Quick N Easy Bhel Puri

Aloo Tikki chaat, aloo papdi chaat, pani puri, bhel puri, and samosa chaat are popular Indian snacks. You can buy all of these cheap eats from the street vendors in all over India. One of my favorites is Bhel Puri. 

There are also many restaurants and cafes in the New Jersey/ New York City area where I can go to enjoy this snack, such as Hot Breads (Parsippany, NJ), Moghul Express (Edison, NJ), Sukhadia's (Edison, NJ), and most north Indian restaurants have it on the menu as well. 

However, I'm not in India right now and I don't feel like driving to go get this snack. What I can do?? No worries. 

Mom to the rescue! She always knows what to do when I'm craving snacks. 

She told me about Bombay Kitchen's Bhel mix. This mix is made up of puffed rice, sev, and spices. This mix is also gluten-free because sev is made from chickpea flour and puffed rice is made from, well, RICE. DUH!!

Making Bhel puri is quite easy once you have the two ingredients I mentioned above. The snack is typically made with puffed rice, sev, tomatoes, onions, fresh coriander, and sprinkled with tamarind sauce.

I was excited to see that my mom has multiple bags of this bhel mix. Now I can make and enjoy this snack to my heart's content.

Below are the ingredients I used:

 

- 1/3 cup of Bhel Mix by Bombay Kitchen (which is a mix of puffed rice, sev, and spices) 

- 1/2 to 1 ripe but firm plum tomato, finely chopped

- 1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion

- a few sprigs of fresh coriander, finely chopped (optional)

- 1 to 2 tsp of tamarind and date chutney

- 1 tsp Coriander Chutney (optional)

Mix together all of the above ingredients in a bowl and enjoy! That's it. That's the recipe. Now, go make it. It's nice and easy. You can adjust the ingredient amounts above as per your taste. 😀

Word of caution: do not wait too long after you mix all the wet and dry ingredients together because it will get soggy. That's no fun. 😥

I would definitely recommend all to buy this bhel mix. It tastes good on its own or you can use it to make your favorite snacks. It's great for parties. And it is reasonably priced. 

Bombay Kitchen Bhel Mix is available at most Indian grocery stores. It is also available for purchase online, at www.patelbrothersusa.com

My Fruity Piece of Heaven

I finally found someone who loves fruits as much as I do...of course, I'm talking about my husband!

He proudly boasts that he can eat 4 or 5 oranges in one sitting without concern. Geez! Besides, oranges he also loves pomelo and longan (also known as dragon eye).

I don't know if I can eat that many oranges in one sitting, however, jackfruit is another story.  I LOVE jackfruit. Ever since I found out that our local Jmart (Asian grocery store) stocks this fruit during the summertime, I make it a point to go every week to get some.

It was hard to come by when I was in Jersey but now that I'm within walking distance to this store, I go often. I ate my share and then some this summer, which by the way isn't over yet...

Every time I eat this fruit, I'm in heaven. And when I run out, I'm sad. :(

💡 Did you know that jackfruit is a fruit that is composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit which are eaten? I didn't know that. Thanks, Wikipedia! 

I did know, however, that it is not easy to cut open a jackfruit (like the one pictured above). You have to be prepared to spend at least a few hours to cut it open and take out all the "fleshy petals". The above will feed a lot of people. 

If you are planning to enjoy on your own and do not want to buy the whole fruit, you can buy thick slices of it at the store. That's what I do. 

Quick Tip 1: If you are not going to buy the whole fruit, make sure you pick slices where the "fleshy" petals are deep yellow and are mature. You know the petals are mature when they are thick. This means the fruit is ripe for the picking. The thicker the petals, the sweeter they will be and also the seeds will be tastier when boiled. 

Quick Tip 2: Make sure that there aren't any parts on the slices that are going bad. You don't want that. Carefully inspect the fruit slices before buying.

Below is a picture of one of the slices I bought as well as all the utensils needed to cut this sucker open. 

You will need:
- vegetable oil
- knife
- napkins or paper towels
- a bowl (to collect the seeds)
- bowl(s) to collect the petals
- newspaper or place mat

Procedure:
I rubbed oil on my hands and also on the knife which I will be using to cut open the jackfruit slice. I usually start cutting on one corner and move to the center so I can split it into pieces. Then I carefully remove the "fleshy" petals and seeds.

After you remove the fleshy petals and seeds, discard the green spike peel. The knife you use may get sticky time to time so re-apply oil as necessary.

This accumulation is from two thick slices of jackfruit!

Quick Tip 3: Don't throw away the seeds. I remove the thin yellowish layer off the seeds and wash them thoroughly. Then I let them dry completely and then I boil them for about 5 to10 minutes (depending on quantity). 

They taste just like boiled chestnuts. I love that you can eat the fruit and the seeds. Less wastage! My husband likes them too.


💡 Did you know that you can also cook with unripened jackfruit? You can find recipes for jackfruit curry or jackfruit biryani. I haven't tried it or made it as of yet...but you never know!

💡 Interesting Fact: Ripened "fleshy petals" have dietary fiber. Don't eat too many in one sitting unless you want to have diarrhea. I learned that the hard way! Now, I eat a few pieces at a time.

Have you tried jackfruit before? Do you like or dislike it? Please share your comments below.