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Bengali food is popular due to its wide variety of fish, meat and vegetarian dishes, but Bengali food also offers a great variety of snacks, one of them being jhal muri.
This snacky delight is made of spicy puffed rice, mixed with ingredients like: fresh coriander, sev, papdi, onions, roasted peanuts, sprouted Bengal grams, green chillies, lemon and mustard oil.
Jhal muri is a popular street food in West Bengal, and now its flavours are wafting all across the City. At market number two in Chittaranjan Park (CR Park), one can queue up for this great snack that is light, healthy, quick to fix and bursting with flavours that are spicy and tangy. Jhal muri is to a Bengali what bhel puri is to a Mumbaikar.
“I eat it after every two days. I just can’t get over it and its taste. I love spicy food that is why I am so fond of it. Moreover it is very light and doesn’t make your stomach heavy. It is easily accessible here and very cheap too,” said Shipra Mukherjee, a resident of CR Park. Resident Shumon Bhowmick seconded Shipra, “I just love the tangy flavour of the dish and the green chillies just make me go for it over and over again. You can have this dish any time of the day.”
The dish is served in a typical thonga (paper cone). Jhal in Bengali means spicy and muri means puffed rice. Puffed rice is known by many other names such as phuliyan (in Punjabi) which translates into puffed ones and its other names are: murmure, kurmura and chirmure.
Another jhal muri lover Rajat Nag said, “I get it packed and take it home to have it with my family. We all really enjoy it. It’s easy and quick to make and tastes amazing.”
A small cone of jhal muri will cost you Rs 10, while a bigger one comes for Rs 20.
This snack food is meant to be spicy and traditionally demands the use of green chillies which lend it the heat or the jhal. The addition of a dash of lemon makes it tangy and the sprouted mung dal and Bengal grams along with roasted peanuts add the crunchiness to the crispy puffed rice. What further balances the dish is a drizzle of mustard oil.
There is only one glitch though: You need to eat it as soon as it is made. The lemon juice, the oil, onion and at times tomatoes make the puffed rice soggy.