Gupchup/Pani Poori/Phoochka/Golgappa

Gupchup  is a popular street snack  and my all time favourite. It comprises a round, hollow poori, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of water, tamarind, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. It is small enough to fit completely in one's mouth.



The name gol gappa refers to the fact that crisp sphere (gol) is placed in the mouth and eaten (gappa) at one time, without biting. Pani comes from the Hindi word for water and puri (or poori) is the name of an Indian bread made by frying dough in oil. It is known as Bataasha in the Lucknow region of Uttar Pradesh. Bataasha means something which gets smashed with application of a slight pressure and the bataasha gets smashed as soon as it is placed inside the mouth. It is known as phoochka in Eastern Indian states like Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal and in Bangladesh, because of the bursting sound in the mouth when it is eaten, called gup chup in Orissa and South Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhatisgarh. In several parts of Gujarat and Kutch, it?s commonly known as Pakodi ,not to be confused with Pakodas.







Ingredients





To make poori:



1 cup Semolina (Rava / Suji)

1 cup Maida(Refined Flour)

1 cup Atta(Wheat flour)

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Oil to deep fry



To make khatta pani:



6-7 cups water



Few chopped  pudina leaves

1 green chilli chopped

small piece ginger

1 tbsp amchur powder

1/2 tsp chaat masala powder

1/4 tsp cumin powder

pinch of black salt (optional)

fresh chopped coriander leaves



Method

 

To make Khatta pani:





Make a paste of mint leaves, green chilli and ginger and keep aside.

Take a vessel, add water in it, followed by the mint paste and combine well.

Add cumin powder, chaat masala powder, amchur powder, black salt, salt to taste.

Garnish with coriander leaves.





To make poori:



Combine all the mentioned ingredients (except oil for deep frying), adding water slowly and make a dough. Leave aside covered with damp cloth for 4-5 hours. (very imp step)









Befor 1/2 hr of serving:-

(i) Prepare the pani (water) required for the gupchup.

(ii) Boil two potatoes, peel and mash. Boil some chickpeas. Combine the mashed potato ,boiled chickpeas with little salt,chopped greenchillies,roasted cumin powder and red chilli pwder and keep aside until use.

(iii) Chop a large onion finely and keep aside until use.

(iv)Knead the dough again. Pinch off some dough and make very small balls. Roll out small thin pooris, using the rim of a container to cut out the round shape.

(v) Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. It should be on medium high (the oil should not be piping hot) and once its hot, slide few pooris into the hot oil and using the back of the ladle, press in the center and along the edges and you will find it will puff. Flip over and fry the other side till light golden brown. Don?t fry too much as it will turns too dark. Remove on to absorbent paper.

(vi) Cool and store in an air tight container.



 Assembling Pani Poori:





Take a poori in your palm and lightly press the top to make a hole in the poori.





Stuff with 1 tsp of potato mixture, 1/2 tsp of chopped onions, pour 2 tbsp of the prepared khatta pani and stuff the whole poori into your mouth.

Then savor the explosion of flavors...