Pani Puri (and its many variations) probably reigns the world of street foods in the general Indian subcontinent region. Wikipedia does a good job at educating us about this round deliciousness at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pani_puri. In Bangladesh, we call it phuchka, a little different (and better!) than the Indian counterpart. It's more substantial, dare I say, more classy. Indian pani puri is a little messy, our phuchka involves a sit-down occasion with plates and silverware. Anyways, this is the Indian version that we made for my Nepali friend. It's her first time away from Nepal and when asked what she would like to have for lunch, she said "PANIPURI!"
The concept is simple, you grab a puri (crisp), you make a hole on the top, put the filling inside and then take a bit of the liquid into the crisp using the crisp itself. Oh, then you put it in your mouth, crunch, feel the sweet, spicy goodness and go, "Ooooh!"
This recipe has the following parts
Puris (from Indian grocery stores) photo
Potato filling
Pani (the dipping liquid) photo
Sweet tamarind/bhel chutney (the sweet-tangy kind)
I think it's difficult to say exactly how much of the potato filling and liquid is needed for x number of puris, because it depends on your preference of the ratio between the fillings.
The potato filing
2 medium sized golden potatoes
1 tbsp of finely diced red onion
1 tsp of chaat masala (can find it in Indian grocery stores)
salt to taste
1/2 serrano pepper (can skip it if desired)
2 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro
Pani
Pani puri masala (liquid or ground)
5 cups of water
1 green chili or serrano pepper
2 tbsps of mint leaves chopped
Juice of one lemon
Or... follow the instructions on the packet, verbatim
Buy about 40-50 puris from the store. This recipe is not for the pani puri kits. Only get the puris. Add water to the tamarind/bhel chutney if needed so that it has the consistency of bbq sauce. Keep them on the dining table and don't worry about them until you are ready to eat.
Boil, peel and finely dice the potatoes. Add the rest of the filling mix well. Adjust any ingredient as needed.
While your potatoes are boiling, you can make the pani. Make sure the water is cold. If you have a food processor, use that little beast to make a paste using the pepper, mint leaves and lemon juice. I don't have one, and the amount seemed too small to use the blender. I just chopped the leaves and the pepper finely and then muddled them using a mortar and pestle.
Now the masala part is a little tricky. First add the raw ingredients., muddled or paste, to the water. Add a bit of the masala (I used the liquid kind from a jar) into the water. Taste. Adjust. Taste again. Keep doing it until it's spicy enough but you are not burning. It's good, but I guess not good enough to be the last meal...Or is it?
Okay, we are ready to eat! Crack the top of a puri, put some potato filling inside, add a bit of the chutney, pick up some of the pani with the puri and enjoy!
The concept is simple, you grab a puri (crisp), you make a hole on the top, put the filling inside and then take a bit of the liquid into the crisp using the crisp itself. Oh, then you put it in your mouth, crunch, feel the sweet, spicy goodness and go, "Ooooh!"
This recipe has the following parts
Puris (from Indian grocery stores) photo
Potato filling
Pani (the dipping liquid) photo
Sweet tamarind/bhel chutney (the sweet-tangy kind)
I think it's difficult to say exactly how much of the potato filling and liquid is needed for x number of puris, because it depends on your preference of the ratio between the fillings.
The potato filing
2 medium sized golden potatoes
1 tbsp of finely diced red onion
1 tsp of chaat masala (can find it in Indian grocery stores)
salt to taste
1/2 serrano pepper (can skip it if desired)
2 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro
Pani
Pani puri masala (liquid or ground)
5 cups of water
1 green chili or serrano pepper
2 tbsps of mint leaves chopped
Juice of one lemon
Or... follow the instructions on the packet, verbatim
Buy about 40-50 puris from the store. This recipe is not for the pani puri kits. Only get the puris. Add water to the tamarind/bhel chutney if needed so that it has the consistency of bbq sauce. Keep them on the dining table and don't worry about them until you are ready to eat.
Boil, peel and finely dice the potatoes. Add the rest of the filling mix well. Adjust any ingredient as needed.
While your potatoes are boiling, you can make the pani. Make sure the water is cold. If you have a food processor, use that little beast to make a paste using the pepper, mint leaves and lemon juice. I don't have one, and the amount seemed too small to use the blender. I just chopped the leaves and the pepper finely and then muddled them using a mortar and pestle.
Now the masala part is a little tricky. First add the raw ingredients., muddled or paste, to the water. Add a bit of the masala (I used the liquid kind from a jar) into the water. Taste. Adjust. Taste again. Keep doing it until it's spicy enough but you are not burning. It's good, but I guess not good enough to be the last meal...Or is it?
Okay, we are ready to eat! Crack the top of a puri, put some potato filling inside, add a bit of the chutney, pick up some of the pani with the puri and enjoy!
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