Traditionally, puffed rice is not a part of Delhi’s street food. Two iconic puffed-rice Indian street food dishes are bhel puri and jhal muri, both belonging to two extreme corners of India. Bhel puri belongs to Mumbai and jhal muri is from West Bengal, down South if not puffed rice, you have the good old idli, which is made of rice. The only logical reason for it could be the fact that rice has never been part of North India’s staple diet. Roti (made of wheat flour) always takes an upper hand.

So, seeing a bhel puri vendor in Delhi is always refreshing. One popular bhel puri wala in Delhi sits at the corner of F block in Connaught Place. His visual merchandising is effective, and in true Delhi-style where every dish is altered to suit the palates of Delhittes, he serves his own version of bhel puri.

With piles of puffed rice, chopped onion, tomato and chilli, he has a crispy salty corn-flake kind of chip. Everything is mixed with dried green peas and dried channa dal. At the end he pours a spoonful of the red chutney and sprinkles sev on the top. He sells a plateful of bhel puri for Rs 40.