Pani Puri/ GOL Gappa/ Puchka recipe
What is Pani Poori?
Pani Poori also known as GOL Gappa or Puchka refers to a popular Indian street food, made with slight variations in different parts of the country. Pani means water in Hindi and Puri is the puffed, fried Indian bread. Small, hollow, deep-fried crisp pooris are first filled with a stuffing made using potatoes and black chickpeas (chana). And then topped up with two different types of pani or flavoured water – a sweet one made using tamarind and jaggery, the other one spicy, made from fresh mint, coriander, green chillies etc. The result is a burst of flavours, perfectly puffed up crispy puris filled with potato-based stuffing, loaded with flavorful pani.
Make this crispy Pani puris at home and share your experience...
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You may also like Instant Potato Chips recipe.
Ingredients for pani puri:
For Sweet Chutney
- 100 g Dates, boiled
- 1 marble-sized ball of Tamarind
- 1 tsp Chilli Powder
- 1 pinch Black Pepper
- 1 pinch Salt
Grind all ingredients together and keep it aside.
For Spicy Chutney
- 1 cup Cilantro/coriander Leaves
- 1/2 cup Mint Leaves
- 5 Green Chillies, coarsely chopped
- 4 cups Water
- 2 Cloves
- 1 small Cinnamon Stick
- 2 Cardamom
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 3 tbsp Jal Jeera Powder (available in most Indian grocery stores)
Grind the cilantro/dhaniya patta, mint and green chillies together with the water and salt.
Roast the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and cumin on a medium heat in a saucepan. Grind to a fine powder.
Mix the roasted and ground spices and the jal jeera powder with the ground cilantro mixture.
Stuffing for the Puri
- 1/2 cup Green Moong Dal/ Green Lentils, soaked in water until tender
- 1/2 cup Garbanzo Beans/ Kabuli Channa, soaked in water and then boiled
- 5 small Potatoes, peeled and boiled
- 3 tbsp Channa Masala/ chat masala (available in all Indian grocery stores)
Combine all ingredients together with a little salt to taste. Due to lockdown I have used Boondi here.
For Puri / Gappa:
• Maida/ Plain Flour (Maida)- 1/4 Cup
• Whole Wheat Flour (Atta) – 1/4 Cup
• Semolina (Suji) – ¼ Cup
• A Pinch Of Baking Soda
• Salt To Taste (Namak)
• Oil To Fry
INSTRUCTIONS:
For Puri / Gappa:
- Add in the suji, maida, atta, salt and baking soda to a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- Knead to make the smooth dough using sufficient water. (Add water little by little)
- Cover this dough with damp cloth and set aside for 30 mins.
- Divide dough into 4 portions and roll them into balls.
- Take one portion of dough and cover rest of the balls with a damp cloth.
- Dust a working surface with some dry flour.
- Using a rolling pin roll out a thin almost translucent circle.
- Cut it using a round cookie cutter/glass/lid. We need all equal sized small circles.
- Arrange them on a plate and cover with a damp cloth.
- Heat oil in a pan or kadhai to very high.
- Now drop these puris into hot oil and press them in the center and on the edges using a spatula or ladle, this will puff up the puris.
- Reduce the heat and fry them until golden.
- Drain the puris out from the oil using a strain ladle and place on a tissue paper.
- Let them cool completely. Repeat the steps from 10-14.
- Then store in an airtight container and use when required.
How to Eat Pani Puris:
Crush the top of the puri a bit. Stuff the puris with the stuffing, add a little bit of the sweet chutney, dip into the spicy water and eat in one bite.
Enjoy!
