Jhal muri | spicy puffed rice chaat

Spicy jhal muri! This snack is popular in Bengal and consists of puffed rice (muri) mixed with fresh veggies like cucumber, tomatoes and onions. Jhal means spicy in Bengali so fresh chillies and chilli powder is a must! 

Always make jhal muri fresh and serve it straight away otherwise the muri will go soggy.  Yogesh has said that my spice tolerance is now so high he even struggles to keep up with me - the first time I made I think I overdid it and he was crying whilst eating it! I also add spices like cumin, chaat masala, and coriander. I also like to add peanuts, sev and chopped fresh coriander. 

This snack comes together very quickly and is perfect to have alongside some chai. To have the true Bengali taste you need to add mustard oil. However, I don't have it in the home as I don't use it very often - so my jhal muri doesn't have it! 

Ingredients

Serves 3

2 cups (40g) puffed rice (40g may not seem like a lot, but puffed rice is very light and airy so there is a large volume)
1/2 small red onion finely diced 

1 small potato peeled, boiled and cut into small cubes 

1 small green chilli finely chopped 

1 medium tomato finely diced 
Handful fresh coriander finely chopped 
Handful redskin or normal peanuts roasted 
1/4 cucumber finely diced 

Salt to taste

To finish
Sev (Indian gram flour noodles) 

You'll need these spices 

1/2 tsp cumin powder 

1/2 tsp coriander powder 

1/2 tsp chaat masala 

1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (use 1/4 tsp if using regular chilli powder)

Method 

• In a dry frying pan on medium heat, lightly toast the puffed rice to make them extra crispy. Let cool and then transfer to a bowl. 
  
  
• Add all the remaining ingredients apart from the sev. Mix well so that each puffed rice is coated by the spices. 
  
  
• Transfer to bowls for serving and then top with sev and enjoy! 

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