As promised in my first write-up, here’s something for the herbivores.
Every body has a specific food which brings a flood of memories, transporting them to a parallel universe. For me, that food is ‘Pani puri.’ Known by various monikers (‘Gol-gappa‘ ‘Gupchup‘ ‘Phuchhka‘ ‘Paani ke patashe‘), it consists of: a shell of flour; deep fried to a crisp, and stuffed with assorted ingredients and dipped in flavoured, tangy water, just before consumption.
Pani-puri is one of the few foodstuffs which bring an instant flood in my mouth, leaving me salivating (even as I write this!)
My earliest memories of Pani-puri are “No Pani puri!.” Yup, you heard that right. My Dad was extremely paranoid about water-borne diseases (probably why I had a jaundice-free childhood), so I had only my mom’s home made pani-puris , till I was 12!!
By then I was in Mumbai, and I started to enjoy an occasional chaat-outing with my friends. The panipuri in Mumbai has a dal-like yellow pea filling,which is warm when served. Topped with sweet chutney and dipped into the tamarind water, that was the only kind of pani-puri I knew. Not for long.
On a vacation to Kolkata, my mom finally relented and let me have street food. So, me and my brother sampled the local ‘phuchkaas‘, as they are called. Sweet chutney is unheard of in Kolkata (much to the chagrin of my brother!). The shells (puris) are crispier and the stuffing is an assortment of mashed potatoes, garnished with spices and chopped raw onions. Some say – once you have sampled this, you won’t like any other form of pani-puri!
With due respect, I disagree. I next moved to Delhi. The golgappe there, were a revelation! They had two types of shells; a flour based, commonly used one, and a thicker, sooji based ‘puri‘.
Combined with sugary tamarind chutney and pudina water, it’s absolutely divine! Though I had some of the most expensive panipuri here, it was worth every penny. Infact, I always had two plates( a total of 12) of panipuris. The shop owner, in my honour, entered a new automated register code, that dispatched the bill of two plates together!
Other than that, I have had panipuris in Rajasthan (similar to Mumbai), Jharkhand (they tried to emulate the Bengali phuchhka, but it was an absolute farce!) and Gujarat (similar to Delhi). Occasional variations included change in stuffing ( sprouts,kala channa, corn, even pomegranate! ) and the water (it had a hing garnish once), but the basics remain.
One thing remains constant though, all over India is that you always, ALWAYS demand an extra dry-stuffed puri, to cleanse your palate!
Postscript :
My travels have always involved sampling local cuisine. And if you live in a place long enough, you become well-acquainted with the food.It is with this authority, that I write about it.