Calcutta Style Puchka / Pani Puri / Gol Gappa

Calcutta Style Puchka / Pani Puri / Gol Gappa

Puchka also known as Pani Puri and Gol Gappa is a simple and delicious recipe to make at home. This recipe is inspired from the streets of Calcutta. These Pani Puri or Puchka’s as they are called in Calcutta are the best street food you can have in India on a hot summer day, a rainy day, a gloomy day, basically a day you want your mood to be high lightened. It is a spicy, tangy and thirst quenching street food that brings people together from all communities in India on the streets.

If you have never tried Pani Puri’s or Gol Gappas or Puchka’s at home, then its better you try them on the streets of India to understand its true flavors. As I mentioned this recipe is the CalcuttaStyle Puchka that you will find on the streets of Calcutta.

Makes: 20 puri’s

Ingredients

20 store bought puris’s

1 recipe of date tamarind chutney

Ingredients for the Pani

A small bunch of finely chopped mint leaves

A small bunch of finely chopped coriander leaves

2 green chilli ground to paste, I use a motor and pestle to make this paste

½ teaspoon of red chilli powder

1 recipe of tamarind water

1 teaspoon of rock salt/ kala namak

1 teaspoon of roasted cumin powder

1 teaspoon of chaat masala powder

Salt to season

Ingredients for the filling

1/2 cup boiled black chick peas / kala channa. See cooking instructions [Many add cooked green moong]

2 large potatoes, boiled and mashed

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon rock salt / kala namak

1 teaspoon moodi masala (optional – but a must for the Calcutta style, the recipe of which is atrade secret to the street vendors)

salt to taste

Method for Pani

Combine all the ingredients together adding 2 cups of water. Adjust the salt and seasonings to suit your palate.

Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Method for Filling

Combine all the ingredients well in a large bowl. Transfer to a serving dish and keep aside. This can be refrigerated until you are ready to serve.

Serving the Puchka’s/ Pani Puri’s / Gol Gappa

Tap the Puri at the center lightly to make a half inch hole in it.

Add about 1 teaspoon of the filling into the puri. Dip the filled puri into the spicy tamarind water and serve. You can optionally add ½ a teaspoon of date tamarind chutney and finely chopped onion into each puri before dipping into the spicy tamarind water. Eat immediately.

The date tamarind chutney is optional for people who do not like the sweet taste along with the sour taste. Some like the pani to be chilli hot some like it sweet and hot, some like it just sweet. So alter it to your taste and have fun.