Mango Chaat | Mango Bhel

Before you scratch your brains thinking about how to make the best use of the raw mangoes in season, let me help you with a really simple, but super delicious recipe. Call it Mango Chaat or Mango Bhel, this dish is tangy, spicy and quite effortless. This recipe is how I make it often. You are free to add/subtract or increase/decrease the ingredients as you like it for your palate.

About Mango Chaat

Want to stir up a quick snack for yourself or a starter for your parties? Let this Mango Chaat be at your service. I usually end up using raw mangoes for this recipe as well as others like Aam Panna, Mango Rice, Mango Dal and a variety of pickles.

By the way Chaat are group of savory snacks that form a major chunk of Indian Street Food. A chaat is tangy, spicy, sweet, salty – a flavorful burst of all the tastes and textures on your palate.

This easy mango chaat is a tasty and tangy variation of the popular Indian street snack of Bhel Puri. When I’m making this Mango Chaat, I really like it sour and tart. In Hindi I would call it as ‘khatta.’

So, my recipe does not have a ‘meetha’ or sweet element in it. Also, if you’re someone who loves snacking on raw unripe mango sprinkled with salt and red chili powder, this chaat will be an instant hit with you.

If you really want to consider this chaat as a Mango Bhel and like a balanced sweet and sour taste, then don’t hesitate to add some sweet Tamarind Chutney. You can also experiment by adding sweetened curd (yogurt).

As I already mentioned in the beginning, this Mango Chaat can be altered according to the ingredients that are available to you at home.

You don’t have to manage sourcing something special. Just add or substitute with whatever you have and however you wish the flavor to be.

For instance, if you don’t have puffed rice and want to add cornflakes instead, use it. Alternatively for potatoes, you can use cooked chickpeas or steamed sprouts, which by the way will turn the Mango Bhel even more nutritious.

How to make Mango Chaat

Prep

1. On low heat, roast 1 cup puffed rice in a pan or kadai till crisp. Set aside.

2. You will need roasted peanuts. So either you can roast the peanuts in a pan or in the microwave.

Make Mango Chaat

3. Take ½ cup tightly packed finely chopped unripe raw mangoes in a mixing bowl.

4. Then, add ½ cup chopped boiled potatoes, ¼ cup finely chopped onions, ¼ cup finely chopped tomatoes and 1 teaspoon finely chopped green chilies.

5. Mix everything well.

6. Add ¼ cup roasted peanuts and ¼ cup masala chana. This is Haldiram’s masala chana.

7. Then, add the puffed rice.

8. Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon chaat masala powder and black salt or regular salt as needed.

9. Toss and mix everything quickly.

10. Add ½ tablespoon lemon juice.

11. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves.

12. Add fine sev (fried gram flour vermicelli).

13. Mix quickly. Check the taste and add more black salt, red chili powder, chaat masala powder or lemon juice if required.

14. Serve raw Mango Chaat immediately in plates on bowls, as it gets soggy quickly. Garnish with some more sev and coriander leaves if you like.

Serving Suggestions

The most apt way to serve this Mango Bhel is that you must consume it immediately, or else the puffed rice (murmura) in it will become soggy and loose its crispiness. Garnish with some more sev or coriander leaves before serving, if you like.

If you’re a bachelor, then this Mango Chaat can be your go-to dish on days when you want to eat something wholesome, without spending hours and hours in the kitchen. Hassle-free, easy to make and requires no special skills.

This Mango Chaat recipe post from the archives first published in May 2015 has been updated and republished on May 2022.