Pani puri recipe. In India, pani puri is a popular street food where crispy fried dumplings (puri) are stuffed with potatoes, spicy tangy water, sprouts, or sweet chutney.
Pani puri is a favorite chaat snack for many people and ours too. With so many bursts of flavor and taste in your mouth when you have pani puri, you just can’t have one.
This is an easy pani puri recipe because you don’t need to make the sweet tamarind chutney.
This pani or spicy water recipe is my mom’s recipe and to save time, she used to make pani so that it had all three main tastes – spicy, tangy and sweet. So all three tastes – khatta, meetha and teekha taste in one pani. Otherwise, in general, the spicy chutney and the sweet chutney are prepared separately.
Pani puri or golgappas has been my favorite chaat since childhood. I often had them with my family on the streets of Mumbai (Bombay) and it was something that I really enjoyed.
What is pani puri
- Pani literally means water and here the Puris are deep fried puffed crispy dough balls that are hollow. Usually the water or pani is sour, pungent, and spicy. This spicy pani is leveled with the addition of sweet tamarind chutney.
- This sweet chutney is called Meetha (meaning sweet) Pani. The spicy water is called Teekha (which means spicy) Pani. Both are added in the puri along with the main filling consisting of boiled potatoes, cooked chickpeas, moong shoots, or a thick dry curry made from white peas called Ragda.
- I don’t know who invented pani puri or how it came to be. It is one of the most desired street food in India. While in Mumbai it is called pani puri. In the northern states it is called Golgappa and in Bengal it is called puchka. It is called as gupchup in Bihar and Jharkand.
As mentioned above, this pani recipe is spicy, tangy and sweet all at the same time. So, no need to make the sweet tamarind chutney. However, if you want a sweeter taste, you can make the sweet chutney and serve with the pani puri.
Some suggestions for making pani puri
- The puri or pooris for making pani puri are formed with flour or sooji (cream of wheat or rava) or both. These can be brought to stores or can also be made at home.
- For the stuffing, you can use your choice of toppings. At home, we prefer moong or ragda sprouts. You can also use boiled potatoes and onions. Even boiled white chickpeas or black chickpeas can be used with boiled potatoes.
- Put everything together before you start making pani puri.
- You can prepare the pani within a few hours and then chill it in the refrigerator.
- Adding ice cubes can dilute the flavor and taste of pani.
- Adding black salt gives very good taste and flavor. So, if possible, try adding black salt in the pani recipe.
How to make pani puri with moong sprouts
1. Rinse 1 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves, ½ cup packed mint leaves, 2 to 3 green peppers and 1 inch of ginger very well. Peel the ginger and roughly chop it. Also chop the green peppers. Roughly chop the coriander and mint leaves.
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2. Add the cilantro leaves, mint leaves, ginger and green pepper to a grinder or a blender jug. For a less spicy pani, you can add just 1 chopped green pepper.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of tightly packed tamarind and 3.5 to 4 tablespoons of jaggery powder or grated jaggery. If you don’t have tamarind, you can use 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. You can also use equal amounts of dates and jaggery. So you can add 2 tablespoons of chopped dates and 2 tablespoons of crumbled jaggery.
4. Now add 1 teaspoon of toasted cumin powder, 1 teaspoon of chaat masala and salt to taste.
5. Add cup of water and grind until smooth.
6. Remove the chutney into a bowl or small saucepan.
7. Now add ½ cup of water to the grinder jar and revolve the jar so that the chutney on the sides of the jar mixes with the water.
8. Add this water to the bowl.
9. Then add ½ to ¾ cup of water. You can add less or more water depending on the consistency you desire. But do not add too much water as the taste and flavor of the pani will diminish. Also check the taste and if necessary you can add a little more jaggery or salt.
10. Mix very well. Cover the pan and refrigerate the pani. Before refrigerating, you can also add 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of boondi.
Making potato filling for pani puri
11. Boil 2-3 medium potatoes. When they are hot, peel them and cut them into small cubes. You can also add boiled moong sprouts. A few finely chopped onions can also be added.
12. Add 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves.
13. Then add ¼ teaspoon of red chili powder, 1 teaspoon of chaat masala and 1 teaspoon of roasted cumin powder. Also add salt to taste.
14. Mix very well. Set aside.
Making pani puri
15. Before you start setting up the pani puri, keep everything ready. The filling with potatoes, pooris and pani. I made a tamarind date chutney, just to show the blend. First break off the top of the pooris with a spoon or fingers. Then stuff the potato filling into the pooris. Add a few teaspoons of sweet chutney or whatever you like. It is optional to add sweet chutney for the pani recipe.
16. Then add a few teaspoons of green pani or according to your choice.
17. The pani puri is ready to serve. you have to have them immediately. Or the puris get soggy. To make a Mumbai-style pani puri recipe, use ragda or moong sprouts as a garnish.
