Sukhi Bhel means dry & spicy puffed rice. Wait, the story doesn’t end here. This fabulous food holds historic value. Let’s talk about it. Bhel is a lightweight munch & especially for those monitoring their daily calorie intake.


You see the interesting word here is bhel (I’m not talking about Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) 🤣). What we are making today is the well-known street style Indian savoury snack.

This particular snack is famously known as bhel or bhel puri. Needless to say, Indians go gaga over this street food. It’s one of my favourites too. Hence, let’s discuss some unknown parts of this food item before making it. Here we go.

What is sukhi bhel?

Sukhi Bhel is a mixture of a variety of ingredients. It includes several fried, toasted & roasted snacks. In short, bhel is a combination of ready-to-eat & ready-made namkeen items. In the middle of all these, we have a hero ingredient in the bhel. It’s puffed rice aka murmura, mamra, muri or mudi. Without puffed rice any kind of bhel is incomplete.

Not only namkeen but we also have other items to include in our sukhi bhel aka dry bhel. For instance, onion, coriander, tomato & lemon juice. These are regular add-ons to the bhel immaterial of where you eat.

Where & how did it originate?

It is impossible to track the roots of bhel. But this delicacy did originate in India. That’s the reason why people across the country eat bhel. The only difference is the name they have given to this snack. Let’s see the interesting names of bhel across popular Indian states.

Alternate names of bhel

Although the process is similar yet this snack item has different names. Here’s a list of the same. Enjoy.

  • Jhal Mudi or jhalmuri in West Bengal
  • Churumuri or churmuri in Karnataka
  • Simply bhel in Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP & MP
  • Jhala mudhi, kadle puri, masala mudhi in Orissa

Okay, now we have enough info about bhel. Since we know a lot about this snack why not make it in the first place. Let’s begin.

What you’ll need to make the sukhi bhel?

Sukhi bhel has infinite items. However, not literally infinite but it seems likewise. No matter whatever you add it feels like something more would be better. In other words, anything and everything is fair in love, war & sukhi bhel. emoji. I have pointed out some essential ingredients. Refer below.

  • Puffed Rice (the main ingredient)
  • Nuts (roasted peanuts & daliya aka porridge)
  • Masala powder (including chaat masala)
  • Namkeen (sev & papdi chaat)
  • Vegetables (onion, tomato & potato)
  • Tikhi chutney (green chili, curry leaves & coriander)
  • Meethi chutney (jaggery, dates, tamarind)
  • Lemon juice (to add khatta flavour)

The meethi chutney in the list above is additional. I like the dates & jaggery chutney with tamarind. Remember, we are making dry bhel hence keep the quantity limited. Now let’s go through the procedure.

How to make sukhi bhel?

Making sukhi bhel is an easy job. Moreover, you will get the exact taste similar to the one you eat on the streets. With this in mind, follow the steps below. For a detailed process scroll to the recipe card at the bottom.

  • Roast peanuts and porridge in cooking oil.
  • Saute dry masala powders with curry leaves.
  • Then add puffed rice and mix everything.
  • Make coriander paste by blending fresh dhaniya.
  • Take a large mixing bowl & transfer everything to it.
  • Now add the remaining items & sprinkle lemon juice.
  • Mix well & your sukhi bhel is ready.
  • Garnish with sev and serve it.

TR’s pro tips to make चटाकेदार 😋 sukhi bhel

  • Dry bhel has liquid chutney but in a controlled quantity. If you add more it will be गीली bhel. Therefore, add chutney depending on what you want to make.
  • Roast nuts before adding them to get a crunchy nutty flavour. If possible roast them a little more than required. You will love it.
  • Pomegranate seeds are the next level add-on to your dry bhel. I did this in corn chaat. Click the link to see how beautiful it looks.
  • Roast cumin seeds and blend them. Make coarse powder and add to your bhel. The taste will go next level. Try it.
  • Consider making the dates, jaggery & tamarind chutney. Trust me you will definitely love your dry bhel with this meethi chutney.
  • Do not store the dry bhel after adding chutney and/or lemon juice. It won’t stay crunchy.
    If you want to store your bhel then don’t add liquid chutney. Add only when you plan to eat the bhel.

Hence, keep the above tips in mind while making sukhi bhel. Let me know in the comments section what type of bhel did you make. Also, tell me what is bhel in your regional language.

Please have a look at our similar chaat recipes like Tamarind Corn Chaat and Dahi Batata Puri Chaat.