Bhel and Date-Tamarind Chutney
Bhel is an addictively delicious Indian street food found especially along Bombay's beautiful beaches. Made with rice crispies, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and sev, it is also divinely vegan.
Servings: 4
Calories: 80kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups rice crispies
- 1 cup khara sev (Optional. These are the squiggly yellow things you see in the picture, available in Indian grocery stores. I also sometimes find it in the Indian grocery section at Whole Foods)
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 2 green chili peppers (minced)
- ½ cup cilantro (chopped)
- 2 red potatoes (boiled and finely diced)
For date tamarind chutney
- 4 dates (soaked in water about 15 minutes until soft and seeded)
- 1 teaspoon tamarind extract
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or cayenne)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (lightly toasted)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Make date tamarind chutney
- Blend the tamarind, dates, red pepper and cumin into a fairly thick paste. Add salt to taste
Assemble the bhel
- Mix up all the ingredients, including the date-tamarind chutney. Add salt to taste.
- The bhel goes wonderfully with little puris, which are refined-wheat crackers deep fried in oil. Since my bhel is quite healthy, I decided to forego the puris which are also quite easily available at Indian stores.
Nutrition
Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Potassium: 131mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 215IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 4mg