Indian street food, which is a way of life to a majority of us Indians, offers a rich tapestry of myriad flavors that are not only mouth watering but comparatively light on the pocket too..:). Indian street food boasts of a number of snack based items or finger foods such as aloo tikki, mirchi bajji, pakodas, kebabs, while some are almost mini meals by themselves, like pav bhaji, dahi bhalla, dahi chaat and papdi chaat. Go to any busy street in a small town or a big city and you’re bound to find rows of street food hawkers cooking the food right before your eyes and selling delectable delicacies that are sure to fire your appetite, leaving you no choice but to want to bite into those hard-to-resist heavenly temptations.

Bhel is a perfect example of such hard-to-resist street food fare (appetizer) and makes a great mouth watering evening snack or salad. It’s a combination of flavors between crispy crushed peanuts, onions, tomatoes, raw mango, fresh coriander leaves, puffed rice and garnished with a tantalizing tamarind chutney.

Ingredients:

2 big cups of puffed rice(murri, mumurae, kurmura)
2 tbsp of crushed roasted peanuts
¼ cup of boiled black or white chick peas (kabuli channa) – optional small cup of chopped raw mango pieces
1 onion chopped finely
1 green chilli finely chopped (optional)
1 small tomato de-seeded and chopped finely
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
big pinch of chaat masala pwd (optional)
¼ tsp red chilli pwd
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients and just before serving drizzle with tamarind chutney.You can have it without the chutney too but it still tastes great, is low in calories and a meal by itself.

Bhel is a versatile dish where you can add ingredients according to your choice – some more versions of bhel include corn bhel and murri mixture.