Well well... it just took me one second to decide which one to post first from the list... :D yeah, it has to be Phuchka.....as I was soo happy after making these !! Phuchkas are famous street-food available all over India. Known as Pani puri or Golgappa outside Bengal, Phuchkas are hot favorite among all age groups in West Bengal !! But the actual charm in eating these is, I guess, while standing on the footpath, in a circle around the phuchka-wala holding those shalpatar-bati :) Back in Kolkata, one will rarely think of making these at home. It reminds me of the Durga Puja days, when we used to go pandal-hopping and eat phuchkas without miss !! We, the Kolkatans, have these with mashed potato inside the crispy balls along with hot and spicy tamarind water. So, that day when I found this website full of cooking videos, I just couldn't wait to try these myself. And guess what... after about 40 mins...we were munching on phuchkas !! It is really soo easy and the video is awesome... many of you might be aware of Manjula's Kitchen and her recipes. Those who are not, do have a look in her website... lots of veg recipes, which are both easy to make and yummy for our taste buds !! I must say, I have followed her instructions in to-to and the phuchkas came out perfect. Only I substituted tamarind water in place of mint water.

Phuchka ( Pani Puri/ Golguppa)


I wanted to make 20 phuchkas , so I took 1/3 rd of the flour and suji as shown in the website.

Ingredients:
  • Semolina/Sooji - 1/4 cup
  • All purpose Flour/ Maida -1/3 rd of the amount of Sooji : that makes 1/12 th cup or 1/3 rd portion of a 1/4 measuring cup
  • Water- 1/6th cup ( as needed )
  • Tamarind paste
  • Salt to taste
  • Red chilli powder
  • Potatoes -2, boiled and mashed
  • Green Chilli -1-2
  • Bhaja Masala ( Roasted cumin seeds and red chilli ) - to sprinkle on mashed potato.
  • Oil for frying




Method :

Mix the flour and sooji with water and make a soft and plaible dough.
Keep it covered with damp cloth for 10 mins once its done
Then make 20 small balls from the dough, keep them covered with damp cloth to prevent from drying.
Take two kitchen clothes , wet them , and place one on the counter-top.
Start rolling the balls into 2 inch diamter puris/luchis and keep them on one damp towel and cover them by the other damp towel. According to Manjula Ji, this step helps the puris to puff on all sides.
Heat the oil in medium high, shud be at least 1 and half inch high in pan ( like we take while frying luchis).
When the oil is hot, start frying the rolled puris. Press them lightly on one side, and when they puff up, turn over and press lightly on the other side.
When they are golden-brown in color on all sides, take them out of the pan and place on paper towel.


I made 20 phuchkas, all were very crispy - but 10 were puffed up. This was because when i was putting them in the pan, some got folded as they were moist. As the oil was very hot, I cudnt unfold them properly, thus 10 turned out to be papris !! :D With them I made papri-chaat the next day. Will post that also sometime.

Make tamarind water by mixing tamarind paste with water, red chilli powder and salt . This can be done in better way, I hurriedly added these as I cudnt wait to eat the phuchkas !! :P
Then make a hole on each phuchka , put some mashed potato and tamarind water ..... and Enjoy !! :)

I have some very important things to do in the coming week. Will post again when I am done. Till then, take care everybody !! :)

P.S. Can anybody please suggest me how to keep my kitchen roach-free ?? Two rounds of fumigation done by the pest control dept. and daily Raid spray is not helping !! Its such a menace !! Any tips, friends ?? Thanks :)