Pani Puri
June 1st, 2008 filed under Appetizers, ChaatPani puris are a great snack, served as chat and found on roadside food carts all over India. They are served filled with spicy water, chickpeas and potatoes.
Makes about 60 puris.
Ingredients:
- Pani (Spicy Water):
- 1 cup mint leaves (Pudina)
- 2 to 4 green chilies (adjust to taste)
- 3 tablespoons tamarind paste (Imli)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon black salt
- 1 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/8 teaspoon asafetida (Hing)
- 1 tablespoon roasted cumin seed powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups water (adjust to taste)
- Puris:
- 1/4 cup All Purpose flour (Maida or Plain Flour)
- 3/4 cup fine Sooji (Semolina Flour)
- 1/2 cup water (as needed)
Method
Pani (Spicy Water):
Blend everything except the water together to make a fine paste. While blending, add water as needed to blend. Taste to adjust the green chilies as they can be mild or hot. Add more lemon juice, sugar, and salt as needed to your desired taste. Remember you will be adding more water to dilute so paste should be spicier. Strain the paste using water as needed. After straining mix the paste with remaining water or adjusting to the taste. The pani (water) will taste best if refrigerated for a day.
Puris:
Mix the flour and sooji. Add water as needed to make firm dough. Knead the dough until it is pliable. Cover the dough with a damp cloth for about ten minutes.
Damp two kitchen towels, spread one damp towel over a cookie sheet or plain surface, close to where you are going to fry the puris.
Divide the dough into about 60 small balls. Keep them under a damp cloth. Start rolling each ball to about a 2-inch diameter circle. Place over a damp towel and cover with another damp towel. Do this for all 60 puris. TIP: Placing the puris between damp cloths helps the puris to puff evenly on all sides.
Heat the oil on medium high heat. Oil should be about 1 1/2 inch high in frying pan. To test the oil, put a little piece of dough in the oil. The oil is ready if the dough comes up right away and does not change color. Start frying the puris, starting first with the puri you first rolled. Put one puri in the oil and press lightly. When it puffs turn over and put another puri in the oil. Keep adding six to eight puris at a time. Fry the puris until they are golden-brown all around by turning a few times. Take the puris out and place over paper towel, so the excess oil is absorbed. TIP: When taking the puris out of the frying pan, make sure to tilt the skimmer so that the excess oil is drained before placing on the paper towel. Fry all the puris. They should be crisp and puff like a ball.
How to Serve:
Pani puris are served by making a small hole in each puri. Fill the puris with boiled and chopped potatoes, or boiled chickpeas. Finish by filling each puri with the spicy pani (water). Enjoy!
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August 19th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Hello Dharini,
use the tortilla maker to roll but do keep between damp cloth.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
hi,aunty i tried panipuri recipe,its all puffed,thanks to teach me panipuri,my family loves it.i used for rolling rolling pin but i have the question for rolling,can we use tortilla maker or chapati maker for rolling instead of rolling pin.so we can roll easily and fast?
August 16th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Hello Heena,
I don’t understand why puries were so hard first thing comes to mind did you use rice flour by mistake instead of sooji.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:04 am
i tried first time they were gud but 2nd time puffed all but they are too hard and not that crispy i mean ther are like stale bread what shud be the reason..?
August 14th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Dear Auntie,
I tried pani puris today and they really turned out great.I used to make them with a different recipe but yours is better than mine.Also I rolled them like you did in the video instead of rolling a big roti and cutting out circles (thats what I used to do),but what you did is far better than what I used to do.
Thanks again.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Hi Manjulaji.
thanx for answerng my query.
yesterday i again made pani puri using ur recipe n puris turned out
just great ! 60% puffed up. rest i used as papdi chaat
last time the heat was may be toohigh n my dough was very soft. this time i made my dough a bit stiff n fried my puris at medium heat. Thanx again……….
August 10th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Hello Nafisa, Jaya has good answers, try one more time, test oil putting one puri oil should sizzel and press the puri lightly witch should help puffing, let us know what happend next
Manjula
August 10th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Hi Nafisa,
My first thought is that either the oil was too hot. Despite reducing the heat, it may not have cooled down enough before continuing your cooking. Another thought is the puri dough was too dry. There needs to be enough moisture in the dough to create steam to puff the puris.
Aunty may have other suggestions, but these were the ones that came to my mind. Hope it goes better for you next time.
August 9th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Hi Manjula Aunty,
I ‘ve tried your pani puri receipt. The pani turned out just fine, but i dont know what went wrong with the dough? Somehow the puris wont puff, they go golden brown instead, and remain flat. They also become very crispy.
I’ve tried using thinner,thicker,smaller,and larger puris. I even tried reducing the heat of the frying pan. But nothing works..
Please help me :((
August 4th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Hello Deepi,
May be you did not fry them long enough, or heat was too high, or you coverd them while they were still not to the room temprature.
August 4th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Hi Manjula ji..
i tried making pani puris
but my puris were not crispy like pani puris. Instead they were soft like
normal puris. Is it bcoz my dough was not firm enough?
August 1st, 2008 at 6:21 am
Hi Meettu,
Lucky for you Manjula already has both the recipe and video for tamarind chutney.
Look at the categories list to the left above and click on the Chutneys/Pickles. You will find the recipe and video for tamarind chutney there.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:21 am
Hi Aunty,
Your recipe was wonderful!!!!!.I tried making pani puri, the puri was fine.My family prefer sweet pani .I tried to make tamarind chutney,but it turned out to be sooooooo sour.Can you please suggest a recipe to make just tamarind chutney.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Hi Aunty,
Thank you so much for your recipie. I made pani puri, badam burfi and samosas on my Husbands birthday. Out of 50 puris I was able to get 40 properly and the pani also was really good. I could make his day a little specials as this time I tried out all the puddings myself instead of going to a restaurent. Thank you so much once again.
July 27th, 2008 at 7:39 am
thanx aunty very much the gol gappe were really fentastic we like it and they are really really very tasty….i used hot water to kead them the result was very gud.thanx
July 25th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Yes I’m getting the pressing in the oil better now. This time I got about 37 out of 60 to puff up really nice. Thanks for everybody’s help. Now I just hope my family likes them!
July 24th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Hi Tam, a tortilla press or “puri belan” in Hindi is great IF it is well made.
I had the misfortune of purchasing one that pressed the puris unevenly - too thick on one side and too thin on the other so I couldn’t use it. If it presses the puri evenly, then the press is good and you can have a second person help - even if they’re not a cook. They can press the puris while you fry them.
Just make sure your dough is rolled into a round ball, place it in the middle of the press, and apply pressure. They should come out perfectly round. You may need to keep a thin layer of oil on the press if the dough sticks. The puris should still puff up fine.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Hi,
I have a query :-
if we use a chappati presser or tortilla presser instead of rolling each one of them.Will that work well in terms of puffing up & shape of the puri??
Thanks in advance .
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:41 am
Dear Manjula Auntie,
I really enjoyed making Pani Puri (Gol Guppa)
My family really enjoyed them, but there was one problem when I opened the Puri it suddenly all cracked I am not sure why what did I do wrong Auntie please advise me.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Hello Rothrock, you are doing better, next time try one more thing as you put puri in the oil press the whole puri with the skimmer or spetulla and turn over.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Only in a perfect world does every puri puff up! But it sounds like you did well. Thanks for the temperature measurement. That’s something I’ve thought of doing but never got around to purchasing the themometer. You just reminded me!
Some of the half puffs can be because of small cracks in the puri. Once the air escapes, no more puffing. That’s a more likely explanation than how you rolled them.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Okay, second try and it came out better. Out of the recipe I got 32 good ones that seem crisp and puffed all the way up. I haven’t tried them, but the non-puffs are much crisper than the last batch. For those who don’t have the touch yet, I had a thermometer in the oil and if I kept it around 350-370 F (175 - 190 C) that seemed to work well.
This time I had far fewer no-puffs. But many of them kind of half-puffed. Could that be that they weren’t rolled out evenly enough?
At this rate I might be good at this in a year or two! Thanks for all the help.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:34 am
Hi Rothrock,
Good for you for trying! Frying things like puris improves with experience. You start to better understand how to tweak the stove temperature up or down depending on if the puris are frying (ie browning) too fast or too slow.
I always factor in some “test” puris - the ones that usually are cooked in the beginning before you know if the oil is too hot or too cold. Those usually get put aside and not served. Then there are puris that turn out perfect and you have no idea why they did and the others didn’t. Who knows? But it’s fun to keep trying.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:49 am
I wanted to serve paani puris to my family at our big family gathering. The grocery stores (4 of them!) didn’t have any prepared puris. I found your video and it helped me to try them.
About half of them didn’t puff and about half the ones that did puff weren’t crispy enough. After reading the responses here I think I might have had the oil to hot and not fried them quite long enough.
Over all you gave me the confidence to try and I think it wasn’t a bad outcome for my first time. Not bad for a gora’s first try. I will try it again — I still have 5 days until our family dinner. Thanks you very much.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Hello Smitha, water you will use to make dough heat the water and soak the sooji so sooji become moist.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Hello Aunty
I reallly love ur recepies just had a look today and cldnt resist posting here , i have a question regarding Panipuri , i have coarse Suji can i grind it and make it fine powder and use it for Puris , pls clarify me as i m in hurry to mae it.
July 10th, 2008 at 7:24 am
hello anuty
thanx al ot for share ur awesome recipes.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Hello Ma’m , I treated all my friends to panipuri today , it was yummy. I like all your tips which are very helpful during cooking.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I made pani puri today…it came out really good. Thanks to u!! Panipuri is my favorite food on earth.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe…and the video really helped to follow the recipe properly.
I tried making pani puri once…but didn’t come out that crisp..I will try it again now…hope it will be better this time.
July 1st, 2008 at 6:07 am
Hello Sujatha, may be you did not fry them long enough, or heat was too high, or you coverd them while they were still not to the room temprature.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:13 am
manujala gi golgappas were good
i tried immediately after seeeing your video
but i dont know where i went wrong
its pluffy but
its very soft not crispy,,
can you suggest me wehre i went wrong
June 29th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Hi
I made raj kachori by adding 1 more tablespoon of maida to the existing measurement as mentioned by aunty & 1 teaspoon red chilli pwdr in the dough.The raj kachori shells came out awesome !!!Stuffing is of your choice n taste.Try it.
Happy cooking
June 27th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Hi Tam,
Just wanted to share my that if pooris are not khasta you can pop them in the oven for a while and it really helps.
Thanks a lot for your comment I really appreciate it.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Hi jaya,
I got a round shape on rolling out the pooris & nt map of india thankfully..I wish i could post a snap here .Anyways,good luck guys.will update ya soon on naan bread.
All the best.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Hi Tam,
Making puris the “old-fashioned” way of rolling them individually is still the best. Using cut-outs is a second option if rolling the puris into rounds is not going well.
I’m sure we’ve all made rotis/puris that look like the map of India!
Happy Cooking
June 26th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hi Jaya & Shehla,
I have already tried doing the way as suggested using a bottle’s round cap & cutter.They came out well & puffed too BUT they didnt remain crispy/khasta after a while.Whereas the rolled ones remained crispy the next day as well.
Also,it doesnt help much in saving time bcos we roll out bigger portion of dough ,cut it into puris & redo the process with remaining dough.
Just wanted to share my experiance .Hope its of some help !!
Happy Cooking !!
June 26th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Thanks a lot Jaya,I really appreciate your advice.
Thanks again.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Hi Shela, I have done it this way before, I just use a kathori or large drinking glass. The shape is perfect and they should fry as normal and puff, but with practice it’s actually quicker to pinch off pieces of dough and quickly roll them out individually.
Good Luck
June 25th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Dear Aunty,
I have a question regarding the pooris,can we roll a big roti and then cut small puris with a circular mould?
Will there be a difference in the texture and puffiness on frying?I think it will be quicker.
Thanks a million.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Dear Aunt,
You are such a blessing for my cooking!!! My husband loves all the food I cook and if it taste good is because of your wonderful recipes and your videos.
You are truly an amazing lady and cook. Thank you for sharing all your tips and recipes.
June 24th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Hi Manjula ji,
Thanks aloot for your guidance. I had no idea that the dough effects puris smooth texture. It was sooo sweet of you to let me know of my mistake.
Tried again n it was perfect this time.
You make things so simple for us that otherwise won’t be that easy.
Many thanks n best wishes for u n this gr8 website!!
Love,
Anna
June 21st, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Dear Manjula Aunty,
Why do you make your puri with maida and sooji instead of whole wheat flour?
I am asking because maida and sooji for puri is not familiar to me. I usually use whole wheat “atta” for all my roti without even thinking about it.
Thank you for your advice.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Hi Ashuu, make sure puries are fried to light brown color. Keep puries out till they come to room temrature before putting in container. There is no other reason for puries to ger soft.
June 19th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Helo aunty ji.
I have made pani puris a couple of times before, and all puris came out fluffy &crispy at first but they got really soft the next day and dont stay fresh.. i was so annoyed that i didnt bother making again. But im tempted to try it out again.. could you please tell me y my puris dont stay fresh.
Kind Regards & many thanx once again.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Hello Bhavika, pani puri can be stored for a month or more. I like to keep them in brown bags puri stays really good and fresh.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:47 am
hello aunty,
can we store the puris so that when we have guests the puris are ready before hand.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Hi Manjula,
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe for Pani Puri. My friends and I really enjoyed it. I appreciate the fact that you provide us with your techniques in cooking various Indian dishes. Once again, thank you!
June 16th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hi Anna,
How was the dough if it was soft there is chance that puris will have blistered.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Hello Manjula ji!
Love your cooking. Thanks alot for this long awaited recipe.
Tried it n it came out really really good except for one mistake that i made somewhere.
The outer skin wasn’t as smooth as was yours. It was rather blistered. Can you plz guide me how to make their surface smooth.
All the best for this wonderful website.
Regards, Anna
June 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Namaste Manjulaji..
God Bless You Very Very Much!!
Thanks very Much for this Great Recipe explained in such a Easy Way, After seeing this video we immediately tried as we were missing Golgappa here in US very much.
I want to tell you that we were able to make this successfully without any problems
In India we use to eat Golgappa atleast once every week and now we will be able to prepare here also
Thanks again for this great recipe
With Lot of Regards,
Manish & Varsha
June 14th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Dear Manjula ji
i m really thankful to u for all the recipes u have shared with us. I am fond of cooking and love to cook new dishes. I was trying to find out the recipe of pani puri and cottage cheese and this is only u who has helped me out. I tried yr rasgullas, pani puri and many other recipes and they all turned out gr8. My 5 years old son “Raahim” loves u and always sits beside me watching u when I visit yr website.(Actually the reason why he loves u is that u look very much like my mother.)
i will b looking forward for yr new recipes. Thank u once again and God bless u.
Erum Asim (Saudi Arabia)
June 12th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Thanks Manjula ji after seeing this receipe i tried it came really good.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
You needed to fry puris for little longer
June 10th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Normal temp water will work.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
thankyou for this recipe they turned out awesome…..
June 10th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Namaste Manjula Aunty, tried your recipe and golgappas(puris) turned awesome. You are great. Keep posting your recipes, you are a good teacher.God bless you.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Hi,
Water to knead the dough should be lukewarm or normal temp??
& How can we store the remaining puris for later use???
Kindly reply as i want to prepare them asap.
thank u .
June 10th, 2008 at 7:04 am
excellent! Puries were perfect! I could not believe how beautifully tey puffd up…thank you..
June 10th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Hello Manjulaji
Morning after watching your recipe i immediately rushed into my kitchen to make Pani Puris. They came out excellently. Earlier i tried making them but never i was successful. Thank you for showing this recipe. But i have a question. My puris did not turn red. Now by evening they are some what raw. Please tell me where i went wrong. Please answer this question . Thank You.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Auntyji,
This looks YUM!!
I will definitely try this soon..
Thank you for all your effort.
I also want to learn to make Malpuas & Rabdi..
Please teach us..