Pani puri

Universally loved lip smacking street food with a combination of tangy , sweet and spicy taste making it irresistible .

Ingredients for green chutney

Mint leaves (pudina) – a small bundle

Coriander leaves (dhania) – 1/2of the above quantity.

Green chillies- 4-5

Onion – 1/2

Garlic pods 2-3

Ginger- 1/2 inch piece

Cloves – 3

Cumin seeds ( jeera) – 2 teaspoons

Tamarind- small lemon size

Method

Grind together the mint leaves, coriander leaves,garlic, ginger ,onion, green chillies ,tamarind cloves and cumin seeds. A little water can be added when grinding if required. Add salt to taste. Transfer this green chutney into a small container and keep aside.

Ingredients for sweet chutney

Tamaind – lemon size

Jaggery – about 100 gms

Dates -5-6 deseeded and chopped

Salt – a pinch

Red chilli powder- 1/2 teaspoon

Saunf – 1/2 teaspoon

Jeera powder (roasted) – 1teaspoon

Add all of the above to 250 ml of water and let it cook till the raw tamarind smell is gone and it begins to thicken. Transfer it into a small container and keep aside.

Ingredients for pani

Tamarind – lemon size

Black (rock) salt- 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder- 1 teaspoon

Sweet chutney – add according to taste

Green chutney- add according to taste

Sugar- 1-2 teaspoons

Salt – according to taste

Roasted Jeera powder – 1 teaspoon

Method

Soak a lemon size tamarind in 750 ml of drinking water extract it’s juice and keep aside.

Now add about 2-3 tablespoons of green chutney paste to it . Also add a teaspoon of black salt, red chilli powder, 4-5 teaspoons of sweet chutney , 1-2 teaspoons of sugar and a little salt according to taste. Leave it at room temperature for 5-6 hrs for marination. Just before chilling it in the fridge add 1 teaspoon of roasted jeera powder

Ingredients for Ragda

Dry peas white or green (Vatana)- 100 gms

Red chili powder – 1 tsp

Garam masala 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric powder – 1/4th teaspoon

Salt – to taste

Method

Soak the peas overnight . Then add all of the above and cook it in a pressure cooker. Your ragda is ready.

Assimilation of pani puris

Ingredients

Puris

Sweet chutney

Green chutney

Ragda

Pani

Method

The pani puris have to be assimilated only just before it is ready to be popped into the mouth as the puris are very friable and break and also cannot hold the water for long. Make a small opening at the top of each puri and fill it with a little ragda and then dunk it into the water pani. It then goes straight into the mouth.

Tips

You may adjust the quantity of green and sweet chutneys according to your taste.

You may use sprouted moong, potatoes, boondi instead of vatana.

By Dr Rekha Nichani