Chinese bhel is a
fast food
Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...
and
street food
Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...
item in India and is considered a part of
Indo-Chinese cuisine. It is a variant of
chop suey and
bhelpuri. It is popular in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
.
Ingredients
Like most street food items, the recipe of Chinese bhel has many variants. The basic ingredients present in every recipe are crisp fried noodles, raw shredded cabbage, and one or more hot sauces. These ingredients are thoroughly mixed together in the style of making a
bhelpuri. The sauces could be Schezwan sauce, red chilli sauce, and/ or tomato ketchup.
In addition, it may contain one or more of these ingredients: finely chopped onion, sliced
capsicum
''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the Solanum, nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their edible fruit, which are generally known as "peppers" or "capsicum". Chili peppers grow on five s ...
, diced carrot,
soya sauce, salt, black pepper powder,
monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with a ...
, vinegar, and raw garlic paste in varying quantities. Sometimes chopped spring onion is used for garnishing.
Criticism
Chinese bhel stalls in Mumbai were criticized for poor hygiene and were suspected to have caused a
hepatitis E
Hepatitis E is inflammation of the liver caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Hepatitis E has mainly a fecal-oral transmission route that is similar to hepatitis A, although the viruses are u ...
epidemic over a two-month period in 2011.
The
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has issued strict orders not to let hawkers sell fried foodstuffs on pavements and Chinese food outside schools. The Congress party had recently demanded that the MCGM ban the sale of Chinese street food due to fears related to its use of
monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with a ...
.
See also
*
Indian Chinese cuisine
*
Manchurian (dish)
*
Ching's Secret
References
External links
Chinese Bhel recipe by Sanjeev KapoorChinese Bhel recipe by Tarla DalalChinese Bhel recipe by Khana Khazana
Indian fast food
Bihari cuisine
North Indian cuisine
Indian Chinese cuisine
Street food in India
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