Tuesday 3 April 2012

Pani Poori/Gol Gappa (Crispy Semolina pancakes with Mint Sauce and Tamarind Chutney) & some Spring Colours


Finally everything is falling in place. Until last week everything was in a jumble with my son’s birthday party arrangements. It was chaotic and involved lot of organizing. When it comes to organizing, I believe I am not a great person so I had to do things much early ahead and leave plenty of space ahead if in case something comes up. In spite of me being really stressed out, everything went really smooth and in time. Thanks to dear hubby and our loving friends who were there to help out. Now for a while no parties or gatherings and I am enjoying the beautiful weather with lot of sunshine. 




It’s officially spring and it’s quite warm that we could finally go out without our jackets and jumpers. Everything around is so bright, so beautiful. Flowers started blooming and trees sprouting. Even though winter wasn’t as bitter as yesteryears, it was pretty long and I always look forward to spring even with the onset of winter. I went out and shot some random pictures and some beautiful flowers in the park this morning. I very much enjoyed strolling in the park all by myself with the gentle breeze to caress and sunshine to warm up. After quite a while, I also saw many elderly people dog-walking. It is going to be summer again. While shooting pictures I also spotted something that looks like crow or is it a crow? It was perched high up in the tree and wasn’t that clear. The thought of English crows being black made me laugh, for no reason at all! 




Today, I am sharing something that’s apt for a good summer treat – Pani Puri/ Paani Poori/Golgappas. I made these quite a few times now following different recipes. The best of the lot was the recipe of Manjula Jain and I blindly follow her recipes. It works very well and the outcome is just fab. Pani puri or Golgappa is a famous Indian street food and are served as chats or snacks on roadside carts and are delightful treats especially on hot summer noon. These are crisp semolina fried puris filled with sev, potatoes, chutney and mint water that is super tangy. I have never been a great fan of Golgappas until I made my version at home. The ones I had from restaurants were too tangy for my taste and I never enjoyed it. So, you might want to increase the lime in your ‘pani’ to keep it sharp, just the way you would have it from street-side pani poori vendor.




Paani Puri (Golgappas)
Makes about 50-55 puris

For puris:
Ingredients:
¾ cup sooji/semolina
¼ cup plain flour,
1/3 cup water
salt to taste
Vegetable oil – to deep fry

Paani (for paani puri)
Ingredients:
¼ cup seedless tamarind soaked in ½ cup boiling water for an hour
1 heaped cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3 cups of water
1 ½ teaspoon roasted and ground cumin seeds
¼ tsp ginger powder
¾ tsp salt
1-4 green chillies
1 tbsp sugar
1-3 tablespoon limejuice (Add depending on your taste)
1 tablespoon coriander leaves
salt to taste

Imly ka chutney (Tamarind Chutney)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup tamarind soaked in 2 cups water for an hour
1 tsp roated and ground cumin powder
¾ tsp chilli powder
¼ teaspoon ginger powder
½ -  2/3 cup brown sugar
a pinch garam masala

Other ingredients:
2 large Potatoes boiled with a touch of turmeric and salt-  either mashed or chopped into tiny cubes
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup boiled chickpeas
Fine sev

Preparations:
To make Pooris:
1. Mix all the ingredients and knead to a stiff dough using water. Leave it aside covered with a damp cloth for about ½ an hour (Don’t miss this step). Knead again and divide the dough into 50 portions.

2. Roll each portion into thin flat round disks of about 3 cm and place them on a floured surface.

3. Heat oil in a deep pan. When it is medium hot, slide few pooris at a time into the oil. Gently press the pooris with a serrated ladle to puff them up. Once puffed, flip them over and fry golden. Repeat it with all the pooris and drain them on kitchen towel.

To make Paani (Tangy Mint water):
1. Strain the soaked tamarind and squeeze out as much as pulp as possible. Discard the residue.

2. To a blender add this strained pulp, mint leaves, green chillies, cumin powder, ginger powder and blend till smooth. Strain it.

3. To the strained mix, add sugar, lime juice, and mix rest of water and stir. Chill for few hours prior to using for flavours to blend well.

To make Imly ka chutney (tamarind chutney):
1.Squeeze out tamarind in strainer. Reserve the strained liquid and discard the residue.

2. To the strained liquid, add spices and sugar and boil for ten minutes or until it thickens slightly. Refrigerate till required.

To assemble:


1. Crack a small hole in the centre of each puri.

2. Fill it with little boiled channa, chopped onion, sev, little tamarind chutney and then immerse it into pani and eat immediately. You can also use your own choice of fillings including cooked moong sprouts.

Notes:
Fried puris can be stored in a closed container for about a month. If your puris go soggy, just warm them up for about minutes in a moderate hot oven to crisp them up.

9 comments:

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

your cliks are absolutely mesmerizing..
pani poori looks gorgeous..love it
Tasty Appetite

Finla said...

Looks super yumm, you made those tiny porris too, wow that would have taken a lot of time.

Zayida Muhammed said...

Thanks a lot for this recipe Shabna..:)..been searching for this recipe for a while.

By the way could you please post how to make THURAMAANGA...I'm having a picca for it rt now!:(

Tina said...

Adipoli dear....iyooooo enikkippo ithiu venam...

Zayida Muhammed said...

I've been searching for Pani puri recipe for a while and there you have it in your Blog..Thanks..I'm happy with your version coz i found many impossible to make it at my home with all those other ingredients.

Do you know hoe to make THURAMAANGA??!!!..I've been dying to know the recipe.Its Raw mango halved and dried after some spicy additions and boiling and curd dipping or somethings..:!..They call it Thuramaanga at Thalassery.

Hope you know it..?!

Shabs.. said...

Hi zayida, Thanx for the compliments...I am not sure about thuramaanga dear. Hearing it for the first time too. I am from Kannur and not Telicherry. But I remember seeing my paternal aunt drying green mango while I was a kid. I dont know what she does with that though. Will try to get the recipe and hand over to u, incase i get it.:)

Rafeeda AR said...

beautiful clicks, MashaAllah...

Zayida Muhammed said...

Thankyou Shabna...i hope somehow i can get the recipe.

Unknown said...

Paani puri is my favorite, its like a must have among street food :) Great clicks & your paani puri looks mouth watering!!

happy to be ur follower, inviting you to visit & follow my space
http://shwetainthekitchen.blogspot.com/

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