Vegetarian Starters and Snacks

C for Churumuri

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I think the only letter that had so many options since I started thinking about appropriate dishes, would be C.
C was one of those dishes that was done very early. So I had no reason to think about going back and redoing a different dish. However the C of the original choice, referred to an occasion and not the ingredient. I had given the exception to choose non ingredient names limited to just 1 -2 dishes in the whole series, I wanted to make sure I kept true to the starting letter. That meant I had to redo it.

From Cocoli, croissants, croquants to croquette, I thought of everything and was shifting the letter from one column to the other, every other day. It was almost so funny. In fact I had a list of letters that were floating without a definite name, stored in my mobile and was seen checking it out quite often. Hubby dear in fact asked me what I was up to. I kept mum and didn’t’ share it with him. After the previous month long marathon, I decided not to tell him that this is month long one. He gets worried when he thinks I might over do things, so he was not privy to the fact that I have been cooking over for so many months in anticipation.

With the clause that three themes should have 6 and one theme 8 dishes, I was really worked up on what to put where for couple of dishes. In fact my Regional and Misc got fixed pretty fast. International was half done, I was left with just Baked dishes and that was really hard. Anyway as in chess, one right moved saves the king, it was very similar in my case. I decided to redo one post and changed the category and things fell in its place.

I decided to make Churumuri.

Churu Muri
Churumuri
I am always surprised on how th same dish is called in different names and so is Bhelpuri in Mumbai, Churu Muri in Bangalore, Jhaal Muri in Kolkata, Jhala Mudhi in Orissa.

This simple, yet delicious street food, saved my confusion and made sure I had an almost entire list of ingredient specific dishes for each letter. I had to resort to only one and that was out of need. I will share when I come to that letter..:)

Now though Churumuri is supposed to be a spicy street food from Karnataka, this puffed rice snack is most common in many parts of India as well. I have seen this both in different cities across Tamil Nadu and Andhra but never realized this snack was tagged with just few places. Anyway for now, my need was met with letter C and I am not complaining.

When you take a walk next to Marina, you would see many vendors selling just this, all hot and spicy. Of course I have never eaten from there. I have stood around and observed how they do it. The other place I have seen this so much was in Tirumala, where the tourists are such attraction for this street food. I know I seem to be bringing up Tirumala quite often. That’s because we have visited the temple so many times without the kids in tow, that I actually had time to observe my surroundings.

Anyway when I was searching on this, I realized that Sia had blogged about this on Beyond Curries. I suddenly remembered telling her that this is quite popular in Madras as well. Anyway I decided I was going to make it, as puffed rice is something that is always at home. Only catch was the raw mango. Can you imagine my surprise when Amma said she had a mango lying around her fridge? Well I told her right away that I would need it and this was done right away.

Churumuri tastes best when served right away. I felt even the picture clicking session had the toll on the dish. However I had served everybody and kept my portion for the photo session. I was glad that my boys loved it, with all its onion, tomatoes etc. However after couple of minutes, they got more interested in the mango. Konda of course enjoys all such snacks.

Yesterday when I was checking out the folders for the pictures, Peddu was standing next to me. He saw the folder named ABC cooking, he read it and asked in Telugu, “Nuvvami paapa na ABC ra seeki” meaning “are you a baby for writing ABC” I was laughing at spontaneous response.

Now to the recipe of the day C for Churumuri

Churumuri

Ingredients Needed

Puffed Rice – 4 cups
Onion, finely chopped – 2 medium
Tomatoes, finely chopped 2 medium
Carrot, grated – 1 small
Raw Mango, finely chopped – 3 tbsp
Coriander Leaves, finely chopped – 2 tbsp
Roasted Peanuts, dehusked – 2 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder – 3/4 tsp
Green Chilli, finely chopped – 1 medium 
Lime/Lemon Juice – 1-2 tbsp
Cooking Oil – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

How to make the Churmuri

In a wide bowl, take chopped onion, tomato, green chill, coriander leaves and grated mango and mix well.

Add oil, lime juice, red chilli powder and salt to taste and toss well.

Now add crisp puffed rice and roasted peanuts and mix well so that each grain of puffed rice is coated with spiced vegetable mixture.

Serve it immediately.

Notes

In authentic version that’s served on the streets of Bangalore, coconut oil is supposed to be used. I used regular cooking oil and maybe sometime I will use and see the difference.

Also in the street carts, this is always on a hot pot, maybe that makes sure the puffed rice stays crispy.

Logo courtesy : Preeti

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32

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 C for Churumuri
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27 comments

  8. Thanks everybody!

    Mir, Yes he is still in the dark, he kept asking me last night was I was working late everyday..I didn't tell him..:)..I am hoping I could manage through the marathon

    Reply

  10. Wow I love that name Churimuri..Trust me I had not heard of it before..bhel and jhal muri yes…but the taste of jhal muri is very different than bhel..churimuri is mumbai ka bhel…raw mango gives this a terrific taste.

    Reply

  19. Valli your word churmuri had me in childhood. There was some fellow who came calling out "Churmuri" Ajji had said they carry a sack in which they stuff children and we should not go near them. But we loved this churmuri that she made and there was safety in numbers right? so we did pester a lot of these vendors.
    Yours is just like Ajji made. Thanks for the transport back in time.

    Reply

  23. Ohhh yummm my favorite too. there was a chatwala in CMH road in bengaluru I use to have this churumuri every suday. Mango gives a wonderful taste to this churumuri. you are making me drool.. you must say your son there are many papa around you for this month BM who is righting ABC so sweet…

    Reply

  25. You're right. Every region has its own version. I love Kolkata one quite a bit too. Their oil gives such a unique flavour to it. I think you should try the coconut oil too. I too want to try this soon now 🙂

    Reply

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