Pani Puri gets a foodie twist
You have saffron-apple rabdis, chocolate samosas and strawberry halwas seducing your taste buds, and now, the simple pani puri — a streetside snack — has also undergone a food revolution with exciting fillings from health juices to Chinese, Thai and Mexican spices and more. It’s also increasingly showing up on fine dining menus and at spiffy cocktail parties, breaking into the league of fine foods from its humble avatar.
How it has changed
Most of us have had the original pani puri — a fried puri with either moong or ragda (thick broth of peas and potatoes that bubbles away on a stove) with cold spicy pani, made fragrant with black salt and pudina. But there are plenty of variations to this. Perhaps the one person who brought about an innovation years ago is chef Sanjeev Kapoor who made a black grape juice pani puri out of a whim not realising then how much the trend would catch on. “I remember I had got back from New Zealand and was musing over the idea one night. Then I got up and went into the kitchen and took black grape juice which I had brought down from abroad and filled puris with it — it was a little tart but delicious,” he laughs, adding, “Since then I have tried more options, like a gol gappa filled with prawn balchao and served with sol kadi and at a party a chocolate-boondi-caviar mix in the puri, served with espresso shots was another hit. I think the idea is, innovate, yet bring in some similarities to keep it to Indian sensibilities.”
Food consultant Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal has also tried several innovations with the pani puri. “One of the best ones was the puri filled with couscous and served with seven different types of pani. I had never thought about something like that; it was fabulous! That’s when I realised the potential of what you can do with it. See, the puri is essentially a container, so you add what you like in it. The shell is crunchy so it adds textural dimensions to what you do.”
Adds food writer Roxanne Bamboat, “The pani puri has definitely got jazzed up. Today, chefs are really pushing the envelope and that’s nice. I have had vodka pani puri — it makes you feel like you are having a little shot; of course, it can be lethal after a few puris. I’d like to try maybe a chocolate pani puri too. I think it all comes down to taste, so no matter what the concoction, if you like it, go for it again.”
Party menu ideas
The next time you’re conjuring up a menu for guests, try Mediterranean — roasted peppers and the cold Greek tzatziki, or try Thai with som tam salad in it. “You can also have an Italian version with sundried tomatoes, lettuce and olives or simply go with pesto and potatoes,” adds Ghildiyal.
For an after-dinner dessert, we recommend a dark chocolate mousse pani puri.
For that familiar fix, have steaming hot masala tea or cold sweet lime juice with it to blend the new with the traditional!
Says nutritionist Suman Agarwal, “Pani puri can be ‘unjunked’ by adding moong sprouts or ragda instead of boil potatoes and boondi. One can replace their lunch or dinner by having 8-10 pani puris with a glass of buttermilk or a bowl of yogurt to make it a balanced meal”.
Ways to make it healthy
1. Moong and bean sprouts add a nutritious crunch
2. Try sauteed vegetables and tofu.
3. Throw in smoked chicken for some protein
4. Use a prune chutney in it
5. You can also fill the puri with wheat grass juice and grated beetroots
Author: Ismat Tahseen
Image courtesy:©Thinkstock photos/ Getty images
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