Indian Streetfood: Spicy Pani Puri Pani You Need to Make

When I visited India in 2015, the number one thing on my itinerary was to go to a street cart and have pani puri. There’s just something so different about eating it on the street compared to eating it at home. Don’t judge me until you’ve seen every single Bollywood movie to ever exist! I did go to many, many street carts and my favorite was this one in Mumbai. It was raining really hard so my family and I ran to this bazaar area near the beach. We all ate pani puri and decided to have a contest.

The way it works in India is one puri is served at a time and you get the next one as soon as you finish the first. Number one rule of pani puri: you have to eat it in one go. First, the puri is filled with potato filling. Second, it is filled with spicy water and then sweet water. Third, it’s given to you in a little plate. It’s not that easy to eat it in one go because it’s overflowing with the water and that’s what makes it fun when you’re having a contest with someone. Think about it like the chubby bunny challenge but pani puri edition. 

LET’S GET INTO THE RECIPE

Because we’re all stuck at home, I have been working with my mom to learn how to make all my favorite recipes. And of course, pani puri is at the top of my list. Usually, I just take a bag of Badshah pani puri powder and mix it in water and call it a day. This time, I worked with my mom to make the pani from scratch. Not only was it the perfect mixture of spicy, but also it was perfectly sour. I’m sharing her recipe with you guys below so you can experience the deliciousness of homemade spicy pani puri pani. Enjoy!

Spicy Pani Puri Pani

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Spicy Pani Puri made just like in the streets of India!

Prep Time 25 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup tightly packed coriander leaves
• ½ cup tightly packed mint leaves
• 2-3 green chilies
• Jeera (cumin) powder
• Large bowl of cold water
• White salt
• Black salt
• ½ lemon
• Tamarind paste

Instructions

1. Rinse 1 cup tightly packed coriander leaves, ½ cup tightly packed mint leaves, and 2 to 3 green chilies very well.

2. Roughly chop the coriander leaves and mint leaves. Cut the green chilies.

3. Add coriander leaves, mint leaves, and green chili in a grinder or blender. For a less spicy pani you can add just 1 chopped green chilli.

4. Mix ingredients in blender until a fine paste is formed. Add jeera (cumin) powder and mix again.

5. Add cold water in a large bowl. Pour mixture into water and mix with spoon.

6. Add salt, jeera (cumin) powder, ½  lemon, black salt, and tamarind paste to taste.

7. Mix well with spoon. Taste test with spoon and adjust ingredients as needed.

8. Serve with puris and a side of masala mashed potatoes and sprouted moong beans.

9. Enjoy!

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