Pani puri or pani poori is the Mumbai version of the quintessential Indian street food loved by one and all. Call it pani puri, golgappa, puchka, or batasha, essentially it is delicious crispy fried whole wheat or semolina spheres filled with spiced potatoes, meetha chutney, and teekha pani or spicy water before being eaten in one bite. Our pani puri recipe results in a savoury, piquant, mouth-watering street food snack that is a veritable explosion of flavours. Watch this step by step video or read this easy recipe below to learn how to make pani puri at home in no time.
Pani puri is a must-have during the festival of colour, Holi, along with other chaat dishes which are relished in the company of friends and family such as dahi batata puri, aloo tikki, palak ki chaat, dahi gujiya, papdi chaat, raj kachori, bhel puri, etc. When the crispy pani puri sphere is popped into your mouth, you will experience a spicy and savoury kick from the spiced water, a touch of sweetness from the meetha chutney, crunch from the puri, and a soft texture and body from the potato filling.
How to make pani puri at home?
Our pani poori recipe has three main steps before assembling the pooris: 1. Making the teekha pani 2. Making the meetha chutney, and 3. Making the potato stuffing or mixture.
First start by gathering and keeping ready all the pani puri ingredients. To make the teekha pani, you will need ginger, black peppercorns, green chillies, coriander leaves, mint leaves, salt, black salt or kala namak, roasted cumin powder, lime juice, tamarind paste, tartaric acid (optional for extra tartness), and boondi.
The sweet meetha chutney is made using jaggery or gur, dates or khajur, tamarind, red chilli powder, salt, roasted cumin powder, black salt or kala namak, fennel powder or saunf.
Making teekha chutney in a grinder
The potato stuffing is made with boiled, peeled, and diced potatoes, boiled and roughly chopped moong sprouts, and sukha masala. The sukha masala or dry masala is a simple combination of salt, coriander powder, black salt, and red chilli powder.
Once these three steps are done, it is just a matter of assembling or stuffing the puris, quickly immersing them in the teekha pani to fill them, and the popping the stuffed pani puri whole into your mouth for a truly divine experience.
The word pani puri comes from the words ‘pani’ which refers to water, in this case the teekha pani or spiced water, while ‘puri’ refers to the crispy fried whole wheat / semolina spheres which act as a vehicle for the other ingredients; together they are known as pani puri.
Pani puri is known by different names across the country. In Delhi, Punjab and some other parts of northern India it is called golgappa, in Uttar Pradesh also north India it is called pani ke batashe or batasha, in Haryana pani puri goes by the name pani patashi, puchka in Bihar and Bengal, fulki in Madhya Pradesh, et al.
The essence of the panipuri recipe remains the same but the fillings, the ingredients of the teekha pani, and even that of the crispy shell changes from state to state. While Dilliwalas eat both sooji and atta golgappas i.e., semolina and whole-wheat respectively, people from West Bengal prefer the ones made from whole-wheat as they tend to be lighter and crispier than the sooji ones which are slightly more dense but equally delicious. The size of the shell is also bigger in West Bengal compared to that in Delhi. The teekha pani in Delhi is made from mint leaves among other things while that in West Bengal is made from tamarind water. Within Maharashtra too there are variations in pani puri recipes – some prefer adding hot ragda (dried peas mash) as opposed to the potato filling suggested in our pani puri recipe.
Legend has it that pani puri was invented by Draupadi the wife of the five Pandava brothers. She was supposedly tested by her mother-in-law who gave her some cooked potato sabzi and a dough ball enough to feed only one of the Pandavas. Draupadi thus innovated and invented the pani puri by filling puris with the potato sabzi and won everyone's heart.
The puri for pani puri is made of either a combination of whole wheat flour (atta) and semolina (sooji) along with a bit of baking soda for the atta puri, or semolina (sooji) with just some all-purpose flour (maida) and a bit of baking soda for the semolina (sooji) puri.
Pani Puri has no equivalent English name and is known by its regional names pani puri, golgappa, puchka, etc., across the world.
Yes, pani puri water is healthy and low in calories. The addition of black salt, cumin powder, mint etc. makes this water a good digestive aid too. Pani puri is street food and falls under the category of chaat, but due to hygiene concerns many people avoid having it from street side vendors. Our pani puri recipe allows you to make the best hygienic pani puri at home, in the clean environment of your own kitchen.
Each serving of pani puri has about 50 calories. However, the exact calories depend upon the pani puri recipe you are making it from and how much filling you are stuffing in each puri.
Pani puri tastes savoury, piquant, and mouth-watering and is a veritable explosion of flavours. When the crispy pani puri sphere is popped into your mouth, you will taste a spicy and savoury kick from the spiced water, a touch of sweetness from the meetha chutney, crunch from the puri, and a soft texture and body from the potato filling.
Puris can easily be stored for the next day and in fact much longer. Once they have cooled fully, store them in an airtight container. This is important as they will otherwise turn soggy and soft and lose their crispiness.
Once the ingredients are mixed and ready, pani puri is eaten by stuffing the puris with potato mixture, meetha chutney, and then quickly immersing them in teekha pani to fill them. The stuffed pani puri is then popped whole into your mouth usually with a small bowl underneath to catch any water that might drip down.
The name for pani puri in Bengali is puchka.
Yes, pani puri is vegan.
Yes, pani puri is the quintessential Indian street food snack and versions are found all across India.
Any dish eaten in excess can cause acidity, however, if eaten in moderation pani puri should not cause acidity. The addition of black salt, cumin powder, mint etc. in fact makes the pani (water) in pani puri a good digestive aid.
There are two main reasons for pani puri not to be crispy. First is that the puris that you are using are stale or soggy. Ensure that you buy fresh puris or make them fresh. Or if they’re slightly soggy but not stale, you can place them in a preheated oven till they crisp up. The second reason for pani puri to not be crispy is that you are leaving them filled with pani (spiced water) or immersing them in the pani for too long. They need to be dipped quickly to fill them up and them straight into your mouth. If you leave them full of spiced water or leave them immersed, they will turn soggy and limp.
Puri can be reheated in a preheated oven – this is the easiest method. Just place them on a baking tray and pop them into an oven till heated through. They could be refried too, but we do not advise that as the oven method is much easier.
After making the teekha pani, it is important that you let it chill in the fridge for the flavours to blend. This will give you a better tasting teekha pani. You can easily double the recipe by using all 6 tablespoons of the teekha chutney and 6 cups of water (instead of 3 as suggested in the recipe) for a larger gathering.
The meetha chutney can be made a day ahead and refrigerated to cut down the preparation time for pani puri. Once prepared the chutney for pani puri stays well in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You can alternatively place it in an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Watch our easy pani puri recipe video with step-by-step instructions to prepare and enjoy your favourite snack in under 30 minutes.
To assemble the pani puri, take a puri and crack a hole on top using your thumb or index finger. Fill it with 1 teaspoon of potato stuffing and 1 teaspoon of meetha chutney or as per your taste. Add chilled teekha pani – you can spoon it in or give each person a small bowl of the pani to dip into – and serve immediately. Pani puri is ideally eaten as a whole in one go.
Try our super easy pani puri recipe with step by step pictures and video. Learn how to make crispy pani puri (golgappa, puchka, batasha) at home in just 25 minutes with all ingredients and cooking method rigt here.
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