Sukha Bhel and Sukha Bhel Chutney

Sukha bhel is one of my favourite street side foods sold in Bombay. Actually when I think of the street side food sold in Bombay, I have to ask myself, which dish do I not like??:). Excluding a dish or two, I think I like all the chaat/rekdi food sold in Bombay, sukha bhel being one of them.

Sukha (dry) bhel, as the name suggests, is the bhel served without (wet) chutneys. The main ingredient which gives this bhel a unique taste is a special dry chtuney used to make this bhel, and my building's bhelwala baiya used to make it the best:). I still miss the sukhabhel I used to get when I was in India. I had been looking for the dry chtuney recipe for such a long time, and atlast I found it on Tarla Dalal's website.

As soon as I saw the recipe, I HAD to try it:). It turned out pretty close to the dry chutney I am used to eating in sukha bhel. Here I am giving you the recipe for making sukha bhel, including the recipe for the sukha chutney.

Sukha Bhel Ingredients:
1 Cup Puffed Rice,
1/4 Cup Fine Sev,
1/4 Teaspoon Black Salt (Sanchal),
1/4 Teaspoon Chaat Masala
2 Tablespoon Roasted and Salted Chana Dal, (I used masala chana dal)
1 Teaspoon Roasted and Salted Peanuts,
1 Tablespoon Chopped Onion,
1 Green Chili, Finley Chopped (Optional)
1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice,
1 Teaspoon Sukha Chutney, (Recipe Follows), or to Taste
3 Puris (Used For Sev Puri), Broken into Small Pieces
1 Puri (For Serving/Decoration)

Method for Sukha Bhel:
Combine all of the above ingredients together. Mix well and serve.

Ingredients for Sukha Tikha Chutney (from Tarla Dalal's Website)
1 Cup Mint Leaves, Washed and Patted Dry
1/4 Cup Coriander Leaves, Washed and Patted Dry
1.5 Tablespoon Roasted Chana Daal or Daria, (I used about 2.5 Teaspoon)
2-3 Green Chilies, Chopped, or to Taste ( I used 5)
2 Tablespoon Puffed Rice (Kurmura or Mamra),
Salt to Taste,
A Pinch Turmeric Powder
A Pinch Asafoetida,

Method for Sukha Tikha Chutney

Combine all of the above ingredients and grind to a coarse powder. When ground using a mixer grinder, this should result in a big lump (ball).

Note: I used Tarla Dalal's recipe as a base and modified it to suit my taste. The recipe calls out for 2-3 green chilies, which resulted in a pretty bland chutney for my taste, so I add 2 more chilies. I also added a little more roasted chana dal, because I felt that when I mixed the chutney with the bhel, the lump didn't break down, so it needed to be a bit more drier.

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