Aalu Bhujiya

It is the festival season in India, and Diwali is just around the corner. During this time, it is a common practice at Indian homes to make dry snacks. A week to two before the festival day, people start deep cleaning their houses and start preparing these snacks, typically one a day, and storing them in containers to enjoy them on the days before and after Diwali. On the day of the festival, people exchange sweets and snacks with neighbours and friends and have a wonderful time in each other’s company.

This year, as the countdown to Diwali starts, I start with making a popular Indian Snack- Aalu Bhujiya.

Aalu Bhujiya is a spicy dry snack made using potatoes and gram flour as the main ingredients. This crunchy and spicy snack, which looks like broken noodles, is commonly available as a ready-made snack in shops and supermarkets. They taste absolutely delicious and are quite addictive. If you start eating them, it requires a tremendous amount of willpower to stop 🙂

Before we start with the recipe, let me take you through some important info.

To make Aalu Bhujia, you need a special press. It comes in various forms. the common one available looks like this:

You put the dough inside the mould, use one of the shown plates (based on what you are making) and press it to release the dough. Then, the dough comes out in the shape corresponding to the plate used. For Aalu Bhujia, you need the plate that gives the thinnest strings.

Also note that, in the recipe, I have mentioned two sets of ingredients. First, we make a masala called ‘Aalu Bhujiya Masala‘ and keep it ready. Then we make the Aalu Bhujiya. As each batch of bhujia is fried, we mix portions of the masala with the bujiya. You will understand it better as you read the recipe. This Bhujia Masala is the game changer in the recipe. It elevates the bhujiya to another level, so please follow the amounts and proportions mentioned in the recipe to the T.

Now, let’s start:

Equipment Needed:

• Bhujiya Press: https://amzn.to/3QsQDbl
• Mixing bowl: https://amzn.to/49nsE66
• Pan for frying: https://amzn.to/3ubZ3MH
• Mixer grinder: https://amzn.to/3PSsEC2

Ingredients needed to make Aalu Bhujiya:

Ingredients for Aalu Bhujiya Masala:

• 8-10 Dry Mint Leaves
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Black Salt
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• ½ tsp Citric Acid
• ½ tsp Black Pepper
• ¼ tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder

Ingredients for Aalu Bhujiya:

• 5 Medium-Sized Potatoes; boiled and peeled
• 4-4½ Cups Gram Flour
• 1 Cup Rice Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
• ½ tsp Asafoetida
• ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
• Oil for deep frying

INSTRUCTIONS 

• First, make the Aalu Bhujiya masala and keep it ready. For that, combine all the ingredients.
  
  
  
• Grind them into a fine powder.
  
  
  
• Now, start the process of making aalu bhujiya.
• Grind the boiled potatoes in a mixer. Add only as much water as is needed to grind the potatoes to a fine paste.
  
  
  
• Transfer this to a mixing bowl. To this, add rice flour, gram flour, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, oil and asafoetida.
  
  
  
• Mix well. The final consistency should not be very loose. It shouldn’t be tight either like roti dough. It should be somewhere in between. See the picture to understand it better.
  
  
  
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Grease your hands with oil. Also, grease the Bhuja Press. Take portions of the dough and put it in the bhujiya press.
  
  
  
• When the oil becomes hot, reduce the heat to medium. Now, using the bhujiya press, release strings of the dough in a circular fashion on the hot oil.
  
  
  
• Now, increase the heat and let it fry. Flip and let it fry on the other side also. Remove when it is golden brown.
  
  
  
• When you take out one batch after frying, transfer it to a big mixing bowl. Crush the bhujiya and, while it is hot, mix it with a portion of the bhujiya masala.
  
  
  
• This way, every time you take out a batch, keep combining it with the bhujiya masala till all the dough and bhujiya masala are used.
  
  
  
• In the end, give everything a good mix.
  
  
  
• When the bhujiya comes to room temperature, store it in an airtight container.
  
  

Some Additional Notes:

1. If you don’t have dry mint leaves, you can put fresh leaves in the oven at 200 degrees C with the fan on for about 10 minutes. In between, open the oven and turn the leaves so that they dry evenly. In about 10 minutes, you will have dry mint leaves. Store them in an airtight container.
   
   
   
2. While I have already shared the link for Bhujia Press, you can also check big Indian shops such as the online store of Spicelands. They are a big store in Frankfurt, delivering all across Germany. Along with Indian groceries, they also stock popular Indian kitchen equipment like pans, idli makers, etc.
   
3. When making potato paste, put in as little water as possible. Make a fine paste, or else it will not pass through the press and will block the pores.
   
4. I have mentioned certain amounts of rice flour and gram flour in the recipe, but the quantity can vary based on the type of flour, its quality, etc. So, if after mixing the said amount, your dough still looks loose, add a bit more, keeping in mind their ratio: Rice Flour: Gram Flour= 1:4/4.5
   
5. Ensure that the mould is greased well before you put the dough in it. Since the dough is made from gram flour, it will be sticky and will stick to your hands too. Grease your hands with oil and take portions of the dough to put in the mould. With greased hands, you will be able to handle the dough easily.
   
6. When putting the dough in oil, the heat should be reduced to medium. After putting the dough, increase it to high. Fry the bhujia in hot oil. Don’t leave the bhujiya unattended. It fries pretty fast. Also, take them out before they turn dark brown. Note that the bhujia will become darker after frying.
   
7. Mix the bhujia masala as soon as you take out a batch of bhujia after frying. This will allow the masala to stick to the bhujia.
   
8. Once the bhujia cools, immediately transfer it to an airtight container and store it away from sunlight.

Here is the recipe in printable format:

If you are looking for other dry snack recipes, you can check out Poha Chivda ( A dry snack made using flattened rice), Makhane Ki Namkeen ( a spicy dry snack made using foxnuts) and Mathri ( a wheat flour snack with spices).

Please note that this article contains affiliate links. If you buy using these links, I receive a small commission. This has no effect on the price for you.

Check out other recipes from my kitchen here.

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