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!

#Panipuri, #Golgappe, #puchka, #phulki, #pani_ke_pataashe, #streetfood, #Mumbai, #story

The Wisdom of #Ganesha wins the #contest with #Karthikeya - Ganesha Story 2

 

Ganesh and Karthikeya are the two sons of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Once as they were engrossed in playing games, Sage Narada, known for his mischievous nature, entered with a luscious mango in his hand.

“Oh Lord! I have been given this mango by my father Lord Brahma. This is not an ordinary mango. The person who consumes it will be blessed with everlasting knowledge and wisdom.” So saying, he handed the fruit to Lord Shiva. 

Shiva knew Narada’s mischievous nature very well. He accepted the fruit and handed it over to Parvati.

“Let us give it to our children,” the Goddess exclaimed.

“Ganesha, Karthikeya, come here,” she called out. The siblings immediately ran towards their mother.

“See. Narada has brought this extraordinary mango.”

“But Mother,” interrupted Narada. “You cannot cut the mango into two. The fruit will be effective only if one person eats it fully.”

 Lord Shiva smiled. “So this is your idea! I knew that there would be a catch in this, when you came here itself.”

 He turned to Parvati, who did not know what to say.

 Both the children wanted the mango after knowing that it would grant them knowledge. It was a dilemma for the divine parents.

“Let us find a way,” said Mahadev. “Why not hold a competition between both of you?”

Parvati agreed. The children were excited.

“Both of you go round the world thrice and the one who finishes first will be the winner of this wonderful mango.”

Karthikeya was happy and got on his peacock and flew away to complete the rounds.

Ganesh was stunned. He knew that his mouse would not be able to compete with the swiftness of the peacock. He thought for a few moments. Then he got on his mouse and commenced his journey. He made Shiva and Parvati sit down and then did three parikramas round his parents and held out his hand for the prize.

Parvati looked at her son in bewilderment.

“You have not even stepped out of here, Ganesh,” she said.

“But Mother. You asked me to complete three rounds of the world. Both of you mean the world to me. For me the world is at your feet. So I did three parikramas of you both. Am I not the winner?” he asked.

The Goddess wondered at his wisdom and hugged her son, declaring him the winner of the race. By this time Karthikeya had completed his three rounds. He came down on Mount Kailas on his peacock.

Seeing the mango being given to Ganesh, he was furious.

“How can you declare Ganesh as a winner, when I have completed three rounds as stipulated, whereas he has not gone anywhere?”

Parvati explains, “Karthikeya, you have completed three rounds of the earth. But Ganesh has also completed the three rounds faster than you, as he did three parikramas of us, his parents. And for a child, his parents are the world to him.”

 Karthikeya had to finally acknowledge his brother Ganesh’s intelligence.

 #Ganesh #Karthikeya #Shiva #Parvati #contest #Wisdom