Bhelpuri has a fan base that is spread throughout the world. No one can resist a crunchy, tangy bhel with generous amounts of sev on top. Bhelpuri is such a loved Indian snack that it has started coming in convenient box packagings that you can eat on-the-go. Sadly, a regular bhelpuri with lots of paapdis, sev and chutneys has a lot of calories. With the growing awareness around calorie intake and health quotient of every product, most people have started to opt for the diet versions of these bhels. Haldiram’s and Garden are two companies with popular diet bhels that are readily available in the market. We decided to do a Face-off between Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel and Garden Diet Bhel to find the tastier, healthier product. Let’s find out which one has lower calories and which one tastes better.
After a day of eating several bowls of bhel, some plain, some with chopped onions and tomatoes, we can tell you that Haliram’s Lemon Bhel emerged as our Top Pick when it comes to a snack that is tasty and offers a healthier alternative calorie-wise too.
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Mishry Top Pick: Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel
Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel
Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel is tasty with a zingy lemon flavor.
Net weight – 150 grams
MRP – Rs 30/-
*Price at the time of review
Why was Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel our Top Pick?
Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel is whitish-yellow in color and provides 501 Kcal of energy per 100 grams, which is lower than what it’s regular Bhel variant offers.
It contains cottonseed oil which is a little bit better as compared to palm oil.
The bhel has a mild lemony flavor, that helps when you dont want to overseason and overload your snack with spices.
As a diet snack, you want to balance the ratio of ingredients in a way that keeps the taste and flavour up, without compromising on the calories. Haldiram’s Lemony Bhel has more rice puffs than sev, which we liked as it helps keeping the calories down. The amount of sev is adequate to add that extra crunch to every bite.
It comes in a bright electric green pack, the bhel tasted good with added chopped onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander.
Why Did Garden’s Diet Bhel Not Win?
Out of the two major factors we considered as parameters in this face-off, Garden fared well on the taste aspect but failed when it came to calories.
Shockingly, the ‘Diet’ Bhel variant by Garden has more calories than the regular Garden Bhel! You would expect a product that is labeled as a diet bhel to be low on calories in general, let alone exceed the original non-diet version. The original Garden bhelpuri provides 408.40 Kcal while the diet bhel provides a staggering 525 Kcal per 100 grams. (we checked for these figures on the original packets as well as online)
Moreover, Garden’s Diet Bhel contains palm oil, which is definitely not a good form of fat. It is priced at Rs 40/- for a 150-gram pack.
Face-Off – Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel Vs Garden Diet Bhel (Mumbai Special)
| Parameters | Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel | Garden Diet Bhel – Mumbai Special |
| Energy (Per 100 grams) | 501 Kcal | 525 Kcal |
| Price (At the time of review) | Rs 30/- | Rs 40/- |
| Oil used | Cottonseed oil | Palmolein oil |
| Color of the bhel | Whitish yellow | Haldi yellow |
| Taste (Plain) | Mild lemon flavor | Good taste, like a regular namkeen |
| Taste (With vegetables) | Very good, fresh and feels light on the palate. | Good taste. No oomph factor though. Tasted like regular namkeen. |
| Crunch Level | Low | High |
| Ingredients visible | Two ingredients – puffed rice and sev | Curry leaves, channa dal, puffed rice, sev |
The Review Process – Contenders, Parameters and How We Reviewed
The Contenders – We picked two diet bhels for this face-off. Both these brands are easily available in the market.
- Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel
- Garden Diet Bhel – Mumbai Special
The Parameters – We choose two major parameters – Calories and Taste. We wanted to check for the calories because most products available in the market that are advertised as diet products are usually not even close to them. Taste is a factor that we consider for all reviews for obvious reasons. We also kept in mind the quality of ingredients used in these bhels.
How We Reviewed – Our review process was a rather simple one and was divided into two phases – Plain tasting and tasting with added vegetables.
Diet Bhel Face-Off – Haldiram’s Vs Garden
Phase 1 : Plain tasting – Once we had our packets of bhel with us, we tasted them right from the pack without adding anything. We wanted to taste how well they were seasoned and were they crunchy on their own.
Phase 2: Tasting with vegetables – We added chopped onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, coriander and half a teaspoon of lemon juice to both the diet bhels to see if the taste was enhanced or not.
We earlier reviewed the original bhelpuris to find out which one is tastier – Haldiram’s Vs Garden
Results Of The Face-Off
After carefully reading the labels and considering all taste and crunch aspects, we decided who the winner is. Our Top Pick is Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel because it has lower calories in comparison to the competition and it tastes good after adding the vegetables.
Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel
Haldiram’s Lite Lemon Bhel is tasty with a zingy lemon flavor.
Net weight – 150 grams
MRP – Rs 30/-
*Price at the time of review
* If you do agree with our review, please give it a thumbs up! And, tell us which one is your favorite from this list. If you don’t, please tell us why!
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