Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Pani Poori

In Madras, we belong to an area famous for its Gulfi ice,  paani poori manufacturers with the walk ways surrounded by 'chaat item' (a kind of Indian salad mixed with crispies) vendors. You may need a strong willpower to pass these shops without buying one plate of some snack:) Recently we enjoyed this delicacy once again in one of the parties held by hubby's colleague A. After that our trips to Indian grocery stores won't be complete without getting a chaat item.

What is Paani poori?
Paani poori : Small cute fluffy pooris stuffed with lentil, mashed potatoes, salads and filled with hot chutneys as well as sweet tangy tamarind water.

Paani poori is a great fun food when we have some family get-together or friends coming over unexpectedly. It is a very filling snack / starter / a complete meal without much preparation time or skills. There are 'n' number of variations for the stuffing and chutneys. I prepared it by remembering that Madras paani poori stalls' version and their clay-pots filled with those paanis and chutneys.

All we need is just to poke the poori with our thumb, fill the stuffing, pour the chutneys and munch ....munch...munch:) I love the way it is gobbled in one gulp with lots of laughter:) Nothing can beat the different tastes.... spicy to sweet and tangy mixing up in our mouth while our hands uncontrollably stretching for the next poori....unexplainable joy. Isn't it!

Paani poori along with the various stuffings and filling chutneys arranged.
Paani poori stuffed.
Ready to use paani pooris.

Ingredients:
Pani poori - 1 pack
I used the ready to use paani poori available in Indian grocery stores. Preparing the poori needs a lot of patience and skill. The end product should be a very stiff and hole-less pooris. Still I assure you, the home made ones are the best, if we can make them perfectly. You can see the procedure for making them in

Stuffing:
(The following are the popular stuffing, but we can vary them according to availability)
1.Potato - 3
2.Freshly chopped onion - 1 cup
3.channa dhal / whole green gram (cooked)- 2 cup
4.oma podi (Indian mixture snack) - 1/2 cup (optional)
*Cook the potato and remove the skin. Mash it gently along with some salt, cumin powder (1/4 tsp). Place it in a serving bowl.
*chop the onions finely and keep them for serving.
* cook the dhal and keep it in a bowl.

green chutney:
cilantro - 10 stems
mint leaf - 1/2 cup
green chilly - 2
salt - to taste
lemon - 1/8
wash and clean the leaves. Grind them finely together along with green chilly, salt and some water to get a cup of chutney. Squeeze the lemon to get a balanced chutney taste. Keep it in a serving bowl with a spoon.

Tamarind water:
tamarind - a small lemon size
Water - 2 cup
jaggery / sugar - 1 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
chaat masala - 1/4 tsp
cilantro - a few leaves
dates / raisin - 1/2 cup
Soak the tamarind and extract the juice. Puree the dates / raisin and mix all the above to get a sweetish tangy water. Transfer it to a serving bowl with a spoon.

How to devour it ?
Take a poori. Hold it in your left hand, in the same time make a small opening at the top (by using your thumb), just like we shell the hard boiled eggs.

Put a small scoop of mashed potatoes, cooked dhal, chopped onion one over the other.Sprinkle the oma podi.
Top it with 1/2 a tsp of spicy green chutney. Fill the remaining space with the tamarind sweet chutney.

Immediately gulp it and enjoy:)

Serving suggestions:
The above said quantity is enough to fill almost 40 paani pooris. Increase the tamarind water quantity if necessary. Create your own stuffing to suit your palettes.
This makes a great starter or an early supper.

26 comments:

Hari Chandana P said...

Pani Poori looks yummyy.. fantastic clicks :)

Rach said...

I love pani poori , this one looks so yummy. Please collect awards from my blog :)

Shama Nagarajan said...

delicious poori...soo tempting

Vrinda said...

Tempting pani poori...hungry for this now...

Satya said...

wow panipuri looks sooooo inviting ...i can have it anytime ...drooling here btw u r talking about which street in madras where we get all those chat items....i also want to go there n enjoy fully ...i always go to Spencer Plaza to enjoy pani puri or chat ,don't know any other place :(


Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Swathi said...

Pani poori looks deliicous Viki. I love this chat more.

Suman Singh said...

love pani poori or should I say who doesn't love this..yummie..drooling over your pics..

chef and her kitchen said...

pani poori is my weakness...neatly explained details...I already have a packet for the weekend

Ms.Chitchat said...

Awesome,awesome pani puris. Loved the clicks,very illustrative.

I love to have those in a particular shop in Spencer Plaza. It is a small shop in the first floor run by Bengalis and believe it, they make really tasty chaat items. I would strongly recommend anyone going to Chennai to please enjoy theirs.

Soma Pradhan said...

hey..welcome back dear ..pani puri is my hubbys fav ..It is our family tradition..rather has become to eat pani porri as dinner every sunday

Suja Manoj said...

Wow love Pani Pooris..looks yummy,love it.

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

Delicious Pani puri recipe Viki....Like the way you presented and explained..totally a yummy blog you have..Am your happy follower now...
Do visit my blog.

aipi said...

Hey viki, first time here..u have a beautiful space here, with so many awesome recipes..
I loooooove pani puri..am drooling over your pictures..so good!can eat it for breakfast, lunch,dinner and in between every single day ..:)
have book marked your space , will b visiting often :)
do drop in at my space sometime
aipi
http://usmasala.blogspot.com/

Aparna S Mallya said...

This is one of my most favorite dishes! Nice clicks.

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Irresistible pani pooris......It's a hit item when ever I have a party at home.
Welcome back dear...
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

PranisKitchen said...

thats so deliicous and yummy puris my evertime snack.. really like to have the small puris with nice fillings.. good one

Sushma Mallya said...

Very Tempting clicks, i too love this chaat,..

Pavithra Srihari said...

I was going to ask where that particular manufacturers are in ... I got it and chitchat , Yeah I love that vendor too , I have never missed till date whenever I go to chennai .. You are very correct ...

@ Viki's loved the way you have illustrated how to gulp it down ... lov eit

Unknown said...

my favourite street food..am dying to have them soon..

Ash said...

I love them so much..... & I love savoring them when they are prepared & served one by one... Oh! How many plates I empty...... Your prep is totally delectable..... :)

Ash....
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Chitra said...

Wow, want to grab from the plate viki.Lovely post :)

Suparna said...

good one as always viki :)
it's always safe to make them at home right! loved the pics :)
TC

Rachana said...

My favourite street food and after seeing these clicks, I am craving it... Yumm!!!!

Sarah Naveen said...

nice posts..makes me drool..
and good to see you back ...

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Viki
How are you?
I feel bad that I cant visit all the blogs the way I used to...
I feel good that you visited my blog ( U always do I know)..try the pulao , it is fast and amazing goes with every thing..sweetening is in your hand...less or more......the good thing is , the strong flavour of nutmeg and other raw garam masalas make it unique

Today I had 20 pani puris ( SOMEONE doesn't know it...in my young days we used to make century...i.e 100s of them at one go....ha ha

Have a nice weekend

Nandinis food said...

Welcome back! The pani puris are a real treat and filled my stomach virtually!

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