Jhalmuri

Ingredients

Base

• 100 gpuffed rice
• 50 gchanachur or bhujia

Fresh

• 1onion, finely chopped
• 1tomato, finely chopped
• 1small cucumber, diced
• 2green chillies, minced
• 1 handfulcoriander, chopped
• 1boiled potato, diced, optional

Dressing

• 2 tbspraw mustard oil
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tspchaat masala
• ½ tspblack salt
• salt

To finish

• 2 tbsproasted peanuts
• 1 tbspgrated coconut, optional

Directions

1. Check the puffed rice is crisp. If it has gone soft, spread it on a tray in a low oven for a few minutes and let it cool.
2. Use raw, unrefined mustard oil, the pungent kind that stings the nose.
3. The mustard oil is the whole flavour of jhalmuri and it goes in raw and unheated. Any other oil, or heated mustard oil, gives you a bowl of damp puffed rice.
4. Put the puffed rice and chanachur into a large dry bowl or a paper cone.
5. Add all the chopped vegetables, chillies and coriander.
6. Add the mustard oil, lime juice, chaat masala and black salt.
7. Now toss it hard, lifting and dropping, for about thirty seconds.
8. Toss vigorously and briefly. The vendors shake it in a tin can for exactly this reason: everything must be coated before the moisture starts softening the rice.
9. Scatter the peanuts and coconut over and give it one more toss.
10. Serve immediately, in a paper cone, and eat it within a few minutes.
11. It has a working life of roughly five minutes. Made ahead, it collapses into a soggy mass and there is no recovering it.
12. It is sold from carts and from trains across Bengal, mixed to order in front of you.

Technique

• Every vendor’s mix differs and the argument over what belongs in it is part of the pleasure.
• Black salt, kala namak, is sulphurous and is what gives the savoury depth.
• Some vendors add a spoonful of tamarind or mustard paste, which is regional.

Substitutions

• Sev or any crisp fried snack mix in place of chanachur.
• Lemon for lime.

Variations

• Bhelpuri, the Mumbai cousin, sweeter and with tamarind chutney.
• With diced boiled potato and chickpeas, making it a fuller meal.
• Without onion, for those who avoid it.

History

Puffed rice tossed with mustard oil, chilli, onion and chanachur, served in a paper cone by vendors on trains, ferries and streets.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jhalmuri?

Jhalmuri is a street food from Bangladesh: puffed rice tossed with mustard oil, chilies and chanachur. Puffed rice tossed with mustard oil, chilli, onion and chanachur, served in a paper cone by vendors on trains, ferries and streets.

How long does Jhalmuri take to make?

Jhalmuri takes 15 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 2 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Jhalmuri?

Yes, within limits. Sev or any crisp fried snack mix in place of chanachur. Lemon for lime.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jhalmuri?

The mustard oil is the whole flavour of jhalmuri and it goes in raw and unheated. Any other oil, or heated mustard oil, gives you a bowl of damp puffed rice.