Please look at similar chaat recipes like Tamarind Corn Chaat, instant Maggi bhel, papad bhel, and Dahi Batata Puri Chaat.
Bombay bhel is a savoury and delicious Indian snack. It is a must-try street food originally from Mumbai, Maharashtra.
If you have ever eaten on Mumbai’s street, you would have come across this bhel. Specifically from the street vendors on the seashores or the Mumbai beaches. The dish is one of the favourites for the people there.
It is rightful to make this snack popular. The reasons are valid enough. Firstly, this snack is flavourful. You can easily have a party of different flavours in your mouth with just one bite.
Secondly, it is so filling and at minimal prices. It’s also a vegan and gluten-free dish. Moreover, this doesn’t taste great but looks appetizing as well. Have you ever seen the street vendors making this? Well, you must!
The making process there is just as interesting and somewhat entertaining. You’ll rarely see a hawker who would use a chopping board to cut the vegetables. Even assembling all the ingredients is like a show, carried out in a record time. The Non-Indian tourists visiting there are always left awed.
Although the process and ingredients are similar, this snack item has different names in different parts.
Even if people all over India make this snack with their style and touch, it won’t be wrong to say that Mumbai’s version is the most popular.
Now we know enough about this snack. We then proceed to see what we will need to make this.
Bombay Bhel has multiple ingredients, some are replaceable, and some are not. It would be best if you kept in mind that this needs to balance the various flavours of all the ingredients combined. It makes the dish so loveable.
That is up to you how you want to do that. In this version, meethi and green chutney are used heartily for that burst of flavours. If you add chutney in a limited amount and any other wet ingredients, it will turn out to be dry bhel.
Puffed rice will be making the base of the dish.
Chopped tomatoes and onions are common ingredients in almost every type of bhel. Boiled potatoes are second to them. We are using all three here.
And as I mentioned, chutneys will play a significant part in this recipe. Don’t overuse them, or else the bhel will be too soggy to enjoy. You can adjust all the ingredients as per necessity, especially the spices.
Lastly, sev and coriander are great for the finishing part. Sev will add to the crunchy texture of the bhel. You can replace this with aloo sev.
The bhel is wholesome as it is. But to make it even better, here’s a suggestion of a few things to add for the same.
Please look at similar chaat recipes like Tamarind Corn Chaat, instant Maggi bhel, papad bhel, and Dahi Batata Puri Chaat.