Golgappa / Pani Puri - गोलगप्पा / पानी पूरी (A Hot and Sweet Indian Snack/Street Food) for Indian Cooking Challenge

Hello friends,


I commented on the challenge blog saying, can it get any better than this? Golgappa. Srivalli, came up with an excellent idea this month to make this all time favorite snack for ICC. This is something that we eat if we are not feeling well or eat more if we are feeling better. Do you know, we used to go and eat golgappa if we wanted to get over our cold or even fever for that matter. I know it is not prescribed (so don't try it), but we just needed any and every excuse to snack on it. And, then we will say "bhaiya, zara teekha jyada karana" (meaning, brother, please make it little spicier). Can you believe how expensive they have become in recent past?


Anyways, here is how I did it. The picture was assembled and taken by N (my husband).


Golgappa / Pani Puri - गोलगप्पा / पानी पूरी  (A Hot and Sweet Indian Snack/Street Food)

Ingredients
For Golgappa/Pani Puri
Sooji (Semolia) - 1 cup
Maida (All Purpose Flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - to mix the dough (very little)
Oil - for deep frying

For Spicy Pani or Spicy Water
Chopped Mint Leaves 1 1/2 cups
Chopped Coriander Leaves 1 tbsp.
Tamarind 1/3 cup
Ginger 1"
Green Chillies 4 to 5
Ground Cumin Seed (roasted) 1 tsp.
Kala Namak (Black Salt ) 1 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste
For Filling
Potato Filling
Potato (Boiled) - 2 medium ones
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Lentil Filling
Dry Split Yellow Peas - 1/2 cup (soak them overnight)
Salt to taste
Chili powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder
Garam masala powder 1/4 tsp
For Red Tamarind Chutney
Tamarind 1 cup
Jaggery 1/2 cup
Sugar 2 tbsp.
Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
Dry Roasted cumin powder 1 tsp
Kali Mirch (Black pepper) powder 1/4 tsp.
Cloves 2
Warm water 2 cups
Oil 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Preparation

For Golgappa/Pani Puri

• Mix sooji, maida, salt, oil and little watter into a stuff dough.
• Cover with a cheese/muslin cloth for about an hour or longer
• Pinch a small lemon size ball and roll it out into a thin layer
• Cut the rolled dough with cookie cutter into about 1.5-2 inch diameter circles (depending on how big you can put in your mouth, as these golgappas are usually eaten whole)
• Fry them in real hot oil for about 10-15 seconds on each side. (they will automatically puff, no need to try anything else).
• Drain them in paper towel and store them in air-tight container once they are cool enough.

For Spicy Pani or Spicy Water

• Grind everything into  a paste
• Add water  to make it desired consistency (and as per taste) and keep it in fridge to chill

For Filling

Potato Filling

• Finely mash potato and mixed with salt and red chilli.

Lentil Filling

• Cook yellow peas with salt till they are well cooked
• Drain and cook with the masalas till aroma comes out

For Red Tamarind Chutney

• Grind everything into a paste or liquid and adjust seasoning per your taste

Serving

There are different ways to serve it in different places. This is how we eat it. Make a hole in the puffed golgappa with your finger, fill it with potato and lentil filling (we usually mix potato and lentil filling by adding some finely chopped onion, cilantro and green chillies per your taste). Then dip it in spicy or sweet chutney and enjoy. I like to sometimes mix spicy and sweet chutney and then dip my golgappa in that and eat. My husband likes to eat it topped with dahi.

So, enjoy them with anything you like. After all, it is a feel-good snack :)

That's all for now. Take care till next post.