Bombay Bhel Puri - perfect for that chaat craving?

Who doesn't get the odd chaat cravings, especially when you're away from home! Bhel puri has always been one of my favorite fast foods and whenever I am visiting my parents I am a regular at my favorite chaat haunts. I have tried and tired really hard I must say to find (in Gurgaon & Delhi) the BHEL PURI that I used to eat while walking down from Nariman Point to Chruchgate Station or near Mitihibai College or in the by-lanes of Santacruz (any Mumbaitie would be familiar) with these places... ohh, how I would give anything to go back to the old times for a day...

Recovering from typhoid, I have been craving food at all times and satisfying those hunger pangs is causing me to put on some weight. So, I was looking for a healthy option to munch on through the day and something versatile enough to not get bored of. I thought of all the street food that I have been really craving and bhel puri always tops my list!!! So hear is the recipe...

Ingredients:
3 cups puffed rice / murmure
1 cup peanuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup roasted gram /chana lentil
1/2 cup find sev (they look like small dried yellow rice noodles made of gram flour)
a pinch of turmeric / haldi powder
olive oil for sauteing
salt, pepper, chaat masala and red chilli powder to taste

Saute the puffed rice in a tablespoon of oil in a large wok and keep stirring it continuously till lightly browned. Add a bit of turmeric and salt and saute some more. Leave in a bowl to cool. In the same wok, add 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil and the peanuts and saute them till lightly browned. If not salted, add salt and then add to the bowl in which the puffed rice is cooling. Now add the 1/2 cups almonds and saute them in the oil till nicely toasted and after sauteed crush some of them with a rolling pin and add to the bowl. When all the ingredients of the bowl are cool enough add the roasted gram lentil and sev and store in a clean air-tight jar.

This can be eaten as is or you can take it up a notch by removing the quantity you want to eat in a bowl. Add some spices as per your taste - chaat masala, red chilli powder and a teeny bit of salt. To this I added finely diced onions and tomatoes and some finely chopped coriander. You can also add some seeds of pomegranate or chopped peaches (which I didn't have at hand) to give it a slightly sweet touch which will be missing as we are not adding any sweet tamarind sauce to this dish. Since, I haven't added any chutneys / sauces in the dish, it makes this street food extra healthy and the fruits and veggies added to it would give us an extra boost!

This is also my entry to "Eat Fast Food, Not Fat Food" - I hope they like it!