STORY OF MUMBAI’S FAVORITE STREET FOOD - PANIPURI

 

The crispy Puris with delicious filling

The very thought of the crunchy, miniscule hollow balls with spicy potato and chickpea filling, dipped in a tangy tamarind concoction made fragrant by the addition of mint and rock salt, sets our mouth drooling. Yes! I am talking about the delicious street food variant called Pani Puri in Maharashtra, Gol gappa, Gup chup, Pani ke pataashe or Phulkis in different regions of North India. In Bengal, this eternal favorite goes by the name of Puchka.

I first tasted the Puchka, when I visited Kolkota during my childhood for the summer vacations and it immediately settled into the numero uno position as far as my fetish for street food was concerned. Then during my teens I came across a fast food vendor just outside my college which served the most scrumptious Panipuris. My eyes would be fixed, mesmerized, as he picked up a nice round crisp puri, prod it with his thumb in the centre to carve a hole, fill it with a mixture of mashed potatoes and chickpeas, add a little sweet and sour chutney, and the then dip it in a bowl of the tamarind based minty concoction and hand it over with a flourish on to my plate. Oooph! The explosion of flavor and taste as I push it into my mouth in one go has to be experienced to be believed. 

Panipuri ready to be shoved into the mouth

I have nostalgic memories of waiting for the refill of spicy pani after my puris were done, setting my mouth on fire and water flowing like a stream from my eyes and nose. The panipuri climbed, rather jumped up the ladder of ratings on my must have fast food list. Later, during the course of my travels, I have sunk my teeth into the luscious Gol gappas in Delhi and the Pani ke Pataashe on the streets of Varanasi.

It was only recently though, that I learnt that the Panipuri in one of its various forms is believed to have been in existence since ancient times, well before 600 BCE. The story of its origin, though contentious, is very interesting and there are not one but two interesting legends, including one from the epic Mahabharata, involving Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, and her daughter in law, Draupadi. The legend goes that the Pandavas along with Kunti and Draupadi were in exile after losing their kingdom. Once, Kunti, wanting probably to test her daughter in law, gave some dough and some potatoes to Draupadi. She asked her to cook some dish with the two ingredients that would be tasty as well as satisfy all her five husbands. This was a mighty challenge no doubt, but Draupadi proved her mettle by inventing a fantastic concoction that resembled panipuri. Kunti is believed to have been so extremely impressed by the ingenuity and resourcefulness of her daughter in law, that she is believed to have blessed the dish with immortality.

Another popular belief is that the panipuri originated in the form of Phulki in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, well known for being the origin of the Maurya and Gupta empires. Magadha corresponds to the South Bihar area. As I mentioned earlier, in certain parts of North India the Panipuri is still known as Phulki.  

Pani puri is not restricted to being a street food sold by dubious vendors now. It has made its entry into the menus of well known restaurants and hotels where it is served as a super special chaat item. One finds people making a beeline for the chat stall at high end weddings just to fulfill their craving for the scrumptious panipuri.

 Five places where you can find the most delicious Panipuri in Mumbai

• 1.      You have a wonderful choice between Gupta Chaat centre and Pankaj Pani Puri in Matunga East.
• 2.      One cannot miss the outlet at Elco Market at Hill Road, Bandra West. They serve the most delicious panipuri, the taste of which lingers on.
• 3.      Guru Kripa at Sion near SIES college is a college student’s delight.
• 4.      Want to try the most famous panipuri in South Mumbai? Visit Kailash Parbat at Colaba.
• 5.      Ram and Shyam Chaat Stall in Santacruz is another popular outlet, and so is the Punjab Sweet House in Bandra. 

  Are you tempted? Go ahead and enjoy! Happy eating folk!

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