Bhel Puri Recipe (Mumbai Style Bhel)
Bhel Puri is a very popular Mumbai street food snack made with puffed rice, crispy flat puri, boiled potatoes, onions, various chutneys, herbs, ground spices, and sev (fried gram flour vermicelli). This dish is easy to make at home. It has a mix of sour, tangy, sweet, salty, and crunchy flavors with plenty of texture. This Mumbai street–style bhel recipe comes together in under 45 minutes and includes three quick chutney recipes.
Bhel Puri Recipe – Mumbai Street Style
Bhel Puri is one of the most popular street food recipes from Mumbai and is now made in many regional styles across India.
This is a wet bhel puri recipe where spicy, tangy, and sweet chutneys are added.
The three chutneys used are:
In this bhel puri recipe, I am sharing quick recipes for all three chutneys, so you don’t need to search elsewhere. These chutneys are easy to make and do not take much time, which helps keep the total preparation under 45 minutes.
Apart from the chutneys, puri or papdi and sev are also added. You can make the crispy flat Papdi or puri and sev at home or buy them from the market. I have used baked papdi here, which I made at home.
Table of Contents
Some people prefer bhel puri with chutneys and some without. At home, we like to eat bhel with papdi or crispy fried puris, though it can also be eaten with a spoon. It makes for a great evening snack.
Though bhel puri comes together quickly, I wouldn’t call it a no-cook recipe since the potatoes have to be boiled and the tamarind chutney needs to be cooked.
Bhel puri should always be mixed and served immediately, as the puffed rice turns soggy if kept for long. Unlike Sev Puri, bhel puri uses puffed rice as the base and is mixed before serving.
Two Main Varieties
1. Wet Bhel Puri: Wet bhel, also called geela bhel in Hindi, includes chutneys along with onions, tomatoes, and boiled potatoes.
This version can be made spicy, sweet, or both, depending on the quantity of chutneys added while mixing the ingredients.
2. Dry Bhel Puri: Dry bhel, known as sukha bhel in Hindi, is made by mixing puffed rice with roasted peanuts, masala chana dal, spice powders, puri, and sev.
In dry bhel, liquid chutneys are not added, which makes it easier and quicker to prepare.
Two regional variations that are popular are Jhal Muri from Kolkata and Churumuri from Karnataka. Both use puffed rice but differ in spices and seasonings. For example, Jhal Muri is flavored with mustard oil.
More Famous Mumbai Street Food To Try
How to make Bhel Puri (Stepwise Photos)
Cook Potatoes
1. Rinse the potatoes very well in fresh water. Then boil 1 large potato or 2 medium sized potatoes in a 2-litre pressure cooker or in a pan with enough water.
If using a pressure cooker, then pour water just about covering the potatoes. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt and pressure cook for 4 to 5 whistles.
Once the pressure settles down on its own in the cooker, then only open the lid. Drain the water and place the potatoes in a bowl.
Let them cool or become warm. I was making some other snack as well, so I cooked more potatoes.
Make Green Chutney
2. Rinse and roughly chop ½ cup fresh coriander leaves (or ¼ cup mint leaves + ¼ cup coriander leaves). Place the coriander leaves in a small grinder jar.
Also add ½ inch ginger (peeled and roughly chopped), 1 to 2 green chillies, ½ teaspoon chaat masala and ¼ teaspoon salt or as required.
3. Add ½ teaspoon lemon juice for a tangy taste in the chutney.
4. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water or as required and grind or blend to a smooth chutney. Don’t make the green chutney thin. Remove the chutney in a bowl and keep aside.
Make Spicy Red Chutney
5. Peel 16 to 18 medium to large sized garlic cloves. Rinse them with water and place in the same grinder jar.
Also sprinkle 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder and ¼ teaspoon salt or according to taste.
6. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water or as required and grind or blend to a smooth consistency. Remove red chutney in a bowl and keep aside.
Make Sweet Chutney
7. In a small pan take the following ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons jaggery
- 3 teaspoons amchur powder (dry mango powder)
- ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 1 to 2 pinches dry ginger powder (optional)
- 1 to 2 pinches black salt or regular salt or as required
8. Add 3 tablespoons water.
9. Stir and mix very well.
10. Keep this pan on the stovetop and heat on a low flame.
11. Let the mixture gently heat on a low flame.
12. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly, then switch off the heat. Keep aside. Check the taste and if required you can add more jaggery or mango powder if required.
More Prep
13. Peel and chop the potatoes into small cubes. Finely chop 1 small to medium-sized onion and 1 medium-sized tomato.
You can also chop 1 green chilli if you want. Chop some coriander leaves too.
14. Take 2 cups puffed rice (murmura, pori, mandakki) in a pan. On a low heat stirring often dry roast the puffed rice.
This is not an essential step and you need to roast the puffed rice if they are not crisp. If they are crisp and crunchy, then you do not need to roast them.
15. Roast the puffed rice stirring often for 2 to 3 minutes till they become crisp. You don’t need to brown them. Let the puffed rice cool at room temperature.
Make Bhel Puri
16. Assemble everything before you begin. Keep the chutneys in a bowl. These chutneys stay well for about a week in the fridge. So you can keep the leftovers in the fridge.
17. In a bowl now take the chopped boiled potatoes, onions and tomatoes. You can also include some boiled moong beans or steamed moong bean sprouts at this step.
18. Add sweet chutney, green chutney and red chutney. You can add the quantity of chutneys as per the taste you want in a bhel puri.
For a spicy bhel puri recipe, include more of the red chutney and green chutney. For a sweet taste add more of the sweet chutney.
19. Sprinkle ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala and ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder. Also, sprinkle some black salt as per taste.
If you do not have black salt, then use pink salt, edible rock salt or regular white salt.
20. Drizzle ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice or according to taste.
21. Stir and mix very well.
22. Now add 1 tablespoon masala chana (optional) and 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts (optional). At this step, you can also top up with some crushed puri or papdi.
23. Add puffed rice.
24. Add ¼ cup sev (fried gram flour vermicelli).
25. With a spoon, just swirl the whole mixture together well and be quick.
26. Serve bhel puri immediately in individual bowls or plates. Top up with some sev, puri or papdi and more coriander leaves if you want.
If you don’t serve bhelpuri immediately then the puffed rice will become soggy and you won’t enjoy it. So be quick in serving. Assemble this dish only when you want to serve or eat it.
If there is any leftover chutney then refrigerate them for 1 to 2 days. Enjoy them as a dipping sauce with any Indian snacks.
My Recipe Notes
- Soggy bhel: Bhel poori has to be served as soon as it is made and immediately. Serving even after a couple of minutes will make the whole bhel puri mixture soggy and you won’t enjoy it.
- Assembling: Keep all the ingredients ready before you start mixing everything for making bhel puri.
- Roasting: The puffed rice should be crisp. If not crisp then roast them for some minutes in a pan on a low heat till they become crisp.
- Variations: You can even include grated vegetables like carrots and beetroot. When raw mangoes are in season then you can even include them. Adding raw mangoes gives a very nice tangy taste and crunch.
- Spicing: Spice powders and the chutneys can be adjusted as per your taste buds. You can make chutney at home or even use readymade ones. Best is to use homemade chutneys as you can make them as per your taste and they are fresher.
- No onions: If you don’t have onions, then make this snack without it.
- Salt: In place of black salt, you can even add regular salt, edible rock salt or pink salt in this recipe.
Questions Readers Ask
Why is it called bhel puri?
The word bhel means a mixture, referring to the mix of puffed rice, vegetables, chutneys, and spices. Puri refers to the flat crisp puris made from flour that are added to the mixture. Since the snack is made by mixing these ingredients together, it is called bhel puri.
Can I make bhel puri in advance?
Bhel puri is best made just before serving. You can prepare the chutneys, boil the potatoes, and chop the vegetables in advance, but mix everything only at the time of serving or the puffed rice will turn soggy.
Can I make bhel puri without chutneys?
Yes, dry bhel puri is made without liquid chutneys. It uses roasted peanuts, spice powders, puri, and sev, and has a more crunchy and dry texture.
Can I skip potatoes in bhel puri?
Yes, potatoes can be skipped. The taste and texture will change slightly, but bhel puri will still be flavorful because of the chutneys, onions, spices, and puffed rice.
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Bhel Puri Recipe (Mumbai Street Style)
Ingredients
For cooking potato
- 1 large or 2 medium potato
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- water – as required for cooking potato
For sweet tangy chutney
- 3 tablespoons jaggery
- 3 teaspoons dry mango powder (amchur powder)
- ¼ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder or sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 1 to 2 pinches dry ginger powder – optional
- 1 to 2 pinches black salt or regular salt
- 3 tablespoons water
For spicy red chutney
- 16 to 18 medium to large-sized garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons kashmiri chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water or add as required
For green chutney
- ½ cup coriander leaves or ¼ cup mint leaves + ¼ cup coriander leaves
- ½ inch ginger – roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon or 1 to 2 green chillies – chopped
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water or add as required
Other ingredients
- 2 cups puffed rice (murmura, mandakki, pori)
- 1 small to medium onion – finely chopped
- 1 medium tomato – finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon masala chana – optional
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts – optional
- ½ cup boiled moong beans or boiled moong bean sprouts, optional
- ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice or add as required
- ¼ cup sev
- ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 5 to 6 Papdi or puri broken in pieces, optional
- black salt as required
For garnish
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sev
- 1 to 2 tablespoons coriander leaves – chopped, (cilantro)
- 2 to 3 Papdi or puri
Instructions
Preparation
- Cooking potatoes – Rinse the potatoes very well in fresh water. Then boil 1 large potato or 2 medium sized potatoes in a 2 litre pressure cooker or in a pan with enough water.
- If using a pressure cooker, then pour water just about covering the potatoes. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt and pressure cook for 4 to 5 whistles. Once the pressure settles down naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid. Drain the water and place the potatoes in a bowl.
- You can also cook the potatoes in the Instant Pot or in a pan adding water as required.
- Let the potatoes cool or become warm at room temperature.
Making green chutney
- Rinse and roughly chop ½ cup fresh coriander leaves (or ¼ cup mint leaves + ¼ cup coriander leaves).
- Add the coriander leaves in a small grinder jar. Also add chopped ginger, green chillies, chaat masala, salt and lemon juice.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water or as required and grind to a smooth chutney. Avoid making green chutney thin. Remove green chutney in a bowl and keep aside.
Making spicy red chutney
- Peel 16 to 18 medium to large sized garlic cloves. Rinse them and add in the same grinder jar.
- Also add kashmiri red chili powder and salt.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water or as required and grind or blend to a smooth consistency. Remove red chutney in a bowl and keep aside.
Making sweet-tangy chutney
- In a small pan take jaggery, amchur powder (dry mango powder), kashmiri red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, dry ginger powder (optional) and black salt or regular salt.
- Add 3 tablespoons water. Mix very well.
- Keep this pan on the stove top and heat on a low flame.
- Let the mixture gently heat. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly, then switch off the heat. Keep aside. Check the taste and if required you can add some more jaggery or mango powder if required
Prepping veggies
- Peel and chop the potatoes. Finely chop 1 small to medium sized onion and 1 medium sized tomato. You can also chop 1 green chilli if you want. Chop some coriander leaves too.
Roasting puffed rice
- Take the puffed rice (murmura) in a pan. On a low heat stirring often dry roast the puffed rice. If your puffed rice is already crispy and crunchy then you don't need to roast them.
- Roast the puffed rice for 2 to 3 minutes they become crisp. You don’t need to brown them. Let the puffed rice cool at room temperature.
Making bhel puri
- Assemble everything before you begin. Keep the chutneys in a bowl. These chutneys stay well for about a week in the fridge. So you can keep the leftovers in the fridge.
- In a bowl now take the chopped boiled potatoes, onions and tomatoes. You can also include some boiled moong beans or steamed moong bean sprouts at this step.
- Add sweet chutney, green chutney and red chutney. You can add the amount of chutneys as per the taste you want in a bhel puri.
- Sprinkle ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala and ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder. Also add some black salt as per taste. If you do not have black salt, then use pink salt, rock salt or white salt.
- Drizzle ½ to 1 teaspoon lemon juice or according to taste. Mix very well.
- Now top with 1 tablespoon masala chana (optional) and 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts. At this step you can also add some crushed puri or papdi.
- Add the puffed rice and cup sev (fried gram flour vermicelli).
- With a spoon, just swirl the whole bhelpuri mixture together well and be quick.
- Serve bhel puri immediately in individual bowls or plates. Top up with some sev and more coriander leaves if you want. If you don’t serve bhel immediately then the puffed rice becomes soggy and you won’t enjoy it. So be quick in serving.
Dassana’s Notes
- Adjust the spices like green chillies and red chilli powder in the chutney recipes according to your preferences.
- You can prep the chutneys a day ahead and refrigerate them.
- If the puffed rice is crispy and crunchy, then no need to roast them.
- Recipe can be scaled easily.
Nutrition
Bhel Puri recipe from the archives was first published on August 2012.
Adding raw mango in the season is also a great way of elevating the flavors in this bhel puri. I do it often.
Absolutely! Raw mango adds a nice tangy flavor. It’s a great seasonal touch and I love using it too.
I love bhel puri.
Only you can find such a detailed and aesthetic description of the recipes. One pleasure is on this page.
Thank you so much for such a yummy recipe with pictures. I love the little tips you give. It truly helps. Although I dint have all the ingredients it turned out well. The chutneys tasted yum.
thank you neha. glad to know that the tips help. yes, some ingredients can be given a skip if you do not have them. thanks again and happy cooking.
I like dosa and pav bhajji
Hi Dassana – I wasn’t sure what you meant by “no English tradition for bhel puri” but thought you might like to know that there used to be two restaurants in London actually called The Bhel Puri House back in the 70s where people queued to eat the bhel puri amongst other wonderful things! One of the restaurants is still there but the food not as good as it used to be. Your recipe looks wonderful and authentic so I’m going to give it a try. I love bhel puri!
gerladine, i meant english translation and not tradition. by translation i meant there are no words for translating the words bhel puri in english. thanks for sharing this info. i have read earlier about the bhel puri house earlier somewhere.don’t remember where.
yes you do try the recipe. i am sure you will like it.
so I just ate this and it was yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!
thanks nia
Great Recipe. Perfect Mumbai Bhel!!
Thanks Bhavay
Dassana, this is my absolute top fav type of chaat. Always ate it in restaurants, never thought I’d be able to make it at home. Now there are no good Indian restaurants near me (I’m in the US), but thanks to you, I can!! Thank you as always!!
thanks a lot anjali. bhel puri can easily be made at home. its our favorite chaat too. but we are in india and we do have access to the chaat stalls. but best it to make at home ?
explain with photos is so so so useful
thanks atul for positive feedback 🙂
Bhel puri recipe is explained very well. Which helps in preparing it .superb dish:-)
thanks so much prerana.
Very nice recipes. Very well explained. The photos help a lot. Thanks for such wonderful recipes.
welcome harsha and thankyou so much 🙂
Can someone guide me to do the dried sweet Puries sold in Jaganath mandhir in India.
Yummyy…………will try surely:-)
thanks for the recepie.
thanks and welcome mamtha.
Yummy ? ll definitely try this
surely try and let us know how it was sid?
Yummy bhel puri recipe. I tried it. Very tasty. Thank you for sharing this wonderfull post.
welcome mahak
These recipies are superb and very. Easy to undersatand
thanks anusha
oh my god!!that was simply mouth watering…..cant get through it till now……….
i must say that its a perfect page to learn up delicious and marvellous recipes
thanks.
great job!! looks yummy!!
bhel puri is so good. i like it so much. it’s looks beautiful.
thanks sanjeev
thankyou for this great recipe. We knew the basics .. but all the extras you recommended . made it sooooo much better.
thanks.
Yum! My neighbor friend is always talking about how delicious street food in Mumbai is. I need a big spoon to scoop up this delicious goodness! 😉
This really looks fantastic and I would love to make this dish. Your photos are truly appetizing as well.
Very Nice. Chat items are everyone’s favourite. I would suggest you to make your own recipe videos, that will fetch you huge traffic.
thanks dr pushkar for your kind words. i have tried making videos but they were not good. but i am keen on starting my own videos… just waiting for the time and space for it to happen soon.
Hi,
You have a wonderful space with very simple and neat clicks…..Love them..
Congrats..:)
Bhel puri looks very tempting…love them..
thanks
HI,
Just loved all ur receipes and tried some of them….really grt and proud of u…
Keep going on!!!
thanks kavitha for your encouragement.
Congratulations Dasanna!!! You do deserve it !!!!!
Love the pictures….I never added Moong beans before…I should give a try!
thanks shruthi. do try making bhel with moong beans next time.
looks incredible..
Tasty Appetite
dassana, if you do not mind can u give me your email id…
sure nisa… its vegrecipesofindiaATgmailDOTcom
My mouth is seriously watery now after looking at the picture. At times even the thought of such treats like chat and bhel puri makes me drool 🙂
Hello Dassana,
Congratulations!!!! Totally well deserved, I must say… I love ur website and visit it whenever I want to make any dish. I only go to other websites when I dont find the dish here.
More power to you!! Keep them coming, want lots more dishes from you!
thanks suruchi for such a lovely and encouraging comment. you have made my day 🙂
congratulations! and that is one delicious bhel!
thanks richa
Street foods are always my favorite. I always fill my tummy with the street foods when I visit India. I like the idea of adding ‘moong’ and peanuts. Great recipe and gorgeous pictures as usual.
*fill Lol.
corrected the error…..
thanks 🙂
Congrats dassana, gosh! the bhel looks sooooo tempting…yummy clicks.
thanks nisa.
bhelpuri aur itna tempting pics ..aur kya chahiye
Congrats dassana.. u totally deserve to be on that list…
things are complicated in this vitrual world.. i thought a “like” was enough….
lovely clicks.. u ahve a hand model too this time…!!!
as usual dassana .. great clicks…
thanks renu. things are complicated in the virtual world… as a blogger one has to be in touch with newness the web world keeps on offering at all times.
Congratulations Dassana,
This is great news. The bhel puri looks yummy!
thanks asmita 🙂
i think this would give a great taste thank you dassana
thanks and it is a tasty bhel, anusha
A favourite of my children and always featured in their birthday parties since all the kids loved this and sandwiches. Make a shortcut murmura mix now, time I made it again with chutneys et al!!!!
Congrats for getting featured dassana…I love Mumbai sukha bhel and regular bhel…As you said even I love to eat bhel wid those papdis they serve..looks delicious n nice fotos…
reg the wet grinder I use the ultra table top wet grinder which I m using from almost 5 yrs and it is quite good and enough for a family of 2-4 ppl.Its easy to clean and not heavy.I suggest you to go for that..if its not available then u can go for butterfly wet grinder too..
thanks pratibha. also thanks for the info on the wet grinders. i will check them out here. missing idlis and dosas for a long time now…
This looks incredible! Yum!
congrts dassana- well deserved; the pictorially blogged bhel looks divine !
thanks priya 🙂
inviting dear…join in our Fast food-Noodles event
Congratulations Dassana! That is awesome news! I love bhel puri. We had this guy outside my college in delhi that sold the most amazing bhel puri. You brought back memories of my college days with this post. I have never tried making bhel puri at home, but it’s been on my list for a long time! Thanks for the reminder and for evoking the trip down memory lane!
thanks shumaila. even i have had some great bhel puri in mumbai. all i would wonder then was what is their secret recipe of making the chutneys… but now i don’t 🙂
Congrats Dassana… Love any chaat items and bhel puri seconds the list…
thanks vimitha…. which is the first in your list?
lovely clicks and tempting bhel, feel like having one full bowl…
bhel puri is one of my favourite snacks! I learned how to make it a few years ago when I was taking cooking classes. So delicious! I love your variation. Sounds like it has a lot more flavour! Cannot wait to try it out 🙂
do try it courtney… you will bhel puri 🙂
Not a big fan of bhel puri but can have it once in a while…looks so tempting with all those lovely clicks!!
Bhel looks so tempting. Love the step by step photos…