Pani puri is a popular Indian street food of crispy, fried, hollow dough balls that are stuffed with boiled potatoes, steamed moong sprouts, spicy tangy water and sweet chutney.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 potatoes (- medium-sized)
  • 1 onion (- small to medium-sized, optional)
  • 1 to 1.5 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))
  • 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (- optional)
  • black salt (or regular salt or pink salt, as required)
  • ½ cup chopped mint leaves (- tightly packed,)
  • 1 cup chopped coriander leaves (- tightly packed (cilantro))
  • 1 inch ginger (- chopped)
  • 2 to 3 green chilies (- chopped (for a less spicy pani, add about 1 green chili))
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind (- tightly packed)
  • 3.5 to 4 tablespoons jaggery powder (or grated/chopped jaggery or sugar, add as required - check point 6 in notes)
  • 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder
  • ⅓ cup water (for blending)
  • 1 to 1.25 cups water (to be added later, add water as per the consistency you want)
  • 1 to 1.5 tablespoons boondi ((fried tiny gram flour balls), optional)
  • black salt (or regular salt, add as required)
  • 24 to 30 puris (you could buy these puris readymade or make them at home)
  • 1 small bowl Tamarind Chutney (or tamarind dates chutney - optional)

Method

Making pani puri stuffing

  1. Boil the potatoes till they are cooked completely.
  2. Peel them and then chop them.
  3. Finely chop the onion if using it.
  4. In a small bowl, mix the potatoes, onions, coriander leaves, cumin powder, chaat masala powder and black salt or regular salt. Mix well and keep aside.

Making pani (spiced water)

  1. In a blender add all the ingredients mentioned above for the pani.
  2. Add water and grind to a fine chutney.
  3. Remove the green chutney in a large bowl. Rinse the mixer jar with ½ cup water first and then add this water in the bowl. Then add ½ to ¾ cup more water.
  4. Mix well. Check the seasoning. Add more salt or jeera powder or chaat masala or jaggery if required. If you want a thin pani, you could add some water. But keep on checking the seasoning, as per your taste.
  5. Add the boondi to the pani.
  6. You can chill the pani in the fridge or add some ice cubes to it.

Assembling pani puri

  1. Crack the top of the puri with a spoon.
  2. Add 2 to 3 teaspoons of the boiled potato-onion filling in the poori.
  3. Stir the green pani first and then add it in the poori. Optionally you can add some sweet chutney in the puri.
  4. Serve the pani puri immediately otherwise the prepared puri with stuffing and water will become soggy.
  5. You can also make individual portions with the puris, potato-onion mixture and the pani. Let the individual assemble the pani puri for himself/herself as per his/her taste.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.