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Authentic Street-Style Pani Puri

Authentic Street-Style Pani Puri

Crack open a crispy puri, stuff it with spiced potatoes and chickpeas, plunge it into icy-cold spicy mint water, and pop the whole thing into your mouth. This is the ultimate guide to making street-style Pani Puri at home.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 40 pieces Pani Puri Puris Ready-to-fry pellets or store-bought pre-cooked shells
  • 300 grams Potatoes Boiled, peeled, and gently crushed
  • 100 grams Black Chickpeas Kala Chana (Boiled until soft)
  • 1 tsp Chaat Masala For the potato filling
  • 1 cup Fresh Mint Leaves Tightly packed for the spicy water
  • 1 cup Fresh Cilantro Leaves For the spicy water and filling
  • 2 pieces Green Chilies Adjust to taste
  • 1 inch Ginger Peeled and chopped
  • 2 tbsp Tamarind Paste Divided between waters
  • 3 tbsp Jaggery Or brown sugar, for sweet water
  • 2 tsp Black Salt Kala Namak (Divided between waters and filling)
  • 2 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder Divided

Method
 

  1. In a bowl, combine boiled potatoes, black chickpeas, roasted cumin, chaat masala, red chili powder, black salt, and fresh cilantro. Mash coarsely with your hands so it remains textured.
  2. Add mint, cilantro, green chilies, and ginger into a blender with 1/4 cup of ice-cold water. Blend until completely smooth and bright green.
  3. Combine the green paste with 4 cups of chilled water, tamarind paste, black salt, chaat masala, and roasted cumin. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a serving bowl.
  4. In another bowl, mix 2 cups of water with tamarind paste, jaggery, black salt, and roasted cumin powder until the sugar dissolves completely. Chill.
  5. Heat oil in a deep pan. Fry ready-to-fry pellets a few at a time until they puff up fully into crispy spheres. Drain on paper towels.
  6. Poke a hole in a puri, stuff it with a spoonful of potato filling, drizzle a little sweet water, fill it to the brim with spicy water, and eat it immediately in one bite.