This Popular Indian Snack Is an Explosion of Flavor

Arguably one of the Indian subcontinent’s most popular street foods is pani puri. In Delhi and other northern regions of India as well as in Pakistan, the dish goes by the name gol gappa while in the eastern state of West Bengal, it is called puchka, a name that sounds onomatopoeic to me, reflecting the squishy sound that a pani puri makes when you bite into it. It’s a satisfying snack that’s most often enjoyed at roadside vendors in South Asia, but I love to prepare pani puri at home for gatherings with friends and family. Endlessly customizable, the crisp bread puffs are filled with an assortment of savory, tangy, sweet, and crispy fillings, while flavored "waters" help create a dynamic and juicy bite.

Pani puri translates to water (pani) in fried bread (puri). The word "water" here may be misleading—they're really sauces with a thin, water-like viscosity that are infused with things like fresh herbs, spices, and fruity-tart ingredients like tamarind. The puri, meanwhile, are small, deep-fried shells of puffed bread that are hollowed out to make room for all the fillings. Those fillings often include a spiced potato mash, hearty cooked beans (mung beans or chickpeas), and an assortment of crunchy toppings.

It might at first seem daunting to prepare so many elements for just one dish, but I assure you that each component is fairly simple to prepare and just about everything can be made ahead for ease.

The Puri 

The flaky shells used in pani puri are a smaller version of a fried bread also known as puri. In pani puri, the crispy, deep-fried spheres are cracked open and stuffed with fillings before they’re dunked or doused into the prepared flavored waters. For this to happen, the individual-sized shells need to be sturdy enough to remain intact once filled and dipped, but still light, flaky, and crispy when bitten into. 

When I started developing this recipe, I tested making my own small puri that lived up to this tall order. But after rounds of dough kneading, rolling, cutting, and frying, I realized that even for me, a skilled Indian chef, it was too challenging to recreate this ideal puri texture in my home kitchen.

The solution is to stick with store-bought puri shells, which are excellent quality. The bite-size puffs are made from semolina and rice flour and can be found at most South Asian markets; they're often sold in egg carton-esque plastic containers or by the bag.

Make sure to purchase puris no more than two days before serving to ensure freshness (I even recommend asking about their freshness at the store). Inspect the package closely to check for shattered or squished puri—they’re fairly delicate and can break easily in transit. If you are able, sniff the puris before buying; they should smell lightly of freshly fried bread. An intense smell of oil indicates that they are most likely stale.

The Fillings

There are many filling options for pani puri. Here I’ve included two: a simple-to-prepare boiled and mashed potato filling spiced with dried Kashmiri chile, as well as boiled mung beans (green gram). Both are standard filling options for pani puri.

Soaking and cooking the mung beans is a simple but time-consuming process of boiling the beans and then seasoning them with salt, so if you’re in a rush, you can substitute with canned cooked chickpeas. Don't be concerned with the fact that the beans are only seasoned with salt: The filled pani puri have so many other big, bold flavors from the two flavored waters and spiced crispy condiments that keeping the beans simple is best.

The Pani

Most of pani puri’s flavor comes from the flavored water that each filled puri is doused with. The flavored waters should be intensely seasoned and pack a spicy, herbaceous, tangy punch. I like to serve pani puri with two styles of flavored water. One is a spicy mix of mint, cilantro, fresh green chiles, and cumin. The other flavored water is sweet and tart from jaggery (unrefined sugar made from the boiled and concentrated juice of sugarcane, date, and/or palm sap) and tamarind, with subtle heat from chile powder, and a distinctive tangy, sulphuric, savory aroma from chaat masala. 

Serving Suggestions for Pani Puri

When you eat pani puri at a roadside vendor, the puri is assembled for you: The vendor cracks open the top of the bread, stuffs it with a wee bit of every filling he stocks, then dunks the stuffed puri in the flavored waters before quickly handing it to you to eat immediately. Vendors won’t even make the next puri for you until you’ve finished the last one because they don’t want it to get soggy or fall apart on you.

To avoid soggy pani puri at home, I recommend serving all of the individual elements separately, and letting guests build their own. To build an individual pani puri, hold a puri at the seam between thumb and forefinger, keeping the bottom of it on the surface of the plate so it is steady. Using your other hand, break into the top of the puri, right in the middle and make a hole about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. Use a teaspoon (or fingers) to put a little of the fillings and toppings into a puri. Then use a soup spoon to pour some of the spicy water and the sweet–tart water over the top. Don’t forget to serve with crunchy bundi (deep fried chickpea paste balls) and sev (deep fried spiced chickpea paste threads).

For the Sweet-Tart Spiced Water: In a large metal or glass bowl, cover tamarind with hot water. Soak for at least 2 and up to 4 hours.

Using your hands, press tamarind in the water to separate pulp. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour tamarind-water mixture through it, pushing and pressing on the pulp until all the water and pulp has passed through; discard seeds, skins, and fibres. Stir jaggery or brown sugar, salt, cumin, and red chile powder into tamarind water until well combined. Set aside until ready to serve, stirring occasionally to ensure all sugar and salt has fully dissolved.

For the Spicy Herb Water: In a blender jar, add 1 cup water, mint, cilantro, ginger, chiles, cumin, and salt and blend on high power until smooth, about 1 minute.

Add additional 1 cup water and blend for 30 seconds on high to ensure no lumps of ginger or chiles remain.

Set a clean fine-mesh strainer over a bowl, then strain blended puree through it, pressing on pulp to extract as much as possible; discard solids. Stir in chaat or pani puri masala. Season with salt to taste. The liquid should be spicy and minty. If it tastes too hot for your liking, stir in sugar; set aside until ready to serve.

For the Spiced Potatoes: In a medium saucepan, add potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, and enough cold water to cover by 1-inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a vigorous simmer over medium heat and cook until potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, transfer to a bowl, and let cool for 10 minutes. Mash potatoes roughly or cut them into 1/4-inch chunks. Stir in salt, cumin, and red chile powder, if using, until well combined. Transfer spiced potatoes to a serving bowl.

For the Beans: If using mung beans, pick through to remove any hard bits of debris, then rinse beans well. Soak mung beans in 2 cups (480 ml) of warm water, covered and at room temperature, for at least 8 and up to 12 hours.

Drain and rinse mung beans well and cover again with 2 cups warm water. Set aside until beans have softened, about 4 hours. Check if mung beans have softened by pressing one bean between thumb and forefinger. If it breaks easily, it is ready to cook, if not, continue to soak for an additional hour and check again. Drain and rinse mung beans.

In a large saucepan, cover softened mung beans with 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and cook mung beans, uncovered, until beans are fully softened and break apart very easily when pressed, about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and transfer to a serving bowl. Season with salt.

If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse chickpeas before placing them in a mixing bowl. Using a potato masher or fork, mash chickpeas roughly. Stir in salt; transfer to serving bowl and set aside until ready to serve.

To Serve: Transfer the prepared sweet-tart spiced water, spicy herb water, spiced potatoes, prepared mung beans or chickpeas, onion, cilantro, bundi, sev or bhujia, and puris to separate plates and vessels on a serving table. Include plates, 2 teaspoons and 1 soup spoon per guest.

To Prepare 1 Pani Puri: The puri (puffed shell) has a thinner and crispier side; holding it on a plate, punch a roughly 1-inch hole into this thin side with your index finger, allowing the shards of puri to fall into the ball. Stuff the puri with potato mash and/or bean filling, then spoon sweet-tart spiced water and/or spicy mint water over top. Sprinkle with onion, cilantro, bundi (if using), and sev or bhujia (if using). Enjoy.

Special Equipment

Fine-mesh strainer, blender, medium saucepan, potato masher or fork, large saucepan (if preparing mungbeans)

Notes

This recipe can be easily doubled.

Make sure you have extra puris on hand in case a few are accidentally broken.

Bundi (deep fried chickpea paste balls) and sev (deep fried chickpea paste threads) are snacks that can be purchased at most South Asian grocery stores. They offer a crunchy counterpoint to the soft potato and mung bean fillings. 

Make Ahead and Storage

The green mung beans can be soaked up to 2 days before cooking. The cooked mung beans can be cooled and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days before serving.

The potatoes can be boiled and refrigerated up to 1 day before serving. Mash and season just before serving.

The two spiced waters can be prepared and refrigerated in airtight containers up to 1 day before serving.

Make sure to purchase puris no more than 2 days before serving to ensure they are fresh.