boiled potato, salad vegetables, dry spices and mustard oil (for binding).

Jhaal muri is a healthy snack because other than potato all other ingredients are used in raw state. This low calorie spicy puffed rice can be served as a snack and can be digested easily. Basically jhaal muri is a hot and spicy snack, but the quantity of red chilli powder and green chilli can be adjusted to suit everyone including children.

I have used raw mango and other easily available vegetables like carrot, cucumber. It is not necessary to have all the ingredients to prepare this jhaal muri (basic ingredients are only: puffed rice, green chilli, onion, sev/namkeen, oil).

Ingredients

• Crisp puffed rice/muri – 3 cup
• Omapodi/kara boondi/namkeen/sev (a type of snack) – 1 cup
• Boiled and chopped potato – 2 heaped tablespoon
• Carrot chopped – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Cucumber chopped – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Coriander chopped – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Coconut chopped – 1 tablespoon
• Green chilli chopped – 1 no
• Raw mango chopped – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Tomato seeds removed and chopped – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Onion chopped – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Roasted peanut – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon (adjust as per taste)
• Chat masala – half teaspoon
• Mustard oil – 1 tablespoon
• Salt – as per taste (use less salt as puffed rice, omapodi/boondi, chat masala have salt already in them)

Method

• Take all ingredients in a bowl and add red chilli powder, chat masala except mustard oil.

• Mix and toss well without spilling.

• Add mustard oil at last and mix well.

• Serve immediately.

• Serving: keep all ingredients chopped and ready; just before serving mix all ingredients.

Tips

• Use thick skinned tomato as it has less juice.
• If raw mango is not available, use few drops of lime juice.
• If you have sprouted/roasted moong dal, kaala chana etc., you can add them also.