Saturday, December 23, 2006

Healthy Bhel Puri

(Happy Birthday Dhan)

Today is my younger sister’s birthday and to celebrate this occasion I wanted to make something that she likes the most.

Since she is miles and miles away I cannot offer this to her at least I can post this snack here for her to savor!

Back home during our childhood, I and my sister frequently used to visit a roadside stall name Masi’s bhelpuri , which still sells the same bhelpuri to this day! Since my sister loved this very much I have attempted to recreate the magic that the stall’s bhelpuri offered…

The specialty of this particular stall’s recipe was that it included fruits,grated beet on top thus making it nutritious and chatpata.. On weekend’s one had to wait for at least an hour to lay your hands on the lovely snack. There was no parking near by and the roads used to get crowded. The stall became so popular that motorists started avoiding the street during weekend evening hours.

The ingredients have no fixed measurement, I just eyeballed them. You could use as much or as little you want. But still to give you a fair idea, I am measuring some of them.

Ingredients
3 cups Bhel puri mix ( It’s a mix of thin sev and murmura)
¼ cup Onion chopped
¼ cup Tomato chopped
½ cup Apples chopped (yes apples…this is the healthy part )
3-4 Grapes cut in halves
¼ cup Pomegranate
Beet root grated (yep!!! to garnish)
2 tbsp Ketchup
1 to 2 tsp Sweet tamarind chutney (alternatively you could use Trupti’s apple butter chutney)
1 tsp Green chutney
1 to 2 tspYoghurt
Cilantro leaves



Method

  • Take a little more then half of your bhel puri mix and add ketchup,sweet tamarind chutney,green chutney, yoghurt ,onion,tomatoes,apple,grapes,pomegranate and mix
  • Add the above mix into your serving bowl and add the remaining bhel puri mix
  • Garnish it with cilantro and grated beet root….and there you have it friends…..Bhel Puri!!!

Note: You could also add chaat masala while garnishing.

18 comments:

Lakshmi said...

Wow , that's a nice twist to the regular old style, liked it with fruits and beets.

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for the link! Your bhelpuri is very healthy! apples, grapes AND beets! Where in India did they make this sort of delicious bhel?

Hope you're enjoying the holidays!
-Trupti

Krithika said...

Bhel looks lovely !

Bong Mom said...

Great Bhelpuri Sri, though must second Trupti here. Even I never had bhelpuri with apples and grated beets before. Very good idea indeed
Also the grated beet makes it look so much more pretty
Happy Holidays to you and your lovely family

Anonymous said...

What a nice combination that makes - bhel cum fruit chaat! Nice one, Sri! :)

Seema Bhat said...

Sri:
Your version of bhel looks very interesting ...looks like a fusion between fruit salad and bhel...must taste wonderful this way.
Thanks a bunch and happy holidays!
Seema

Dr. Soumya Bhat said...

Hi sri .I totally agree with you,its healthy indeed.Looks great with beetroot grates.Thanks.Happy holidays to you.

Sri said...

Thank you Lakshmi...I agree, its not a regular old bhel.

Trupti, this is the way they use to serve at that stall in Ahmedabad....and bhel was their speciality.

Thank you Krithika.

Thankyou Sandeepa. It's just not apple you could add grapes, pomegranate too. Yes you are right that grated beetroot does make it look pretty. BTW I tried your beet bread roll!!!OOOLALA :)
Happy Holidays to you too.

Yeah it is a little unusual but this is how they serve...it does taste good too.
Thank You Vani.

Yes Seema it does taste good. Give it a try.
Happy Holidays to you too.

Thank You Sowmya.
Happy Holidays to you too.

Bong Mom said...

Happy New Year Sri to you and the family

Shah cooks said...

This is a really neat twist. I am going to try it this weekend on my guests. BTW, good to know u like the curry. Thanks.Happy Hols.

Anonymous said...

I hope you have
a wonderful new year..:).

Sumitha said...

Bhel puri with apples and beetroot.....!!!!Whoever that lady was who made this sure had some value for peoples health! And how different it is from the regular bhel puri too!Your sis sure must have gone to that stall on her bday!How I miss all these chaats....have also made hubby start eating chaats when we went to Blore this time.....he has never had them before!

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic bhel and so different, I gotta try it...I just made some pani puris..together we can start a series...~grin~...best wishes to you and your family for the New Year...take care..have fun

Sri said...

Sandeepa
Happy New Year to you too dear

Hello Shaheen...yes the curry was a hit and do let me know how you and your guest like my bhelpuri.

Happy New Year to you too Lera

Yep Sumi, this one is definitely different from our regular old bhelpuri. I too miss the chaats....did he like them?
Happy New year to you and Annan.

Thankyou Dilipji, try it let me know how it turned out. Oh! its been a long time i had pani puri will surely visit your blog for the recipe.

And Happy New Year to you and yours.

Bong Mom said...

Happy New Year to You and Your family Sri

Nidhi said...

Healthy Bhelpuri..never heard of that before. I have to try it. Love the pictures too!

Here's Wishing you a very Happy New Year Sri. May God bless you and your family with all the happy things in this coming year.

Cheers, Nidhi.

Anonymous said...

Yummy Bhel!!!!!! Never knew street food can also become healthy... now no one can stop you from eating them!!!! :) Great twist Sri. Thanks for sharing :)

www.mykhazanaofrecipes.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Sri
Nice blog. Ur health bhel looks delicious.