And now, it has become a well-loved snack across India and abroad where you’ll find ethnic restaurants and food stalls featuring it on their menu. An explosion of flavors hits you with every bite you take. No wonder that even fine-dine restaurants and marriage caterers offer sev puri and other chaats at the buffet table. But what exactly goes into this dish that makes it such a popular and well-loved street food?

What is Sev Puri?

Sev Puri or Sev Batata Puri as the name suggests is a popular Mumbai street food made with flat puris or papdis, topped with boiled and sliced or mashed potatoes, tomatoes, and onions, and a delicious mix of spicy, sweet and tangy chutneys. The puris are liberally garnished with crispy gram flour vermicelli known as nylon sev. Additional flavor enhancing garnishes include more onions and coriander leaves. A squeeze of lemon and some chaat masala sprinkled on top, and you’re good to go! The three chutneys are what gives the sev puri its distinctive flavor. You have the red garlic chutney made with chillies, garlic and spices. The green chutney has coriander (cilantro) leaves and/or mint leaves and green chilis. Finally, there is the sweet and tangy imli or tamarind chutney made with boiled tamarind and jaggery. If you have been to Mumbai, you’ve likely been invited by friends or colleagues to the nearest joint serving this delicacy. And no doubt fallen in love with it. If you’re longing to taste those zingy flavors again, why not recreate that wonderful street foodie experience at home? If you haven’t heard of sev puri or tasted the authentic version yet, you definitely need to try it soon.

About This Recipe

Have all the ingredients ready and Sev puri takes less than 10 minutes to come together. This makes a good recipe for prepping in advance. Stock on sev and other ingredients. Boil the potatoes, make the chutneys and store them in the fridge or freezer. You have everything ready when you want whip up this tasty snack. I have the perfect Sev Puri recipe that will take back to the kau gallis (food lanes) of Mumbai. And you can add your personal touches. Some raw mango slices or amchur powder, roasted chana dal, crushed papdi, other farsan, a squeeze of lemon and even some grated carrot. This dish makes a perfect vegan snack as there is no dairy in it. Use gluten-free puris, corn chips or nachos for a non-wheat option. For more Chaats & street foods, you can checkPav bhajiDahi vadaMasala pavBatata vadaMisal pavPapdi chaatAloo tikki

Preparation of Chaat chutneys

Make sure you make all the chutneys thick, they can be thinned down when needed.

  1. To make red chilli garlic chutney, soak red chilies in some hot water. When they soften add them to a blender jar along with garlic, salt and sugar. Make a fine paste adding more water as needed. You can use the chilli soaked water to blend the chutney. Set these aside.
  2. Making green chutney – Add all the ingredients to a blender jar. Add very little water and make a fine chutney. Set this chutney. You can also check this detailed post on Coriander Chutney or Green chutney.
  3. To make tamarind chutney, place tamarind and jaggery in a bowl and pour very hot water just enough to cover them. Add red chili powder,salt cumin and coriander powder. When the mixture cools down, squeeze well & pass it through a strainer. Add ginger powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.

How to Make Sev Puri (Stepwise Photos)

  1. Arrange puris in individual serving plates.
  2. Place sliced potatoes, you can also just crumble and add them.
  3. Add a generous amount of garlic chili chutney. I prefer to make the chutney thick. This prevents the papdis from turning too soft quickly.
  4. Sprinkle some onions on each puri.
  5. Top with some tamarind chutney. Same here I prefer the tamarind chutney to be slightly thick. You can add more water if you desire.
  6. Then some green chutney on top. Sprinkle chaat masala.
  7. Top with a generous amount of nylon sev. Sprinkle some coriander leaves. Serve sev puri immediately. Related Recipes

Recipe Card

Sev Puri Recipe first published in March 2017. Updated and republished in December 2021.