Gol Gappa | Pani Puri | Phuchka

Gol Gappa or Pani Puri is a popular street snack in Indian. It consists of a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of flavored water (“pani”), tamarind chutney(sweet chutney), green chutney or chilli chutney, chat masala, onion and chickpeas. It is generally small enough to fit completely into one’s mouth and is eaten that way.

Every body makes cakes for their birthday, I went a little different. As i’m a big fan of spicy food, I treated my self with these delicious, home madey, spicy gol gappa’s for my birthday :D. I must admit I enjoyed these thoroughly. That was my unique way of celebrating my birthday. Well you don’t need any occasion to make these at home, all you need a craving for some spicy and chat pata food.

Pani literally translates to water and here the Puris are fried puffed crisp dough balls. Generally, the water or pani is sour, tangy as well as spicy. This spicy pani is balanced with the addition of a sweet tamarind chutney.You can add the filling in these puris as per your choice, add some sprouts, channa, or keep it simple with some boiled potatoes.

Here is my version of gol gappas/pani puri.

Ingredients:-
Puri’s( fried puffed crisp dough balls) – 20-30 nos(I used store bought, you can use home made puri’s too)

For the stuffing-
POtaoes – 2-3 medium sized(boil it peel the skin and mash or chop into small pieces)
Onion – 1 medium size(finely chopped)
Coriander leaves – 2-3 tbspn(finely chopped)
Roasted cumin powder – 1 tspn
Chat masala – 1 tspn
Black salt – as required

For Pani-
Mint leaves – ½ cup
Coriander leaves – ½ cup
Green chillies – 2-3(adjust as per your spice preference)
Seedless tamarind – 1 tspn
Chrushed jaggery – 1-2 tbspn
Roasted cumin powder – 1 tspn
Chat masala powder – 1 tspn
Water – 2-3 cups(adjust depending on the consistency you want)
Boondi(fried tiny gram flour balls) – 2-3 tbspn
Black salt – as required

For Sweet Tamarind dates chutney
Seedless tamarind – ¼ cup
Seedless dates – ¼ cup
Chrushed jaggery – 1-2 tspn
Roasted cumin powder – 1 tspn
Red chilli powder – 1 tspn
Coriander powder – ½ tspn
Balck salt – as required
Method of preparation:-

1. First we will prepapre the pani. Put all the ingredients mentioned under list “for pani” in a blender along with little water and blend it into a fine, smooth paste.

2. Remove the green chutney in a large bowl. Add 2 to 3 cups water. Mix well. Check the seasoning. Add more black salt or jeera powder or chaat masala if required. If you want a thin pani, you could add some water. But keep on checking the seasoning, as per your taste. Add the boondi to the pani only before serving.

3. For sweet tamarind dates chutney – In a pan cook the tamarind and date along with little for about 8-9 minutes on a low flame till they soften.

4. Now add the powdered jaggery and continue to cook. let the jaggery dissolve and the mixture thicken a bit.

5. Add all the spice powders and simmer for 1-2 mins. Season with salt.

6. Let the chutney mixture cool down. in a chutney grinder or small blender, grind the this whole mixture till smooth.add some water if required while grinding. strain the chutney through a strainer.

7. Store the tamarind date chutney in an airtight bowl or container in the refrigerator and use it when you make chaat at home.