Friday 5 December 2008

Jhaal Muri / Moshla Muri


(Updated photograph) 
One of Kolkata's very favourite street snack is the Jahl muri or the Moshla muri. You can see a man  standing every hundred feet or so ... with a stand that holds all the secrets to that beautiful thing that he hands you in a cone made from old newspapers.

One mouthful and you come across every kind of flavours dancing on your taste buds at one go. Crispness of the muri / puffed rice, moistness of the cucumbers and boiled potatoes, a few boiled chola or chickpeas thrown in, chopped coconut lending that required bite and of course green chillies for that eye watering spice.
Everything is coated with a generous amount of mustard oil ... no, most of them use oil from old achars , bhaja or roasted masala, red chilli powder and a mixed masala whose ingredients remain a secret as none of the moshla muri walas would talk about it.
Anyway, I suspect that is a way of creating intrigue and that masala has nothing more than rock salt+black pepper powder.

Anyway, every jhal muriwala has his own masala.

And so do I. :-)
Here is my recipe for the Kolkata Jhal muri.

Need :

Puffed rice,
chopped onion,
chopped green chilli,
chopped cucumber,
chopped fresh coconut,
finely sliced ginger,
moong sprouts,
boiled  kala chana,
roasted jeera + red chilli powder,
mustard oil or achar oil, some spicy namkeen
rock salt
lemon juice
black pepper powder
red chilli powder


How to :

I sometimes dry roast the muri/murmura in a kadhai ... for that extra crispiness .... and cool it and store.

In a big bowl, add everything .... the muri last .... or it will turn soggy.

Stir vigorously to mix well.

Moshla muri

Serve quickly.

Goes great with a cup of hot tea.

It is healthy as well as filling too.
Doubles up as my lunch on most days ... especially during the rains.

Enjoy!!






16 comments:

  1. Perfect for rainy days too:). This is something I have run out and need to mix up stuff and keep for the kids. All they have to do is chop onions and coriander when they are back from school and gorge on this!

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  2. I haven't tried this, remember seeing at Delhibelle's too.
    It looks crunchy and delicious.

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  3. looks sooo lovely , Iam hungry right now .. this has made me even more hungry ... its real yummm

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  4. sharmila... ami ekhuni jhal muri khaabo.. ooof ekhane deshe r bhalo muri o paina.:-( both my hubby & me love it sooo much that we have dinner with it.

    tumi kpthaye dekhte pele je someone used ur pics? i am totally at loss.. may be we should all start looking out.

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  5. I LOVE jhalmuri Sharmila. My mom was brought up in Calcutta and she makes it a lot. The mustard oil is a MUST. I was glad to see this post.

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  6. Oh!!! How I love this masala muri!!
    Adding you on my blog list...

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  7. That is a neat idea Sunshinemom! Next time I too going to add namkeen to muri when storing. :-)

    Bharti .. have a go this weekend. You'll love it. Yes, Rashmi posted this too ... her writeup and snaps are definitely much better than what you see here. :-)

    I know Deesha .. this thing has hunger inducing properties. ;-)

    Ja muri pao Soma .. ektu oven e ba koraye roast kore nilei dekho kemon crispy hoye jabe. Tomar second question er answer amar oi poster comment e diyechi ... dekhe nio.
    And thanks! :-)

    Am glad you liked the post Naina. If you use mustard oil ... add a little lemon juice/amchur powder for a little tangyness. :-)

    Thanks Joyita! :-) Make some right away and enjoy! :-)

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  8. Hi Sharmi...

    Thanks, we're also keeping our home neat and tidy.

    Sharmi..after seeing Masala muri I thought of Muri ghonto ( katla macher muri ghonto / gonto ).Our '' maasi '' prepared the delicious dish 10 years back and taste's still.......

    Have a nice day

    Keep smiling

    Cheers

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  9. Your post was too good Niya. :-)

    And even though the word Muri is used in Muri ghonto ... it is not the same one used in Jhal muri.

    Muri ghonto is made from Muro/fish head and the word Muri for Ghonto recipe comes from the word Muro/Mudo/fish head.

    Am glad you like the dish .. it is indeed a fav. :-)

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  10. OK...got to write today. I have been eyeing this highly tempting and one of my favorite snack of all times for too long now.

    Must say Sharmila you have put a very inviting picture of Jhaalmudi...no wonder why your pictures get picked up!!! :)
    (Sorry that was not meant to be taken lightly)

    Thank you so much for posting this...I have some mudi at home so I will enjoy some jhalmudi today!! :)

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  11. hey..why is my comment not showing, i wrote yesterday i think..S, are u so cheesed off with me that have u started deleting my comments now;)

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  12. Thanks Joyeeta! :-)
    And true .. serves me right. :-)

    C'mon Rashmi! Why would I do that?!

    I've had only one comment from you recently ... regarding your new post ... "posted:)" ... that's all! :-)

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  13. just trying to pull your leg ya:)
    your post revealed what it was that I was missing all along in my muri that made taste not quite as good as the muri bhaiya's and it was ginger .. & that's what I had commented, which for some reason did not show up.
    Thanks for this tip, my dear

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  14. Ah Rashmi .. staying so far away from home all we can do is rely on our memories and try to dig out flavours of our favorite foods as much as possible. :-)
    Even I am not an expert .. it is our recent visit back home that refreshed the tastes ... and so was able to post the full recipe. :-)
    Make a bowlfull today and enjoy!:-)

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  15. This sounds like a delightful dish, I make a variation of using puffed rice but the flavors you have used sound tempting, will give this a try the next time :-)

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  16. Thanks Usha! Do try it ... am sure you will love it. :-)

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