Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Jhal Muri - Kolkata's delightful street food

Jhal Muri 

'Jhal Muri' is a popular street food in the state of West Bengal,India .Bengali,the official language is unique in its own way with wonderful names for sweets and savouries.

'Jhal' means 'Spicy' and 'Muri' means 'Puffed Rice' .Thus the name :)

Having spent 6 yrs of my childhood in the city of Kolkata , its hard to forget those tongue tangling street food.My parents used to tell me all stories about how I used to love street food in our locality called 'Dhakuria'.I used to pester my parents to take me out everyday

just to eat all these tangy spicy food.They said the recipe was too spicy so they often request the vendor to make it 'Jhal Chada' which means 'less spicy' .

They took me atleast once a week to have Rasgulla,Jhal Muri ,Dhahi puri and much more.Ah I forgot to mention, the people are amazing there.Okay coming back to my story ,after a few months of frequent visits to the same shop,the vendors became so friendly.As soon as they see me with inquisitive eyes approaching their shop , they immediately start preparing my Jhal Muri, less spicy,without even asking !!

Now coming to the recipe , this is a very simple snack which can be put together within a few mins.

The most important ingredient while making this recipe is 'Mustard oil'.If you can't find it, no big deal.This doesn't mean the taste of the recipe will be compromised.Those who can get it, do add it in your recipe to get the authentic taste of Kolkata.


200 gms of Muri / Puffed Rice

1 small onion
1 big tomato
1 large yellow potato
1 tblsp chat masala
50 gms of churmur / bhujiya / spicy gram flour noodles
1/4 tsp salt
1/2/tsp red chili powder
1 tsp mustard oil (optional)
A few leaves of cilantro

Method :

Boil the potatoes and cut them into very small pieces or mash them roughly.

Dice the onions and tomatoes into small pieces.

In a large bowl, mix the onions,tomatoes and mashed potato.Sprinkle  red chili powder, chat masala, bhujiya, salt ,chopped cilantro and mustard oil. 

Just before serving, add the puffed rice to it and toss everything until well combined.If you add the puffed rice long before serving, it tends to become soggy.

Yummy sweet and spicy snack is all ready to serve :)


  1. wow!!a great snack for any time....
    nice clicks too...
    Event : Agar Agar Recipe Contest
    Event : Cook like a Celebrity Chef

  2. You just made me wanna run to Dhakuria right away..Loved the homemade version.

  3. super clicks and an amazing snack :)

  4. I was watching Eat Street yesterday , where that showed a Brit guy selling Jhal Muri on the streets of London!! So i made my self some dirt bhel, and the next day i see ur delicious post:)
    I love this preparation, reminds me more of my childhood days when this was 'the snack' for us kids!

    1. Wow. That's great to hear.Glad you liked it. Thank you Gauri :)

  5. I am coming over there, Delicious love it.

  6. That looks similar to the bhel puri.. Or is it

    1. Yeah it is similar to bhel puri.This is Kolkata's special version of bhel with the addition of mustard oil:)

  7. Delicious n inviting street food, mouthwatering!!!