Chaat Mela #1 - Pani Puri

All Indians would be familiar with the term Chaat and are mostly big time fans of chaat as well :)

Chaat is basically a plate of savory snack served mostly on the roadside stalls or carts in India. This style of food originated in Northern states of India and spread across covering the entire country now :)

I am so inclined towards chaat items and can afford to break my diet plans for them anytime. Most of the time I step out of home for some shopping, I end up snacking on some roadside chaat :)

Hence 4th Sense Cooking would celebrate the love for Chaat in the next few posts calling it Chaat Mela :)

Pani puri takes the first place in the list of chaats and I can easily call it the King of Chaats :)

Pani puri is also called as Gol Gappa, Pani Ke Bataashe or Gup Chup. Its a very popular snack comprising of a hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with various mixtures and finally dipped in flavored water.

I am going to give me quick version of pani puri here with store bought puri and Pani puri masala for the pani.

Recipe for Mint chutney

Ingredients:

Mint leaves(pudina) - 1 bunch
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece
Salt - for taste

Method:

Clean and wash the mint leaves. Grind mint leaves, green chillies, ginger and salt together to make the mint chutney.

You can store this for upto ten days in the refrigerator and use them.

Recipe for Sweet chutney:

Ingredients:

Dates - 10
Tamarind paste - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 tblsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Asafoetida - a pinch

Method:

Soak the dates in warm water for one hour.

Grind the dates, tamarind paste and jaggery together in the mixie until smooth.

Take a pan and add just a spoon of oil and crackle cumin seeds. Add the ground paste and a little water and cook this on medium flame for a while. Add a pinch of salt and asafoetida and mix well. Switch off once the chutney is slightly thick and sticky.

Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.

Method to make pani:

I bought ready made pani puri powder by Everest brand and diluted 5 tblsp of powder for 2 cups of water to make pani.

I used store bought puri too :P I was a little lazy you see ;) I wanted everything to be ready in a jiffy. So choose to buy them :)

Recipe to make Pani Puri:

Ingredients:

Puri - 10
Pani - 2 cups
Onion - 1
Potatoes - 3
Chilly powder - for taste
Salt - for taste
Sprouted green gram - 1/2 cup
Mint chutney
Sweet chutney
Bhujia(oma podi) - 1/2 cup

Method:

Cook the potatoes and smash them. Mix a tsp of chilly powder and required salt to the mashed potatoes.

Chop onion finely and keep it aside.

Now to assemble the puri, break open a hole on one side of the puri and drop a tsp of mashed potato. Follow it by a tsp of chopped onion, then a tsp of sprouted green gram, then mint chutney and sweet chutney. Finally top it with some bhujia and serve them with a cup of prepared pani. :)

Pour a tblsp of pani into the filled puri and gobble them into your mouth :)

Mmmmmyummmmyummm pani puri is ready :) Enjoy making and enjoy eating as well :)

Tips:

Check both the sides of the puri and choose the weakest side of the puri to break open a hole. This will help to keep the pani inside the puri till you gobble them.

If you want to make these for a party, you can mix the mint chutney and sweet chutney to the pani itself and get all the puris filled with the rest of the ingredients and set it ready before you serve. Avoiding the wet ingredients(Mint and sweet chutney) in the puri will keep the puri crisp until it is served.

If you happen to find a lot of broken puris or puris with lots of holes, just crush them and put them in a bowl with all the other ingredients and enjoy eating a mixed chaat :)

Written by: Nithya
Send in your queries by clicking here.