Left-arm quick Khan took five for 75 in 27 overs as England were bowled out for 355 in their second innings before India closed on 10 without loss, needing just 63 more runs on Tuesday's final day to go 1-0 up in the three-match series with just The Oval finale to come.
That gave the 28-year-old pace bowler match figures of nine for 134 after his first innings return of four for 59.
But in between those stints the left-arm quick had been fired up by the sight of jellybeans being left on the crease when he came out to bat on Sunday during India's first innings 481.
After he'd got off the mark, an angry Khan brandished his bat in the direction of the England slip cordon and at the end of the over the umpires spoke to him and Andrew Strauss, captaining England with Michael Vaughan off the field, in a bid to calm the situation.
"There was an incident that happened on the field while I was batting. On the crease there were some jellybeans so I just tapped one off the wicket to start with," Khan told reporters after stumps on Monday, having taken his fifth five-wicket innings return in his 49 Tests.
"Then I played the next ball, there were again some jellybeans on there on the wicket so someone was chucking them from behind, which I didn't like.
"So I just went up to them (the England fielders) and said 'guys what is this all about?' I'm here to play cricket.'
"They came at me and I was upset about it. I just reacted accordingly. I didn't know from where it was coming. I just felt it was insulting... We are here to play cricket. Personally for me, it definitely inspired me to do well.
"When I go on the cricket field I'm serious, I'm there to play good cricket, nice hard quality cricket. This is Test match cricket we are playing here."
Last season Khan was the second most successful bowler in English first-class cricket, taking 78 wickets for Midlands county Worcestershire.
"I bowled very waywardly in Bangladesh about three or four years back. After that I worked hard in first-class matches to gain control," he said.
Khan added: "Last year, playing county matches definitely helped in getting used to the conditions. And bowling so many overs helped me achieve consistency in line and length."
England all-rounder Paul Collingwood, who made 63 before falling to Khan, said of the India strike bowler. "He's got a great knack of swinging the ball both ways with a similar action. He's hard to pick-up."
And as for the jellybean incident, Collingwood added: "Perhaps he (Khan) prefers blue ones to pink ones."
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