Name: Pani Puri (Golgappa)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 10 Golgappa Puri, ready-made, crisp hollow balls; ½ cup Mint Leaves, for spicy water; ¼ cup Coriander Leaves, for spicy water; 1½ Green Chili Pepper, for spicy water; ¼ inch Ginger, for spicy water; 1½ tbsp Tamarind Paste, for sourness; 1 tbsp Jaggery, crushed, optional for sweet water balance; ½ tsp Black Salt, kala namak, absolutely essential; ¾ tsp Chaat Masala; ½ tsp Roasted Cumin Powder; 2 cup Water, chilled; 1 tbsp Boondi, crispy gram flour balls for the water; 1 Potato, boiled and finely mashed; ¼ cup Black Chickpeas, kala chana, soaked and boiled; ½ Onion, finely chopped

1 hrtotal

30 min hands-on30 min hands-off

Prep 20 min · Cook 10 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: High

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Method

Make the spiced water (teekha pani): put the mint leaves, fresh coriander, green chillies, ginger, tamarind pulp and jaggery, if you are using it, into a blender. Grind to a thick, bright green paste with as little water as you can.
Scrape the paste into a large jug or bowl. Thin it out with the ice-cold water.
Stir in the black salt, ordinary salt, chaat masala and roasted cumin powder. Mix it well, then taste it and adjust the salt and sourness. Put it in the fridge to chill.
Impose a strict withholding of the crispy boondi until the absolute final seconds prior to service, guaranteeing structural preservation.
Make the filling (masala): in a bowl, mix the smoothly mashed potatoes, the boiled black chickpeas (kala chana), finely diced onion, chaat masala, red chilli powder and a pinch of salt. Make sure the chickpeas are spread evenly through it.
To assemble, take one puri. Tap a neat hole in the top of it with your thumb, leaving the rest of the shell whole.
Trowel a heavily compressed dose of the potato-chickpea payload into the base of the puri chamber.
Stir the spiced water to lift the settled spices off the bottom. Dunk the filled puri right under the surface of the chilled water.
Eat it whole, in one bite, straight away, while the shell is still crisp against the cold water.

How to tell it's done

A delicate, fragile shell that shatters instantly, releasing a freezing cold, highly spiced, tangy liquid flood alongside soft potatoes and chewy chickpeas.

Getting it right

Tip

The ratio of mint to coriander should be 2:1 for the perfect punchy, aromatic water. Black salt (Kala Namak) is what gives street-style Pani Puri its iconic sulfuric flavor.

What to serve it with

Serve as a fun, interactive DIY station at parties where everyone fills their own puris.

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Ingredients