Girmit is a very popular street food from North Karnataka made from puffed rice, also known as churmuri or murmura. This snack is especially popular in the Hubli-Dharwad region of Karnataka, where it’s referred to as masala puffed rice or mandakki upkari in other places. Serve it with Menasinakayi bajji with kadak chai.
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What is Girmit?
Girmit is one of the most popular and sought-after evening tea-time snacks or street foods in the Central and Northern regions of Karnataka. It is commonly found in street-side stalls and temporary shacks. This flavorful snack is best enjoyed with crispy Mirchi Bajji.
My husband and I grew up in Harihar, close to Davangere, and my husband remembers eating Girmit almost every day since childhood until he passed out of Engineering. He still craves this amazing snack like a kid.
It's very easy to prepare at home and can be enjoyed eating in a park, potlucks, or train journey. This resembles bhel puri, but the taste is entirely different and made with different ingredients.
You can also try my other Mandakki recipes like nargis mandakki, masala puffed rice, and mandakki usli.
How to Make Girmit Recipe
Soak 1 lemon-sized tamarind in warm water for about 15 minutes. Once softened, remove the seeds, and extract the tamarind pulp. Keep it aside until ready to use.
Heat ¼ cup oil in a Kadai. Make a small slit, fry two green chilies, sprinkle salt, and keep it aside.
Next, add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon jeera seeds, and let them splutter in the same oil.
Then add 4 crushed garlic cloves, 3 green chilies (finely chopped), 1 stalk of curry leaves, ½ teaspoon turmeric, 1 big pinch of hing, and saute for a few seconds.
Next, add 2 medium onions (finely chopped), salt, and cook until onions turn soft.
Add tamarind pulp and ½ teaspoon sugar, and saute for another 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of tamarind disappears.
Girmit masala is ready. Cool it and keep it aside.
Take 4 cups of puffed rice/mandakki in a deep vessel, add 2 tablespoons finely chopped onions, 2 tablespoons finely chopped tomato, 1 tablespoon coriander leaves, 2 tablespoons fried gram powder (putani powder), and girmit mixture (oggarane), and mix it all in a rotating motion so that puffed rice doesn't fly around and is well coated.
On a serving plate, put the prepared mixture and top it with some more coriander leaves, ¼ cup sev, 2 tablespoons fried peanuts or roasted peanuts, and fried chilies.
North Karanataka Girmit is ready. Serve it immediately else puffed rice becomes soggy.
Expert Tips
- Mandakki puri should be fresh, it tastes better. If your puffed rice is not that crispy, you can crisp up the store-bought puffed rice in a heavy bottom pan on very low heat for about 5-10 minutes.
- If you do not have putani powder (fried gram) at home, grind whole putani (roasted chana) into a fine powder. Adding the powder not only adds taste but also absorbs moisture, preventing the dish from becoming soggy quickly.
- Do not reduce the amount of oil and onion. More, the better and tastier.
- You can increase the items mentioned in the garnish according to your preference.
Variations
- If you can find green byadagi chilies (long, slender, and less spicy variety), use them. They make the dish very tasty.
- You can use 2 tablespoons of concentrated tamarind paste if it is store-bought, I have prepared tamarind paste at home. Also, if you dont have tamarind, dont worry; replace it with the juice of 1 whole lemon.
- I roasted peanuts at home, but store-bought dry roasted, salted peanuts will work in this recipe, too.
More Indian Snack Recipes
Girmit Recipe (Hubli-Dharward Style)
Ingredients
- 4 cups puffed rice/mandakki/churmuri/murmura
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon jeera seeds
- 1 stalk curry leaves
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 3 green chilies finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 big pinch hing (asafoetida)
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- ¼ cup tamarind pulp (1 lemon sized tamarind soaked in water)
- ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
- salt to taste
For Garnish:
- 2 tablespoons onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon coriander leaves
- 2 tablespoons fried gram powder/putani powder
- ¼ cup sev mixture
- 2 tablespoons fried peanuts
- 2-4 fried green chilies (optional)
Instructions
- Soak 1 lemon-sized tamarind in warm water for about 15 minutes. Once softened, remove the seeds, and extract the tamarind pulp. Keep it aside until ready to use.
- Heat oil in a Kadai. Make a small slit, fry two green chilies, sprinkle some salt, and keep it aside.
- Add in mustard seeds, jeera (cumin), and let them splutter in the same oil.
- Then add crushed garlic, green chilies, curry leaves, turmeric, hing, and saute for a few seconds.
- Next, add onions, salt and cook until onions turn soft.
- Add tamarind pulp, sugar, and saute for another 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of tamarind disappears. Girmit masala is ready. Cool it and keep it aside.
- Take mandakki in a deep vessel, add onions, tomato, coriander leaves, fried gram powder, and girmit mixture (oggarane) and mix it all in a rotating motion so that puffed rice doesn't fly around and is well coated.
- On a serving plate, put the prepared mixture and top it with some more coriander leaves, sev, fried peanuts, and fried chilies.
- Girmit or north Karnataka mandakki upkari is ready. Serve it immediately else puffed rice becomes soggy.
Notes
Tips
- Mandakki puri or puffed rice should be fresh, it tastes better. If your puffed rice is not that crispy, you can crisp up the store-bought puffed rice in a heavy bottom pan on a very low heat for about 5-10 minutes.
- If you do not have putani powder (fried gram) at home, grind whole putani (roasted chana) into a fine powder. Adding the powder not only adds taste but also absorbs moisture preventing the dish from becoming soggy quickly.
- Do not reduce the amount of oil and onion. More the better and tastier.
- You can increase items mentioned in garnish according to your preference.
Variations
- If you can find the green byadagi chilies (long, slender, and less spicy variety than Thai chilies), use them. They make the dish very tasty.
- You can use 2 tablespoons of concentrated tamarind paste if its store brought, I have prepared tamarind paste at home in this girmit masala recipe. Also if you dont have tamarind dont worry replace it with the juice of 1 whole lemon
- I roasted peanuts at home but store-bought dry roasted, salted peanuts will work in this recipe too.
Nutrition
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Shruti
I tried this recipe and it was delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe:)
Shruti
I tried this recipe, and it was delicious. Thank you very much for the recipe:)
Bhavana Patil
Hi Shruti, thank you for trying the recipe, i am so glad you liked it.
Shruti
I tried this recipe, and it was delicious:).. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Poornima
Very nice recipe u explain it in a good manner tku
Bhavana Patil
I am so happy to hear, the instructions were helpful Poornima.. Happy Cooking!