Girmit / Masala Puffed Rice / Masala Murmura

          'Girmit' (masala puffed rice / masala murmura) and 'mirchi bajji' (green chillie fritters) are a famous combo to accompany a cup of khadak cha (strong tea) in the evening in Hubli - Dharwad region of Karnataka. Girmit is simple, quick to prepare snack item equally savored by people of all age group.

Ingredients:

• Murmura / puffed rice - 4 cups
• Onion - 1, chopped
• Tomato - 1, chopped
• Green chillies - 2 to 3
• Curry leaves - around 10
• Peanuts -  1 1/2 tbs
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Dalia (roasted split chick pea) powder - 1/4 cup
• Jaggery / brown sugar - 1 tsp
• Tamarind - A peanut sized. Soak in 1/4 cup warm water for few minutes. Squeeze out juice and  dilute by adding 1/4 cup of water.
• Oil - 4 tbs
• Salt - to taste
• Cilantro / coriander leaves - for garnishing
• Sev (Crunchy noodle-like Indian snack available in all Indian grocery stores) - for garnishing

Method:

 1.Heat oil in a pan and roast the peanuts until they turn crunchy. Take them out onto a plate.

 2.To the same oil add mustard seeds. After they stop spluttering add turmeric powder followed by green chillies, curry leaves and fry.

 3.Add in the chopped onion saving a little for garnishing at the end. Saute until they turn transparent. 

 4.Add chopped tomato saving some for garnishing and saute until they turn mushy.

 5.Add in the tamarind juice followed by jaggery powder, salt and mix well.

 6.Now add dalia powder and stir well until it thickens. Keep this masala aside and allow it to cool. 

You can prepare this masala well in advance but mix with the puffed rice just before serving.

 7.Take the puffed rice in a big vessel so that it won't spill out while mixing. Add in the masala, roasted peanuts and mix thoroughly.

 8.Transfer this to servinng plates or bowls and garnish with some chopped onion, tomato, cilantro and sev.

           The yummy girmit will be ready to serve. As an optional step girmit can be served with 1 or 2 fried green chillies. 

• For preparing fried green chillies select a less hot variant. Make a long slit on one of the sides of the chillies.

• Fry in oil until it becomes slightly whitish.

• Take out and sprinkle some salt and few drops of lemon juice.

Tips:

• To make the puffed rice more crispy you can dry roast it for few minutes and cool before mixing with masala. As an alternative, murmura can be microwaved for around 30 sec.
• Be cautious while adding salt to masala as the puffed rice may already contain some amount of salt in it.
• Adding masala too early can make the puffed rice soggy, so mix just before serving.
• Instead of adding tamarind juice, you can simply add 1/2 cup water in the 5th step and can add required amount of lemon juice in the 7th step for sourness.
• While frying whole green chillies do not forget to make a slit or else they may burst out.

Watch the video in Kannada with English subtitles:

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