Pani Puri - The famous street side delicacy

Call them as Pani Puri, Puchka , Golgappas , Gup Chup, Paani k Baatashe are all different names for the same street food snack. These are very popular all over India and are known by various names and vary slightly in taste depending on the Paani ( spiced flavor water) that is used to fill in the small puris .

Some places, it is purely tamarind water with some spices that are used along with some potato stuffing that are used to fill in the puris, while some use boiled black beans (kala channa) + potato stuffing and some tamarind + dates water with spices.

Since,I hail from Mumbai ,  the taste of pani puris is very different there because of the combination of two different types of Paani that are used to fill in the deep fried puris with boiled sprouted moong or plain boondis or ragda as the filling . Ragda is soaked and boiled yellow peas that are mildly flavored with some spices.

The vendors use a Spicy version called as Theekha Paani(spicy green chutney) made using corriander,mint and green chillies and a Sweet and Sour version called as Khatta Meetha Paani made using Dates, Tamarind and little jaggery. There is a very fresh and a palate cleansing flavor that lingers in the mouth after having eaten these water filled little puris . You can adjust the sweet and spice level by increasing / decreasing the quantity of the flavored water that you pour into your puris.

I am presenting both the versions of this paani in this post. You can make them and store in the fridge and use it as and when you like.

Preparation Time : 6 to 8 hrs

Cooking Time - 40 mins

Complexity - easy

Theekha Paani 

Ingredients 

1/2 bunch corriander leaves 

10-12 mint leaves (optional)
3-4 green chillies
1 tsp black salt
1 tsp regular salt
2-3 tsp lemon juice

Method

• In a blender , add in the cleaned corriander leaves, mint leaves, green chillies and some water and blend it well .
• Strain this juice through a strainer and collect only the liquid part and discard the unground part.
• This juice will be very concentrated and spicy. You will have to add water to match your level of spice and then to this add the salt, black salt and lemon juice.
• You can adjust the quantity of salt as per your taste.
• Keep this water for chilling in the fridge and take it just a while before you are going to make pani puris. The chilled water inside the puris tastes heavenly.

Tip :

• Before adding water to the concentrate, take out some of the thick concentrate and keep aside.Incase it gets too diluted you can adjust the spice level by adding this reserve stock.
• If there is no black salt, you can use chat masala , but as far as possible try to use black salt to get the authentic taste.

Khatta Meetha Paani

Ingredients

lemon sized tamarind

8-10 dates - remove the seed or use seedless
2-3 tablespoon powdered jaggery
1-2 tsp roasted jeera powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
pinch of salt.

Method

• In a big vessel, add the dates and tamarind with 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil for 5 mins. Let it cool well.
• Put them in a blender and grind it well and sieve it through a strainer.
• To this thick extract, add the jaggery , red chilli powder,salt,jeera powder and about  1 cup water and bring it to a slight boil .
• Dilute the concentrate same as you would do for the theekha paani and use it for making the pani puris.
• Once it cools down, you can refrigerate this paani. 

Tip :

• Before adding water to the concentrate, take out some of the thick concentrate and keep aside.Incase it gets too diluted you can adjust the spice level by adding this reserve stock.

How to make Ragda ? 

• Soak 50gms dried yellow peas or vatana for 8-10 hours .
• Pressure cook the yellow peas in 2 cups of water along with one peeled potato  and little salt and haldi for 7-8 whistles or until mashed well .
• Once the pressure releases , mash the peas and potato well adding some water if needed .
• Heat a little oil in a kadai, splutter jeera and add asafoetida .
• Add in the mashed peas and add 1 cup water along with red chilli powder , 1 tsp garam masala and lots of fresh coriander. 
• Let it boil well until all the flavor infuses into the peas . Adjust water if you feel it is getting thick .
• Lastly add some black salt and turn off the stove.

Serving suggestions

Make hole in the fried puris , add a spoon of this warm ragda, followed by the spicy theekha paani and then the meeta paani ..take the entire puri and stuff into your mouth and relish the burst of flavors .

Note

I have used ready to fry pani puri papads available in super markets.  You can use them or the already fried puris available in stores to make pani puris .

If you are salivating over this post , then don't forget to pin it !! :-) 

Haagalkaai Gojju | Pavakkai Gojju | Bitter gourd curry - Video Post

Presenting to you another speciality from Karnataka, Haagalkaai Gojju. Bitter gourd is known as Haagal kaai in Kannada.

Gojju is a sweet and sour gravy made from  tamarind base and some jaggery along with various other spices  bringing about an aromatic and a flavorful gravy. 

This delicacy is also called a Menaskkai in some parts of Karnataka . The bittergourd can be replaced with Pineapple or Lady's finger as well with the preparation process remaining the same.

This bitter gourd gojju is like a palate cleanser and leaves a fresh feeling in the mouth. Hot rice with a little ghee and this gojju tastes heavenly.

Diabetics who are bored of having normal stir fries or boiled bitter gourd can definitely prepare this gojju and have. Goes well with rotis or puris as well.

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 20-30 mins
Serves : 2-3

Karela Chips | Bittergourd Chips | Pavakkai Varuval

Bittergourd is a vegetable which is loaded with a lot of health benefits . As the name suggests, the bitterness in the vegetables causes the vegetable to be disliked by children as well adults. I too fall in the same category of people who dislike this healthy vegetable.As a child I very faintly remember my mom making some chips out of this which used to be crunchy and tasty without the bitterness lingering on the taste buds. I tried hard to recollect the taste and when the other day when my hubby asked me to make something out of Bittergourd, I immediately made this chips and I was amazed to experience the same taste and texture as how amma used to make.

Preparation Time : 5 mins
Cooking Time : 10-15 mins
Complexity : Medium

Seppankizhangu Varuval | Arbi Chips | Colocasia fry

Root vegetables are generally full of starch and taste really good ,be it potatoes , sweet potatoes or colocassia / Arbi . In addition to potatoes I love this vegetable a lot , especially when it is deep fried in the form of chips . A very good accompaniment to the infamous South Indian curd rice or even regular sambar and rasam rice . Taro root is boiled and cut into slices and deep fried and then tossed in some flavorful spices and salt.
This is my childhood favorite and have very very fond memories of my mom and paati making this for me.

Preparation time :20 mins
Cooking time :45 mins
Complexity :medium

Khara Boondi - video post

Khara boondi is an integral part of any Indian savory snack. They can be called as  spicy pearls made using gram flour / besan. Boondis can be used in various preparations , garnish for jal jeera, spread over the serving of Bisi Bele baath, or even had as a plain tea time snack. Boondis are prepared in large numbers to be added to chiwdas/ mixture during Diwali.
Today we shall see how we can make this tasty snack at the comfort of our home. I am also including a video to demonstrate how to make boondis.

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Frying Time : 30-40 mins
Complexity : Difficult.

Poha Chiwda | Beaten Rice Crispies

Thick Poha chiwda is a very popular snack in India, it is quick to make and has a longer shelf life ,hence can be stored for a couple of days. This can be taken as a picnic snack on your short trips or tours to satisfy the 4pm hunger pangs. Poha chiwda is normally a must during the Diwali season alomg with the other snacks that are prepared. I have already told in my blog how to make Cornflakes chiwda, this is also more or less similar to that . You can adjust the spice level as per your family tastes and likings.
This is the traditional deep fried version I am presenting . There are other ways like roasting the poha in microwave / oven and then adding the seasoning to it which I shall present sometime soon; a diet version of this same snack.

Preparation Time : 5  mins
Cooking Time : 10 mins
Serves : 3-4
Complexity : medium

Set Dosa | Set Dose - Karnataka Special

Set Dosa / Set Dose is a popular breakfast item from Southern state of India ,Karnataka .
These dosas are very spongy and fluffy and made with the basic ingredients available in the pantry.
Set Dosas are served in sets of 2/3 along with vegetable sagoo  and coconut chutney , hence the name SET DOSA.

The usage of Poha / Avalakki / beaten rice and curd during the soaking and grinding process ,gives a mild sweet and sour taste to the dosas.

Preparation Time : 8-10 hours
Cooking Time : 30 mins
Serves : 2-3
Complexity : Medium