Bhusu
The big Gujarati party mix of fried lentils, sev, nuts and puffed rice. Makes 3½ kg
Bhusu is a festive farsan mix: crunchy fried pulses and lentils, three kinds of sev, tum tum, bundi, sakarpada cubes, puffed rice, cashews and peanuts, all tossed in a sweet, sour and spicy seasoning. It makes a large batch for Diwali and keeps for weeks in air-tight tins. It's a project spread over a few days, because the pulses need soaking first. Make the jini sev, jadi sev, tum tum and sakarpada from their own recipes in this section.
- Total time
- 360 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 24
Ingredients
For the bhusu
For the bundi (about 3 cups)
For the seasoning
Method
0/15 doneStep 1: 2–3 days ahead, soak 7 oz dried peas in plenty of water. Change the water every day.
Step 2: The night before, soak 1 ¼ lb whole green gram (mung beans), 14 oz whole masoor lentils and 13 ½ oz husked bengal gram lentils (chana dal) in separate bowls of water.
Step 3: Mix 7 oz sugar, 1 tbsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp asafoetida, ½ tsp citric acid, ½ tsp black salt and 2 tbsp salt and keep this seasoning aside.
Step 4: Drain the soaked green grams, masoor and chana dal and pat them dry on a cloth.
Step 5: Boil the soaked peas in fresh water for half an hour. Drain and pat dry on a cloth.
30 minStep 6: Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Fry each pulse and lentil separately until crisp right through, then drain thoroughly on kitchen towel.
60 minStep 7: As each fried batch comes out, sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of the seasoning over it and toss.
Step 8: Roll out 7 oz sakarpada dough as in its recipe, cut it into 1 cm cubes and fry until golden and crisp. Drain.
Step 9: Fry 2 ⅝ oz puffed rice (mamra) in a large sieve dipped in the oil for a few seconds, just until crisp, then drain. Fry 10 ½ oz cashew nuts and 10 ½ oz peanuts separately until light brown. Season each batch as it comes out.
20 minStep 10: Make 1 ⅛ lb jini sev, 1 ⅛ lb medium sev and 9 oz jadi sev with the matching discs in the sev machine, following their recipe, and break them into short pieces.
Step 11: Make 9 oz tum tum by its recipe and break it into small pieces.
Step 12: For the bundi, whisk 9 oz gram flour (besan), 1 ½ tsp salt and enough 1 ½ cups water into a smooth batter of pouring consistency.
Step 13: Hold a bundi jara (perforated spoon) over the hot oil and push the batter through it with a spoon so drops fall into the oil. Fry until crisp, then drain. Repeat with all the batter.
20 minStep 14: In a very large basin, gently mix all the fried ingredients with your hands so the sev doesn't break too much.
Step 15: Add the remaining seasoning and mix well. Cool completely and store in air-tight containers.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 720 kcal
- Protein
- 24 g
- Carbs
- 66 g
- Fat
- 41 g
- Fibre
- 12 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bhusu take?
- About 360 minutes in total: 120 minutes to prepare and 240 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 24 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of whole green gram (mung beans)?
- Any whole pulse, such as moth beans or chickpeas (for sprouting; times vary).
- What can I use instead of husked bengal gram lentils (chana dal)?
- Yellow split peas, same amount.
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