Easy Pani Puri

Puris served in a bowl with the pani and filling in the background

Called golgappa, or puchkas, I’ve included detailed steps on how to make the puris, the filling, and jaljeera to get that street style Pani Puri flavour!

Course Snacks & Appetizers

Cuisine Indian

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 10

Servings people

Calories 470kcal

Author Richa

Ingredients

For the Puri

½ cup fine Sooji (Semolina)
2 tablespoons Atta (Whole Wheat flour)
¼ cup hot but not boiling Water (+/- 1 teaspoon)

For the Aloo filling

2 boiled and peeled Potatoes
¼ cup boiled Kala Chana or Kabuli Chana (Black Gram or Chickpeas)
¼ teaspoon Black Salt
½ teaspoon roasted Jeera Powder (roasted ground Cumin)
½ teaspoon Red Chilli Powder (adjust to taste)

For the Jaljeera Pani

½ cup chopped raw Mango/ 1 lime sized seedless Tamarind (use either)
2 Green Chillies or Serrano Peppers (adjust to taste)
1 ½ cup fresh Pudina leaves (Mint leaves)
¼ cup fresh Coriander leaves
3 Peppercorns
½ teaspoon Jeera (Cumin)
¼ teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
1 teaspoon Black Salt
½ teaspoon Sugar
Adjust lime juice and black salt to taste

For Garnishing & Servings

Soaked Boondi
Pudina leaves
Sweet Tamarind Chutney

Instructions

For the Puris

Mix together sooji and atta in a bowl. Add ¼ cup hot water to this and mix to make a stiff dough. Knead the dough with your hand for 5-6 minutes till the dough is firm and smooth to touch. You might have to adjust the amount of water by a teaspoon or two. Cover the dough with a wet cloth (squeeze it well so that the cloth is wet but does not have extra water dripping from it) and rest it for 20-25 minutes.
Knead the dough again for a minute or two once rested. Divide it into 4 equal parts and roll out one part into a thin rope. Keep the other three parts of dough covered with a wet cloth. With a knife, cut equal portions (the size of a blueberry) from the rope. Take a piece and roll it between your palm till smooth and press it gently to flatten it out slightly. With the help of a rolling pin, roll it into a circle about 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter. Place the rolled puri on a thick plastic sheet covered with a dry cloth. Repeat the above procedure to make puris from all the dough. Alternatively, you can also roll the dough out into a big circle and use a cookie cutter to cut it.
Heat oil in a karahi till it is very hot but not smoking. We'll follow the first in-first out rule; drop one puri in the hot oil so that the side which was touching the plastic sheet is what goes into the oil first. This is very important. Immediately press the puri lightly with a slotted spoon; and once it puffs up, turn it over. Press them lightly so that they are evenly golden brown from all sides, and then take them out. Fry all the puris in this way.
Wait for them to cool completely and then store them in an airtight container.

For the Aloo filling

Lightly mash the boiled chana and potato with your hand and mix it with all the other ingredients for the filling. Set aside.

For the Jaljeera pani

Blend together chopped mango or tamarind, green chillies, mint, coriander, peppercorns and the spices with 2 cups water till smooth. Place a strainer over a big bowl and line the strainer with a mulmul cloth if you have one. Strain it into the bowl, pressing down on the leftover residue to get all the juice out. Once done discard the leftover residue and add another glass of water to the jaljeera. Taste and adjust the seasoning and if needed add some lemon juice. If and how much lemon juice needs to be added will depend on the sourness of the mangoes and tamarind.
Chill the jaljeera and add some soaked and lightly squeezed boondi to it if you like.

Serving

To serve, poke a hole in the puri with your thumb, fill it with aloo masala and pour jaljeera into it. Add some tamarind chutney if you like. Pop it in your mouth immediately and enjoy!

Video

Notes

This recipe makes 40-50 puris depending on the size
Dough for puris: The dough should be firm and not very soft. If you are familiar with it, it should be similar to the dough for puris
Rolling the puris: It's important that the puris are rolled thinly and evenly. If you have raised edges or a thick middle and thin edges, they won't puff up properly
Shape: Don't worry about the shape. You can roll them out in an oval or circular shape. It doesn't have to be perfect
Oil for Frying: From various tests, I found that an oil with a high smoke point like refined sunflower oil works best for frying puris
Will my puris puff up? This recipe has been tested by three different people a total of five times. For the most part, all the puris puffed up. The only time puris didn't puff up properly was if the oil was too hot or too cold. So I recommend testing with 1-3 puris first. Once the oil temperature is just right, go ahead and fry them all!

Nutrition