The pani is often made with secret spices that the neighbourhood bhaiya will never ever tell you about, but Chef Faizan Ali of Khyber The Palm has been generous enough to share his finger-licking, easy-to-make at-home Pani Puri recipe with us.

While his recipe makes liberal use of use of ingredients, we find his method easy to follow. Moreover, most of the items mentioned in his recipe are easily available at most grocery stores in Dubai. So, let’s put the iron kadai on the stove and attempt to replicate Chef Faizan’s Pani Puri, who knows, our preparation could perhaps outdo the neighbourhood bhaiya’s ‘secret recipe’.

Ingredients:

For the dough

¾ cup coarse wheat flour or all-purpose flour

¼ cup rava (semolina)

1/3 cup water or as required.

Oil for frying

For the pani

1 cup coriander leaves

¼ cup mint leaves

2 green chillies

1-inch ginger

Salt to taste

½ tsp lemon juice

Some ice cubes

Dry spices

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

5 dry Kashmiri red chillies

For the tamarind pulp

¼ cup tamarind 

¼ cup jaggery

1.5 cup water

Additional spices for the pani 

2.5 cups of water

2 tbsp ground masala

1 tsp chaat masala

1 tsp black salt

½ tsp dry mango powder

½ lemon juice

¼ cup chopped onion (optional)

Salt to taste

Stuffing for puri

2 cups boiled potatoes 

¼ cup boiled black chana

1 medium size onion, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped

¼ cup coriander leaves

1 tsp black salt

1 tsp chaat masala

1 tbsp dry masala

3 tbsp pani puri water

2-3 crushed puri

Salt to taste

Method:

Pani puri water

Put coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chillies, ginger, salt, lemon juice, and ice cubes in a mixture jar. Grind it into a thick paste.

Now in a pan, add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and dry Kashmiri red chillies. Roast it on a low flame until the mixture is slightly golden brown. Cool the mixture and grind it into a coarse powder. Keep it aside.

Then in a pan, add tamarind, jaggery, and water. Mix well and boil the mixture on medium-low flame until tamarind becomes soft.

Cool down the mixture and use a sieve to separate the coarse ingredients.

Then in a mixing bowl, add 2.5 cups water, ground masala, green paste, chaat masala, black salt, dry mango powder, salt, and lemon juice. Mix well.

Stuff the puris and serve with the pani and masala.

Making the puri

In a mixing bowl, add wheat flour and rava, and mix well. Add salt, and water gradually while you knead the mixture into a tight and stiff dough.

Cover the dough with a moist cloth and keep aside for at least 1-2 hrs.

Now take a small, ball-size dough, then grease a rolling board with oil and thinly roll the dough to make the small puris.

Put oil on medium heat. Now fry the rolled puris in batches and sprinkle some hot oil on it while immersing it in the hot oil. The puris will puff up immediately due to the moisture content. Fry all puris into the same way.

Potato masala stuffing

In a mixing bowl, mash boiled potatoes with your hands. Add boiled chana, chopped onion, chopped green chillies, coriander leaves, black salt, salt, chaat masala, prepared dry masala, pani puri water, and some crushed puri. Mix well.

The potato masala is ready to be stuffed into the puris.

Assembling the Pani Puri

Take a puri and gently make a hole into the centre, fill it with potato masala and pani, and serve with a chutney of your choice. 

(Recipe courtesy: Khyber The Palm, Dubai)