‘Pani-Puri’ is perhaps the most loved street food in all of India. Puri is nothing more than a special fried crispy shell. You can get this at any Indian grocery store. ‘Pani’ means water or juice in this context.
I’m so in love with this food that as soon as I land in India I walk over to the ‘Pan-Puri’ stand and eat my share without worrying about germs or water contamination (I’ve been lucky so far). The best pain puri comes from a street stall where people from all walks of life gather to savor this teary-eyed item due to the spiciness of ‘Pani’.
I learned this version of ‘Pani-Puri’ from my friend who is from ‘Madhya Pradesh’, India. It is very different from our usual recipe where tamarind and ‘Amchur’ (a green mango powder) are used to give the juice acidity. Green mango is used here, which adds a unique flavor to the ‘Pani’ that is sour and savory. This version of ‘Pani-Puri’ is a huge hit with all our friends and I usually make it for potluck parties as well.
Ingredients
- Green handle: half if small
- Mint leaves-A handful
- Coriander leaves-A handful
- Green ‘chillies’–3-4
- Ginger – 1 small piece
- Black salt –14 tsp
- ‘Pani-Puri’ masala – 2 tsp. You can get it at any Indian supermarket.
- Lime juice – 1 teaspoon
- Salt and sugar to taste
Stuffed
- Chickpeas: 1 cup soaked overnight and cooked in pressure cooker
- Onions – 1 finely chopped
- Chili powder – 1 teaspoon
- Potato–1 boiled and mashed
- Tamarind paste –1 tsp. You can get this at the Indian grocery store.
- Chat masala and salt to taste. You can get this at the Indian grocery store.
recipe
Take green mango and cook it in a pressure cooker or kettle and strain it in a colander. Now add the pulp to the water little by little and check the acidity of the water.
Take coriander, ‘green chillies’, mint leaves and ginger and grind them in a blender. Now add this paste to the water and mix well. Add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar. Add black salt, salt and chat masala and leave it for a while. Strain the water into a large strainer. Add lime juice. Your filling is ready.
Stuffed
Take chickpea puree and add all the ingredients one after the other and partially crush with your hands.
Take the puri and fill it with filling, pour juice over it and sprinkle some chat masala over it and enjoy!
Note: You can skip the sugar part if you only like spicy ‘pani puri’.
