Pani puri
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Makes 30 puris
An explosion of flavour in one bite! Pani Puri is a delicious Indian street food, popular in many states across the country. It’s also known as golgappa or puchka. My version calls for crispy ready-made puri shells, potatoes, black chickpeas, onions and a sharp and tangy coriander, mint and lime ‘pani’ or flavoured water. Spoon the pani into the shells and devour in one go.
For this recipe you will need a blender.
Ingredients
For the pani
- 70g/2½oz fresh coriander leaves and stalks
- 40g/1½oz fresh mint leaves
- 1 small green chilli
- 2cm/¾in piece fresh root ginger, peeled
- 6 tbsp lime juice (about 3–4 limes)
- 2 tbsp chaat masala
- 1 tbsp black salt (kala namak)
- 2 tbsp dried mango powder (amchur)
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 25g/1oz boondi
For the filling
- 2 large potatoes
- 400g tin black chickpeas (225g drained and rinsed)
- 1 medium red onion
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp chaat masala
- 5 tbsp shop-bought tamarind chutney (not tamarind concentrate)
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander
- 30 puri shells
Method
For the pani, add all the ingredients, except the boondi, to a blender. Add 1 litre/1¾ pint ice-cold water and blitz until smooth and bright green (about 2 minutes).
Pass the mixture through a sieve into a large jug. Stir in the boondi and keep refrigerated until needed.
Wash and prick the potatoes all over with a fork. Boil until soft and tender. Allow to cool before peeling the skin off. Chop the potatoes into small chunks, about 5mm/¼in pieces.
Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl, along with the chickpeas, chopped onion, chilli powder, chaat masala, tamarind chutney and chopped coriander. Stir well to combine.
Use your thumb to make a hole in the top of the puri shells. Fill each with a heaped teaspoon of the potato and chickpea mixture. (If you need to cook your puri, simply cook according to the packet instructions, allow to cool, and then proceed to crack the tops and fill with the potato and chickpea mixture.)
To serve, allow guests to spoon a tablespoon or two of pani into the filled puri shells (directly on top of the potato mixture) and enjoy immediately.
Recipe tips
You'll find puris in a box or a bag in large supermarkets, Indian food shops, or online. They’re usually labelled as 'Pani Puri', 'Golgappa', or 'Puchka'. The ready-to-eat ones come in a box (already puffed) and the type in a bag can be deep fried or air fried at home. Follow the packet directions for cooking. Puri can be arranged in the air fryer, 5–6 at a time (make sure they’re not overlapping), sprayed lightly with oil and air fried for a few minutes, until puffed.
Boondi (fried gram flour pearls) are available in the snack section of all Indian shops.
Kashmiri chilli powder is a fairly mild chilli power with a nicely rounded flavour. It’s worth seeking out, but you could use mild chilli powder as a swap.
