Paani Poori

Paani poori!!! [Crispy puffed tortilla chips with tangy, spicy mint based juice] Just listening to these words makes my mouth water. No matter what time of the day, hungry or not, this is one thing I will never say no to; if offered :D This dish is very special to me as it brings back memories of my home town - Sholapur (Maharashtra,India). Its amazing how the same dish is prepared in so many different ways in different regions of India and how many different names it has: "Puchka" , "Gol gappa" , "Gup Chup" :) At the risk of sounding biased I will say that I love the ones from my home town the best! I also remember me and my sisters competing to see who can eat the most in the shortest time :) It took me a little long to re-create and perfect this recipe, but its totally worth it and I felt like I have the key to a top secret mission and would never share it :D But, only for you lovely people, here it goes :)

Ingredients

Fresh Mint leaves - 1 small bunch

Fresh Coriander leaves - 1 medium sized bunch

Ginger - 2 inches ( add more if you like it to be more spicy)

Thai or Indian Green chillies - 8 - 10 (suit your taste)

Jaggery - 1 cup (suit your taste)

Tamarind pulp - 1/2 cup (add more if you like it sour)

Regular Salt - to taste

Black salt - 1-2 tbsp

Water - 4-5 cups or more to reach the a watery consistency

Chaat masala - for garnish (optional)

Onions - 1 medium finely chopped

Spring onions - 2-3 stalks chopped

Sev - for garnish

Small pooris - As per your liking.

Method:

Paani:

- Soak the jaggery and tamarind separately in double the amount of water

- Clean the mint and coriander leaves and grind it to a fine paste along with ginger, chillies and some water.

- Mix the salt, black salt, mint mixture and the jaggery and tamarind all together

- Add 4 cups of water and mix well.

- Strain this mixture and taste it for salt and spice and add more of the ingredients to suit our taste.

- Now just crack open a poori add onion, sev, chaat masala and dip into the paani and Enjoyy!! :D

Tips:

- Black salt is key to this recipe. In fact all the ingredients are.

- There are no perfect measurements for this recipe, it all has to be adjusted to suit your taste. The one I shared suits mine the best :)
- If you want to serve this North Indian style, prepare mashed potatoes (season with salt and chaat masala) , Boil Vatana (Yellow peas) and server with tamarind and date chutney.
- Wait!! Dont throw the left over mix after straining out the water. Mix it in wheat flour (make a fine paste) and some water and salt and make nice savory rotis!!

Healthy twist:

Paani has no sugar, no oil/butter so we are good. Just limit the amount of pooris though :)