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Spicy Puffed rice with mung sprouts

I am always looking for new snack ideas. With a husband and a daughter who seem hungry all the time I need something snacks that are lite and heathly. One very common snack in our house is puffed rice. Indian puffed rice is like popcorn! Simply made by heating rice in a sand filled oven. It’s flavoured with just salt and tastes wonderful. It’s crunchy, crispy yet oil free! My daughter snacks on them all day long.

It’s the main ingredient in one of India’s most famous street foods ‘Bhel Puri’. There are several sweet and savory recipes of puffed rice and one that I really enjoy happens to be a snack called ‘Churumuri’ which is the local version of Bhel from my hometown. Churumuri is puffed rice spiced with red chili powder and salt with some shredded onion. Sometimes other vegetables like carrots, tomato and even unripe mango is added to it. What makes it different is a dash of fresh coconut oil which infuses the whole dish with lots of coconut flavor!

My puffed rice Churumuri has a little twist! I made it a little healthier with a handful of home grown mung sprouts in it. Mung sprouts are really easy to grow at home by yourself and are really rich in protein. Read this extremely helpful post if you have never tried growing sprouts at home!

Here’s a simple healthy snack recipe which is beautifully versatile! Try different vegetable and spice combinations for a new taste every time!

home grown mung sprouts

oil, salt and chili powder

finely chopped onion and sprouts mixed in

Spicy Puffed rice with mung sprouts

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• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tsp red chili powder or cayenne
• 1 cup puffed rice
• ½ cup mung sprouts
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onion
• Finely chopped cilantro to garnish.

In a big bowl combine coconut oil, salt and chili powder and mix well. Add the finely chopped onion and sprouts and mix till evenly coated. Now toss in the puffed rice and garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

This recipe tends to be a little spicy with so much chili powder to reduce it by half if you can’t handle chili heat. Mix the puffed rice just before eating as it tends to lose it’s crispiness in minutes.