Homemade Pani Puri

Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow peas, raw (Soak overnight and drain.)
• 1 potato (Medium-sized.)
• 0.5 tsp turmeric powder
• salt (To taste; used in the filling and pani.)
• 0.5 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 cloves garlic (Finely chopped.)
• 1 red onion (Medium-sized and finely chopped.)
• 1 tomato (Large.)
• 1.5 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 0.25 cup oil (For sautéing.)
• 0.5 cup fresh cilantro (Use for the pani and additional garnish.)
• 0.5 cup fresh mint leaves
• 5 Thai green chillies (Adjust to taste.)
• 0.75 cup water (For grinding the herbs and chillies.)
• 1 tsp black salt
• 1.5 tsp jaljeera powder (Available at Indian grocery stores.)
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 0.5 cup tamarind extract (Alternatively, make it by soaking 1/4 cup tamarind in water and squeezing out the pulp, or use store-bought concentrate sparingly.)
• 1 cup chilled water (Mixed with 1/2 cup pani concentrate.)
• pani puri shells (Use puris made with all-purpose flour rather than semolina, according to the accompanying transcript.)
• finely chopped red onion (Optional, for extra crunch.)

Steps

1. 1

   Soak the yellow peas overnight. Drain them the next day.

2. 2

   Place the drained peas, potato, salt, and turmeric in a pressure cooker. Pressure-cook for 2 whistles, then simmer for 5 minutes. The peas should be soft but not mushy.

3. 3

   Heat the oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds and finely chopped garlic, and sauté briefly.

4. 4

   Add the chopped onion, tomato, cumin powder, and red chilli powder. Cook until the vegetables soften into a gravy.

5. 5

   Add the cooked onion-tomato mixture to the peas and potato. Gently mash them together.

6. 6

   Add 1/2 cup of the prepared green spicy water to the filling. Garnish with fresh cilantro, adjust the salt, and add water if needed. Keep the consistency balanced—not too thick or watery.

7. 7

   For the pani concentrate, blend the cilantro, mint leaves, Thai green chillies, and 3/4 cup water. Pour the blended mixture into a bowl.

8. 8

   Add the tamarind extract. It may be made by soaking 1/4 cup tamarind in water and squeezing out the pulp, or replaced with store-bought concentrate used sparingly.

9. 9

   Add salt, black salt, black pepper powder, and jaljeera powder. Mix well. This is the pani concentrate; it can be frozen and used as needed.

10. 10

    To prepare the serving pani, place 1/2 cup of the concentrate in another bowl and add 1 cup chilled water. Adjust the salt and spice to taste. The finished pani should be spicy, tangy, and balanced.

11. 11

    To assemble, fill a puri shell with the warm yellow-pea filling. Dunk it in the chilled pani and eat it in one bite. Add finely chopped onion for extra crunch if desired.

Notes

The transcript recommends yellow peas rather than chickpeas and puris made with all-purpose flour rather than semolina. The source does not specify the number of puris or exact pressure-cooker timing beyond two whistles and a 5-minute simmer.

Nutrition per serving

• main
• snack
• street food
• vegetarian
• South Asian
• Indian
• spicy
• no-cook assembly