Recipe: Susan Feniger’s Bhel Puri (Indian Puffed Rice Salad)

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Tomorrow on Good Food we highlight some of our favorite cookbooks of 2012. Susan Feniger’s Street Food lives up to the book’s sub title: Irresistibly Crispy, Creamy. Crunchy, Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Recipes and this recipe for Bhel Puri is no exception.

Feniger cites her first trip to India in 1982 as transformational for her career. She fell in love with the complex flavors and textures that were so different than her French food background. Keep reading to learn how to make her Bhel Puri at home…

Indian Puffed Rice Salad

Serves 6

• Bhel Puri Dressing (recipe follows)
• 3 cups red yams, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
• 3 cups Bhel Puri puffed rice
• 1 small red onion, cut into a ¼-inch dice
• 1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped

Method:

1. Make the Bhel Puri Dressing and set aside to cool while preparing the rest of the salad.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, place the diced yams, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Mix well to combine and then spread in a thin, even layer on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the yams are soft to the touch and slightly browned.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before using.
6. Prepare the salad just before serving, as the puffed rice will become soggy quickly.
7. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked yams, garbanzo beans, red onion, and cilantro.
8. Just before serving add the Bhel Puri puffed rice and gently mix together to combine the ingredients. The reason to add the puffed rice at the end is that it will get soggy if added with the other ingredients too quickly.
9. Add 1 ½ cups of the dressing and toss together to evenly coat the salad.
10. Serve immediately with the remaining dressing on the side.

Bhel Puri Dressing

Makes 3 ½ cups

• 1 bunch cilantro, with stems, washed and chopped
• ½ cup packed mint leaves, chopped
• 1 2-inch “thumb” young ginger, peeled and chopped
• 3 Tablespoons cumin seed, toasted
• ½ teaspoon black salt
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup date molasses
• ¾ cup water
• 2 cups tamarind puree

 

Method:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, place the tamarind puree, water, black salt, salt, and date molasses. Stir to combine and dissolve the salt.
2. Separately, mix the cilantro, mint, ginger, and cumin.
3. In a blender on high speed, puree some of the tamarind mix with some of the herbmix, in small batches, to ensure that the herbs will be pureed finely enough and that all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Place the dressing in the refrigerator to cool until ready to use.