Crispy, hollow puris, stuffed with spiced potatoes, chickpeas, and onion, then filled at the last moment with tamarind chutney and an ice-cold mint, cilantro, and chaat masala pani.
Ingredients
- 180 g extra-fine durum wheat semolina
- 25 g wheat flour
- 1 pinch baking soda
- 1 l neutral oil
- 500 g floury potatoes
- 300 g cooked chickpeas
- 120 g red onion
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 3 pieces fresh green chilies
- 25 g fresh ginger
- 2 pieces limes
- 1.2 l mineral water
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp kala namak Indian black salt
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 4 tsp chaat masala
- 180 ml sweet tamarind chutney
- 60 g plain boondi
Method
- Prepare the puri dough by mixing the extra-fine semolina, flour, baking soda, and some of the fine salt. Gradually add a little of the mineral water and knead vigorously to obtain a firm, smooth dough that is significantly harder than bread dough.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest. It must never dry out, as a crusted surface would prevent the puris from puffing evenly.
- Knead briefly again, then roll out the dough evenly. It must retain enough thickness to form two solid, hollow walls during frying, without becoming heavy.
- Cut out small, even disks with a cookie cutter. Keep the disks under the damp cloth while cutting and gather the scraps without adding dry flour.
- Heat the oil in a deep pot. Test with a dough scrap: it should rise rapidly without browning immediately.
- Fry the disks in small batches. As soon as a disk rises, baste it with hot oil and gently hold it under the surface with a skimmer until it puffs entirely. Flip and continue frying until the shell is golden, dry, and rigid.
- Drain the puris on a wire rack, without stacking them while hot. Let them cool completely uncovered so they become brittle and stay hollow.
- Cook the potatoes in their skins until tender. Drain them, let the steam evaporate, peel them, and roughly mash them to keep some small chunks.
- Mix the potatoes with the well-drained chickpeas, half of the onion, some of the cilantro, the red chili powder, ground toasted cumin, chaat masala, and a little black salt. The filling should be spicy, dry, and easy to insert into the puris.
- For the pani, toast the cumin seeds dry until fragrant, then grind to a powder.
- Finely blend the mint, remaining cilantro, green chilies, ginger, lime juice, toasted cumin, black salt, remaining chaat masala, and a little mineral water.
- Pass this aromatic paste through a sieve, then dilute it with the rest of the mineral water. Taste: the pani should be very fresh, distinctly tart, spicy, salty, and aromatic. Add the boondi and refrigerate until serving.
- Arrange the puris, the potato and chickpea filling, the remaining onion, the tamarind chutney, and the ice-cold pani separately.
- When ready to eat, gently pierce the top of a puri with your thumb. Add the filling, a little onion and tamarind chutney, then fill generously with pani.
- Serve each puri immediately and eat it whole in one bite before the shell softens. Fill the subsequent ones only as they are being eaten.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 581.2 kcal
- Protein
- 12.84 g
- Carbohydrate
- 81.4 g
- Fat
- 23.91 g
- Fibre
- 10.36 g
- Calcium
- 135.52 mg
- Iron
- 4.79 mg
- Magnesium
- 90.8 mg
