India is quite popular for its street food. Every state is famous for its chat speciality. Delhi, often known as a food lover’s paradise is famous for gol gappas. From the old-world lanes of Chandni Chowk to the more magnificent set-up in Connaught Place, anyone who has been to the capital can get gol gappas anywhere. A favourite amongst most Indians, gol gappa are known by different names in different states of the country. It is called Pani Puri in Maharashtra and Puchka in West Bengal. Not only the name, the method of preparation of this street food also differs a little from state to state across India.

The flavor-packed gol gappas can be prepared at home also. Here is the recipe of making Delhi-style gol gappas.

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Serves: 10-15

Preparation time: 90 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Gol gappa puris

Ingredients

Fine suji: 2 cups

Maida: 1/3 cup

Oil: ¼ cup + for deep frying

Salt: ½ tsp

Water: as required

Method

Mix maida, suji, salt and one-fourth cup of oil in a big mixing bowl. Mix well. Add lukewarm water slowly – two to three tablespoons at a time and keep kneading the dough. Add lukewarm water slowly and keep kneading the dough until the dough becomes softer than puri dough and stiffer than roti dough. Keep the dough covered with a wet cloth to rest for an hour. After an hour knead the dough well again for five minutes to make it smooth. Make small balls having a diameter of half inch out of this dough. Make all the balls and keep them covered all the time. The balls should be crack-free. If cracks are visible, knead the dough for some more time until smooth. Otherwise gol gappas would not swell on frying. Start rolling the balls one by one. Keep other balls covered under wet cloth until rolled.

To roll the balls, grease the rolling board and the rolling pin and flatten the ball first. Then roll it to a diameter of two inches. The rolled gol gappa puri should have a thickness of one mm. Do not roll them too thin as thin gol gappas may not puff. Roll all the balls one by one and keep them covered with a wet cloth all the time after rolling them.

Heat oil for frying. When the oil reaches to an appropriate temperature to fry the gol gappas, slide one gol gappa to check. If it swells and floats after a few seconds in the hot oil, the temperature is just right for frying. Fry all the gol gappas in small batches flipping from both sides until golden crisp.Take them out on an absorbent paper to soak excess oil. Keep them flat and scattered in a tray to cool. Do not keep hot gol gappas overlapping. It will make them soggy. Allow to cool them completely at room temperature and then store them carefully in an air tight box so that they do not break.

Gol gappa pani/ pudina khatta pani

Ingredients

Pudina: 500 grams

Coriander leaves: 100 grams

Green chillies: 5

Ginger: ½ piece

Lemon: 4-5

Sugar: 1 tsp

Black salt: 1 tsp

White salt: to taste

Roasted cumin powder: 1 tsp

Hing powder: ¼ tsp

Red chilli powder: ¼ tsp

Raita boondi: a handful

Method

Pluck pudina leaves from its stems and discard the stems. Chop coriander leaves. Wash pudina leaves and chopped coriander leaves thoroughly. Drain the water. In a high speed food processor, add washed and drained pudina and coriander leaves. Add sugar and all spices except white and black salt. Add juice of five lemons, chopped green chillies and grated ginger. Add little water around half a cup and make a fine paste. Take out this paste in a big glass bowl. Add four to five glasses of water, black salt and white salt. Mix well. Taste this gol gappa pani. If you find it less spicy or less sour, add more chilli powder and lemon juice according to your taste. Mix well. Add boondi, mix again. Chill in refrigerator. Use chilled when required.

Tamarind khatti meethi chutney

Ingredients

Sabut amchoor: 100 grams

Water: 4 cups

Sugar: 2 cups

Salt: to taste

Black salt: 1 tsp

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Roasted cumin powder: 2 tsp

Garam masala: 1 tsp

Method

Wash sabut amchoor thoroughly. Drain the water. Soak it in two cups of water for an hour. After an hour, put the soaked amchoor along with its water in pressure cooker. Put two more glasses of water. Give one whistle on high flame. Simmer on low flame for 10 minutes. Turn off the flame. Open the lid after the steam settles. Let the boiled amchoor cool along with its water content.When it cools, grind it to a fine paste along with its water. Strain it and discard the residue. Add sugar, white salt, black salt, red chilli powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Mix well. Tamarind chutney is ready.

Boiled chana

Ingredients

White chana: ½ cup

Salt: ½ tsp

Water: to pressure cook

Method

Wash the chanas thoroughly. Soak them in plenty of water for five to six hours. Discard the water and pressure cook the chanas adding enough water and little salt until soft. After the chanas are cooked, discard the water and keep the boiled chanas aside.

Gol gappa stuffing masala

Mix two finely chopped boiled potatoes along with boiled chanas. Add little salt, red chilli powder and chat masala to it. Mix well. The stuffing is ready.

Gol gappas with stuffing and pudina pani – ready to eat

Take golgappas one by one. Make a small hole on the top side of the gol gappa with your finger. Fill the gol gappa with one teaspoon of boiled chana and potato stuffing. Put half teaspoon of tamarind chutney. Fill rest of the gol gappa with gol gappa pudina pani and eat immediately.

These tiny flavour-packed gol gappas are so delicious that you would not be able to have just few. Enjoy!