For those who believe that variety is the spice of life

What are you most likely to reach for when you are craving for
a tasty snack?

For me it has to a bhujia, a namkeen or a chanachur. Different
names from across the country that stand for various renditions of a crispy,
tongue tingling snack which is as Indian as it can get.

My love for bhujia began in Kolkata when my mother would give
me muri (bhel or kurmura) chanachur to eat occasionally after school. This made
for a tasty and filling evening snack which I could not get enough of.
Sometimes instead of chanachur she would add jhuri bhaaja which is a Bengali
version of bhujia.

Experimenting with bhujias and namkeen from across the country
has been a fun journey for me.

Then I received the new Firangi Bhujia range from Tasty
Treat.  I was flummoxed by the flavours–
Peri Peri, Wasabi, Schezwan and Barbeque – wasabi and bhujia?

Last evening I sat down and opened the packs one after the
other and tasted each bhujia. I was pleasantly surprised by the results.

Each bhujia had a delightfully crunchy texture which, to me,
lies at the heart of a great bhujia. I was also quite impressed by how full
each packet was.

The Peri Peri one, with its bird’s eye chilli base, was the
most familiar one to my palate. It was spicy and savoury and just the sort I
could imagine adding to some bhel and eating. I sprinkled some on my baigan bharta during lunch and loved the way it livened up the texture of the dish.

The Wasabi one stood for everything that wasabi stands for. A
flavour which is meant to clear out your ears and nose with its sharp taste. As
a sushi lover, I love wasabi, but I found Wasabi flavours to be novel in a
bhujia format. I would have this in small quantities and savour its taste over
a while. Or I would add it to some curd and add some chopped cucumber to it and
make it a nice and summery raita. 

The Schezwan flavoured bhujia brought back memories of ordering
Chinese takeaways in Mumbai. Some of these places send crunchy fried noodles
and schezwan sauce on the side. I sometimes dip the noodles in the sauce and
have this as an appetizer. I could imagine getting the Schezwan Bhujia and
serving it to guests the next time I cook Chinese at home. My mom in law, who loves bhujias, had come to visit her. This was her favourite. She loves her Schezwan fried rice in restaurants and liked the fact that this was spicy and a bit sweet too. 

I was blown away by the last flavour that I tried. The barbeque
one. The smoky flavours in it was incredible and the combination with the crisp
bhujia was amazing. It tasted beautiful by itself and I could see myself using
it to add texture and flavour to the simple cous cous and feta of hung curd and
tasted nuts salads that I like to make. I had some friends who came home later in the evening for tea and I got them to try it. One is 50 and the other 69 and are distinguished bankers. Yet, they giggled like schoolboys in delight as they had this. 

I am someone who loves experimenting with flavours and
condiments myself in the kitchen and this was right up my street.

I can definitely see myself grabbing more
bags of these once I am done with the packs I have at home.

You can go to the
following stores to pick up packs of Tasty Treat yourselves:

Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Food Hall,
Nilgiris, Aadhar, Easy Day, Heritage Fresh

Here’s the link to theTasty Treat site. Do check this out to know some fun facts about the flavours
and their origins

Note: This post was
written in association with Tasty Treat. The views shared are my own.