PACHRANGA PANIPURI / GOLGAPPE - with FIVE different waters for filling

Ambala Cantt is my birth place, and is situated in Haryana. It’s the place where we went twice a year, for many years, to spend our summer and diwali vacations. This was where my mom and dad had spend their childhood. My naniji (mom’s mom) had some health problems and we would spend all our holidays at their place so that my mom could take care of my nana nani at least during the holidays.

Ambala is known for its Air and Army Cantonments and also for its surgical and medical instruments. But it is also a heaven for food lovers.

In the mornings, you can get breakfast of puri, aloo, aloo chana and kaddu ki sabji. This would be our breakfast many mornings. You can’t even imagine how delicious this is, if you have not eaten it in Ambala.

In the afternoons, various feriwalas go from huse to house, selling their tasty foods. It could be a kulfi wala, chaat wala, tikki wala, mungfuli wala or churan wala.

In the evening, the streets bustle with activity. The chaats wala have hordes of people waing in line for their turn. There is a tikki wala, who sells the most delicious tikki chaat. The tikki is cooked for a long time, on a big tava till it becomes very crispy on the outside. Its then sliced open, and served with green chutmey, imli chuney and dahi. Its very difficult to re-create such delicacies at home, even though I make a mean aloo tikki chaat.

Then there is a pachranga golgappe wala, who makes5 different types of water. So you get a diffenet water in each of your golgappas. It been 7 years since I have been to Ambala, and really miss the golgappas a lot. So I decided to re-create the pachrange experience at home. My mom makes 3 types of pani with panipuri. I made 5 types.

I make the pani with less tamarind and more lemon jucie bcos tamarind water sometimes hurts the teeth. You can use tamarind for ur water if you choose.

 

 

Pudina wala pani (this is what i make regularly for panipuris)


For 480 ml water – 2 cups.

2 tblsp fresh mint/pudina
1 tblsp coriender / dhania leaves
2-3 green chilies
A small piece of ginger
2 tsp pani puri masala (I use everest)
2 tblsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
Grind all the above to a paste using a little water. Mix it with 2 cups of water and keep it in the fridge for about 5-6 hours to develop the flavors. Strain the water and throw away the pulp.
Serve cold.


Hing wala pani

For 480 ml water- 2 cups

Water 2 cups
Hing/ asafetida 1/4th tsp
Kala namak/black salt 1 tsp
Tamarind paste 1 tsp
Lemon juice 1 tblsp or to taste
Coriander/dhania powder 1 tsp
Red chili powder 1 tsp or more to taste
Sugar ½ tsp (optional)
Chaat masala or pani puri masala 1-2 tsp


Khatta pani

Water 2 cups
Everest pani puri masala 1 tblsp
Red chili powder or green chili paste to taste
Tamarind paste 1 tsp
Lemon juice 1 tblsp
A little salt or kala namak to taste
Mix all the above an keep in the fridge for 5-6 hours. Serve cold

Meetha/Sweet pani

For 480 ml water 2 cups

Water 2 cups
Meethi chutney 2-3 tblsp as per taste (I use Deep tamarind and date chutney)
Green chili paste or red chili powder 1 tblsp
Lemon juice 1 tblsp
Salt to taste
Mix all the above an keep in the fridge for 5-6 hours. Serve cold


Jeera pani

For 480 ml water 2 cups

Water 2 cups
Roasted jeera powder 1 tblsp
Tamarind paste 1 tsp
Lemon juice 1-2 tblsp
Red chili powder/green chili paste 1 tsp
Black salt/kala namak 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar 1 tsp (optional)

Mix all the above an keep in the fridge for 5-6 hours. Serve cold


Other ingredients

Panipuris/golgappas 40 nos

Boiled potatoes 5
red chili powder 1/2 tsp
roasted cumin seed powder 1/2 tsp
salt to taste

Mash the boiled potatoes nicely. Add cumin seed powder, chili powder and salt. Mix well

To serve

Make a hole in the golgappa, add some boiled potatoes and then fill with the water of your choice. you can also put a little meetha pani and then top with another pani to create a new combination.

dahi sev batata puri

Dahi Sev Batata Puri
Sunday evenings, as the weekend ends and a new week is about to start, we crave for something spicy and chatpata. So generally I make chats for dinner. Last weekend was dhai sev batata puri. The recipe is for 2 people.

 

 

 

For this you need:

Puris used for panipuri 20
Boiled potatoes 2
Roasted jeera powder
Green chutney
Tamarind chutney
Curds 1 cup
Chopped onions
Chopped cilantro
Thin sev

For green chutney
1 bunch coriander/cilantro leaves
¼ bunch mint leaves
4-5 green chilies or as per taste
1 clove garlic
1 spoon lemon juice
Salt
1 tblsp peanuts

Grind the above in a mixer with a little water. The chutney should be a little thin in consistency.

Tamarind chutney
I use the ready made tamarind and date chutney – Deep brand. It tastes wonderful and is available whenever we need it to serve with snacks. You can make the chutney at home:

½ cup tamarind
3/4 cup jaggery (gur)
10 dates
2 tsp Chili powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp roasted cumin powder

Clean and remove the seeds from the tamarind and wash it. Soak the tamarind, dates and jaggery (gur) in warm water for one hour. Then run it through a mixer. Sieve the pulp and add some water to get the desired consistency. Cook this on a low flame for about 15 mins. Add the salt, chili and cumin powder. You can store this in the fridge for upto 2 months.

Method

Boil the potatoes and mash them nicely once they are cool. Add salt, chili powder and roasted jeera powder.
Beat the curds and add a little salt and sugar to it. You can add a little milk to make it thin.

When ready to eat, make a hole in the puri. Add potatoes, chopped onion, green chutney, tamarind chutney, curds, green coriander, and sev. Serve it immediately.