Bhuja is the generic name for puffed rice interchangeably used for a snack mix that originated in some parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and is widely popular there. It is a spiced mix of crackers, dried noodles, dried peas,

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s, and other dried

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

s with the main ingredient being puffed rice. It is also commonly found in most British commonwealth supermarkets, sold under several brand names or even in the

bulk foods Bulk foods are food items offered in large quantities, which can be purchased in large, bulk lots or transferred from a bulk container into a smaller container for purchase. Bulk foods may be priced less compared to packaged foods because they ar ...

aisle. Bhuja is also called as ''Muurra/Murmura'' in most parts of India but its original name is ''bhuja''. It's originally from

Kantabanji Kantabanji (KBJ) is a town and a notified area committee in Balangir district in the Indian state of Odisha. History In 1937, the railway track from Kantabanji to Vishakhapatnam was laid and since then train started running through this ro ...

, in the Indian state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

in 1970. This snack is mostly found in Odisha,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

, some parts of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. In Balangir, Odisha, bhuja thela is found. In thela the mix corn chips,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

, padi,

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

, groundnut and make the bhuja tasty. It is commonly called Bombay Mix in Britain, where it is sold in many supermarkets and shops. It is also sold in public houses, often as an accompaniment to copious quantities of ale and lager.

References

Snack foods {{food-product-stub