Bhuja is what comes out of the bhad. The roasting stove dug into the ground, the bhunjwa working it, the households carrying their grain to him and taking a share back — the same arrangement that produces sattu also produces this, and in Bhagalpur it is the black chana that goes in. The grain is buried in sand heated to a temperature nobody measures, turned with a flat blade until the skins tighten and split and the insides go dry and nutty, then sieved out. No oil touches it at any point. What you get is a snack that keeps for weeks in a tin, costs almost nothing, travels, and has fed the eastern plain between meals for as long as anyone can account for. Sold on trains, in paper cones at bus stands, mixed with puffed rice and mustard oil and raw onion for anyone who wants it turned into a meal. It is the least glamorous food in this zone and probably the most eaten.
INGREDIENTS
- 250 g dried black chana (soaked overnight and dried thoroughly, or 200g ready-roasted chana)
- 50 g puffed rice (muri)
- 1 small red onion (finely chopped)
- 2 green chillies (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp raw mustard oil
- 1 tsp black salt (kala namak)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- a handful of coriander leaves (chopped)
METHOD
- If roasting your own, dry the soaked chana completely on a cloth — any surface water will steam them instead of roasting them.
- Heat a heavy dry pan over medium-low heat with no fat in it.
- Add the chana and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, shaking and turning constantly, until the skins tighten and split and the insides are dry and crisp right through.
- Test one. It should snap, not bend. Cool completely.
- Toss the roasted chana with the puffed rice in a wide bowl.
- Add the onion, green chillies, black salt, salt, chilli powder and roasted cumin.
- Pour over the raw mustard oil and turn everything through with your hands until coated.
- Finish with lemon juice and coriander and serve at once in paper cones or small bowls, before the puffed rice softens.
