Masala Puri

One plate Masala Puri and one plate bhel puri, on a rainy day in monsoon season, was my most cherished snack cum dinner back in Bangalore. 

My parents never let me and my brother eat road-side food and hence we never tasted chats for a very long time. Chats were/still is thought of to be prepared in unclean environments. Then when my father got to know about this chat-angadi with proper infrastructure and visibly convincing cleanliness, he started bringing it home. He used to bring a big pack of masala puri and bhel puri, packed to go, coming back from his office. Assembling them was my job. I can still remember the fragrance of the ragda that’s added to the masala puri, that would make me want to dig in asap, right out of the container.

With the temperature dipping in the bay area, what better to eat than our very own spicy Masala Puri.

Masala Puri is one of those chats, which even Mumbaites might not know(I might be wrong). It’s basically crushed chat-puris served with peas-ragda(gravy) with typical chat garnishing. 

When I came across this bangalore-style masala puri recipe in one of my favorite blogs, Swampaaka, I jumped with joy. Because whatever recipe I’ve tried of this blog has come out well so far. I was sure this would come out good too. It turned out better than my already high expectations. 

Do try!

Ingredients

Small Puris - I used bhel mix from Indian stores

Sweet chutney - store brought

for the gravy

Dried peas - 1 cup (See notes)

Small potatoes - 2

Turmeric - a big pinch

To grind

Cilantro - handful

Mint leaves - handful

Onion - 1 small

Green chilles - around 8

Ginger - 1 inch

Garlic - 1 

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Dhaniya(Coriander seeds) - 1/2 tsp

Jeera(cumin seeds) - 3/4 tsp

Red chili powder - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp

Cloves - 2 to 3

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Jaggery powder - 1/2 tsp 

Black Salt - 1 tsp

Salt

for garnishing

Onion - finely chopped

Cilantro - finely chopped

Mixture of red chili powder and salt - optional

thin sev

Method

Wash and soak dried peas for around 4 hrs. In a pressure cooker, drain and add the peas. Cut potatoes into big pieces and add to the cooker. Add pinch of turmeric and little salt. Add some water to cover the whole thing, cover and cook for 3 whistles. Eveything should be nicely cooked and easily mash-able. Let the pressure go down.

Meanwhile, grind all the “to grind” ingredients along with some water in a mixie to a fine paste. 

After the pressure comes down in the cooker, mash the ingredients with the back of the ladle. Add ground paste. Add water. Let it boil for a good 20 min in medium flame. If the mixture thickens as it boils, add more water. Consistency of the gravy should be runny and watery. Also note that the mixture thickens as it cools. 

Assemble

Crush the pooris in a bowl(In my case put bhel mix).

Add as much ragda as needed to cover the puris(or bhel mix).

Add sweet chutney according to your taste. Add finely chopped onion and cilantro. Add salt-red chili powder mixture of required. Add sev. 

Enjoy!

Recipe Source -  “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTZ0bNuted8”

Notes - 

• I find frozen sweet peas to be little bit sweeter than dries peas. So using dries peas is recommended. But frozen should also work.