They make you salivate, they have their way with your taste buds, they have all these funny names depending on where you are, they know their way around your stomach juices, they can make you sweat, they can make you beg, they can make you steal and they can make you lie in bed for days; but they're just awesome. The most awesome-est, favorite-est, mind-numbingly-tastiest street food I've ever known, lives up and more; to all the superlatives that'll make the stingy Grammar Nazis cringe. The gol-guppa, the pani-puri, the puchka, the gup chup, the paani ke bataashe, the palodi! The god of street foods, like it's spiritual counterpart, comes in many names yet essentially that one supreme form. All hail;
From the swanky streets of Khan Market, to the common corridors of Bengali Sweets and Haldirams, these things are everywhere! Spreading their tang, and rejuvenating bored taste-buds; these watery delights made their humble beginnings from the southern region of Bihar, erstwhile Magadh. This simple and cheap snack is essentially a concoction of spicy water, flour, chickpeas, and (as almost every Northern recipe dictates) aloo-pyaaz. Just thinking of them makes my mind and mouth water.
Traditions are a commonplace for almost everything in India, and food; leads the pack. My favorite is the Bengali way to roll, or phooch their phoochkas. Trust 'em Bongs to make something; that tastes good, into awesome.. and then name it by the sound it makes when you eat it. They add it ALL! Mashed potatoes, pepper, black salt, spices, tamarind pulp, and what not. Leave out the onion part, and you have what is a ceremonious king of snacks in Bengal. Not far, in Jamshedpur the folks add a liberal dose of chole to the mix and savor the treat.
Lucknow, and surrounding regions take presentation to the next ladle(!) While the classic ingredients maintain their stand, locals serve the Paani ke Bataashe with a variety of spiced water and stuffing. Dozens of stuffed Bataashe served on a platter with a whole other dozen Paani varieties makes for them to be the Bataashe of everyone's eye!
While the whole thing about these snacks to be delicious and all is true, what stands to question is the matter of health, and hygiene. Excuse my poor biology, and medicine knowledge (and hence the inability to name any actual diseases) but the poor conditions in which most of these Pooris are prepared; harbor an insanely large number of err.. stomach related diseases. Yet, the doctor in me says a few nights in the loo is always worth the awesomeness of the oh so wonderful phoochkas elegantly playing dandiya with my tongue.
To sum it all up, Pani Puri in mouth = Mind Blown. Go out and grab a plate now, give your buds the adventure the deserve.
Thus I rest my case quoting Shakespeare totally out-of-context; "We should be woo'd, and were not made to woo." Let the king of snacks do its job. ;)
From the swanky streets of Khan Market, to the common corridors of Bengali Sweets and Haldirams, these things are everywhere! Spreading their tang, and rejuvenating bored taste-buds; these watery delights made their humble beginnings from the southern region of Bihar, erstwhile Magadh. This simple and cheap snack is essentially a concoction of spicy water, flour, chickpeas, and (as almost every Northern recipe dictates) aloo-pyaaz. Just thinking of them makes my mind and mouth water.
Traditions are a commonplace for almost everything in India, and food; leads the pack. My favorite is the Bengali way to roll, or phooch their phoochkas. Trust 'em Bongs to make something; that tastes good, into awesome.. and then name it by the sound it makes when you eat it. They add it ALL! Mashed potatoes, pepper, black salt, spices, tamarind pulp, and what not. Leave out the onion part, and you have what is a ceremonious king of snacks in Bengal. Not far, in Jamshedpur the folks add a liberal dose of chole to the mix and savor the treat.
Lucknow, and surrounding regions take presentation to the next ladle(!) While the classic ingredients maintain their stand, locals serve the Paani ke Bataashe with a variety of spiced water and stuffing. Dozens of stuffed Bataashe served on a platter with a whole other dozen Paani varieties makes for them to be the Bataashe of everyone's eye!
While the whole thing about these snacks to be delicious and all is true, what stands to question is the matter of health, and hygiene. Excuse my poor biology, and medicine knowledge (and hence the inability to name any actual diseases) but the poor conditions in which most of these Pooris are prepared; harbor an insanely large number of err.. stomach related diseases. Yet, the doctor in me says a few nights in the loo is always worth the awesomeness of the oh so wonderful phoochkas elegantly playing dandiya with my tongue.
To sum it all up, Pani Puri in mouth = Mind Blown. Go out and grab a plate now, give your buds the adventure the deserve.
Thus I rest my case quoting Shakespeare totally out-of-context; "We should be woo'd, and were not made to woo." Let the king of snacks do its job. ;)
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Ah, i see the Mighty, teekhi, chatpati phoochka has caught your fantasy. Well, some time i shall treat you to the real bengali Phoochka's from CR Park (If that is you dont get tooo spiced out!)
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