Panipuri

A hollow semolina puri punctured with a finger, filled, and eaten in one bite.

Vegan.

Ingredients

200 g fine semolina
2 tablespoons maida
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
about 110 ml warm water
oil for deep frying
2 large handfuls of mint leaves
2 large handfuls of coriander leaves
4 green chillies
a 4 cm piece of ginger
2 tablespoons tamarind paste
2 teaspoons chaat masala
2 teaspoons black salt
1 litre cold water, for the pani
300 g potatoes, boiled and diced small
150 g cooked chickpeas
1 onion, chopped fine

Method

THE PURI IS PUNCTURED WITH A FINGER AND FILLED, AND IT IS EATEN IN ONE BITE. Its article makes both of those rules rather than suggestions: EACH PURI IS PUNCTURED WITH A FINGER, THEN FILLED, TAKING MULTIPLE BITES IS SEEN AS IMPROPER. Everything about the size and the strength of the shell follows from that -- it has to survive a thumb, hold water, and fit in a mouth.
SEMOLINA RATHER THAN ATTA, AND THE ARTICLE GIVES THE REASON. The puri IS MOST COMMONLY MADE OF SEMOLINA FLOUR, and while atta is the older of the two, MANY PRODUCERS FAVOUR SEMOLINA FOR ITS LONGER SHELF LIFE. PURIS USING SEMOLINA ARE ALSO THICKER AND DENSER, MAKING THEM CRUNCHIER AND LESS PRONE TO BREAKING FROM THE WATER. A shell that dissolves before it reaches your mouth has failed at the only thing it does.
THE DOUGH IS STIFF AND IS RESTED, AND THE CIRCLES ARE SMALL. Semolina, maida, soda and warm water to a firm dough; twenty minutes under a cloth; then rolled in one sheet as thin as paper and cut into circles about five centimetres across. Its article's own figure is a THIN CIRCLE OF DOUGH which INFLATES DURING FRYING TO FORM A HOLLOW SPHERICAL SHELL THAT HOLDS ITS SHAPE.
FRY THEM HOT AND PRESS THEM UNDER THE OIL. This is the trick nobody writes down: the moment a circle goes in, hold it under with the back of a slotted spoon for two seconds. The trapped steam has nowhere to go and the puri balloons. Then let it float and turn it once. Twenty seconds in all.
ANY THAT DO NOT PUFF ARE A DIFFERENT SNACK, NOT A FAILURE. The article says so itself: A DEFLATED VERSION OF THE PURI IS USED FOR PAPRI CHAAT AND BHEL PURI.
TWO PANIS, GREEN AND RED, AND THEY ARE NOT MIXED. Its article names them: a SPICY GREEN SAUCE containing HERBS LIKE MINT OR CORIANDER, and a RED SAUCE MADE OF TAMARIND. Blend the mint, coriander, chilli and ginger with a little water, then let it down with most of the litre, the black salt and the chaat masala; keep the tamarind paste thinned separately.
CHILL THE GREEN PANI HARD AND LEAVE IT AN HOUR. Cold is half of it. An hour is when the mint stops tasting raw.
THE FILLING IS DRY AND GOES IN FIRST, THEN THE WATER, THEN STRAIGHT INTO YOUR MOUTH. Potato, chickpeas and onion -- the article's list adds peas, bean sprouts, chilli powder and chaat masala. Fill and eat one at a time; a tray of filled puris is a tray of soggy ones within a minute.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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