Panipuri (also known by other names, including phuchka and golgappa) is a snack associated with the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent consisting of a deep-fried spherical puri shell, hollowed out for a filling and dipped in flavoured waters. Panipuri is primarily a street food and is part of the chaat category of light snacks. It is commonly filled with some combination of potatoes, chickpeas, spices, and chutney. The flavoured waters, or pani, are typically a spicy coriander leaf or mint chutney called and a sweet tamarind chutney called . A few centimetres in diameter, it is a finger food eaten in one bite. Panipuri is the most common street food in the Indian subcontinent, and it is popular across the region, in both urban and rural areas.
Several variations exist, using different ingredients in the filling, waters, and dough. Cities have local variations, such as Delhi-style golgappe, which is filled with both potatoes and black chickpeas; Kolkata-style phuchka, which uses mashed potatoes and has a sour and citrusy, rather than sweet, flavour; and Mumbai-style panipuri, which uses ragda. In Bangladesh, phuchka uses a filling of potato-based chotpoti and is garnished with eggs. In Uttar Pradesh, where the dish is known as pani ke batashe, many flavours of pani are used. Primarily associated with North India, panipuri is also popular in South India, sometimes altered for regional tastes. Vendors of the dish are predominantly from North India.
The origin of panipuri is unknown. The dish spread across India in the 20th century, resulting in variations using local ingredients. Beginning in the 1990s, chefs developed non-traditional variations, including vodka panipuri and panipuri served with shot glasses. Panipuri inspired trends in the 2020s, when the COVID-19 pandemic inspired people to make panipuri at home, and vendors went viral for serving non-traditional versions. As a result of migration from the Indian subcontinent, panipuri is served at restaurants globally.
Names
thumb|alt=Map with labels: "panipuri" over most of Western and South India, as well as in Nepal; "phuchka" over Eastern India and Bangladesh; "golgappa" over much of North India; "phulki" to the southeast of "golgappa"; "pani ke batashe" to the southwest of "golgappa"; "pakodi" the south of "pani ke batashe"; and "gup chup" near the southeast coast of India.|Approximate distribution of various terms for panipuri
The Hindi word means 'water', referring to the watery chutneys used in the dish, and puri refers to rounds of deep-fried dough. The term panipuri (or pani puri) is used in most parts of India, The dish is called in Delhi and surrounding parts of North India, including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. In Rajasthan, parts of Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, the term is , meaning 'spherical snacks with water'. The puri itself may be referred to as a pani puri, golgappa puri, or phuchka puri.
Each puri is punctured with a finger, then filled, taking multiple bites is seen as improper. The puri is most commonly made of semolina flour, though it may also be made of wheat flours, including maida and atta, Some vendors serve panipuri directly from their hands to the hands of the customer, which is not done with other street foods, while some vendors use leaf plates. People consume panipuri quickly—to prevent it from becoming soggy—and then leave, unlike with other street foods.
When served at restaurants, the dish may be served with the filling on the side, for the customer to add, or already filled in the puri, though the pani is always added after serving. As a street food, panipuri is rarely eaten at home. However, among the Marwari people, panipuri and other chaats may also be homemade. The same year, this agency found 16% of samples in the city of Chennai to be unsafe for consumption. To avoid health risks, many street vendors use mineral water, and the fast food chain Haldiram's serves the dish using a sealed bag of puris.
Variations
Regional variations
Eastern Indian subcontinent
thumb|upright|alt=|Bangladeshi phuchka is filled with [[chotpoti and topped with shredded eggs.]]
The phuchka made in the eastern Indian subcontinent is distinct from panipuri as the puris are made of atta, the green water is especially spicy, and the tamarind water is sour rather than sweet. According to chef Vikramjeet Roy, many Kolkatans prefer for the snack to be more fragile.
North India
thumb|upright|alt=Plates of panipuri and another chaat, surrounded by filling ingredients and five sauces|Uttar Pradeshi pani ke batashe uses potatoes and chickpeas. In Lucknow, it sometimes has five sauces.
A spiced filling of potatoes and black chickpeas is used in both the golgappa of Delhi and pani ke batashe from in and around Uttar Pradesh. In Gujarat, the traditional filling for panipuri is diced potatoes and boiled mung beans, while the pani contains dates and boondi. The city of Bangalore has both mashed potato panipuri, widely served by North Indian migrants at small stalls, and chickpea panipuri, served by locals at carts that also sell other chaats. Onion is often added to panipuri in Bangalore. , eaten in parts of southern and eastern India, uses a chickpea filling without potatoes. as well as non-vegetarian fillings. Chef Manish Mehrotra stated that panipuri is versatile, with infinite options for ingredients. potatoes were not introduced until after the Columbian Exchange. One theory recounted by the National Geographical Journal of India in 1955 states that the small, crunchy version of puri originated in Varanasi, with the remaining ingredients of panipuri added during the Mughal Empire. Phuchka spread to Bangladesh after the 1947 partition of India.
Modern variations and international popularity
Modern variations of panipuri arose sometime around the 1990s, according to Sanghvi. One of the chefs developing variations of the dish was Sanjeev Kapoor, working at a restaurant in New Zealand in the 1990s,
During the COVID-19 lockdown in India, homemade panipuri became popular as street foods were not available. In the five weeks following the first lockdown order on 25 March 2020, Google searches for panipuri recipes doubled, and the food was a common topic on social media. According to Condé Nast Traveller, online virality led to a wave of new interpretations of panipuri—as well as other street foods such as Maggi noodles—in 2020 and 2021. These included a panipuri set on fire, which was created at Chaska Chaat in Nagpur before being imitated elsewhere, and a large, overloaded variation called , served at Chirag ka Chaska in Nagpur. viral phenomena included including shawarma panipuri served by carts in Hyderabad and phuchka chops served by a vendor in Kolkata.
Chaats such as panipuri surged in popularity in South India—including in rural areas and around the cities of Madurai and Coimbatore—in the 2020s. They overtook the popularity of local snacks. Panipuri, like other Indian dishes, became popular in China in the 2020s, inspiring the hashtag #IndianCrispyBall and being depicted in the video game Genshin Impact. The popularity of panipuri also grew in the United States, with the dish being served at the White House several times by 2024.
Consumption
thumb|alt=An vendor with panipuri ingredients on a cart along an urban street|Panipuri is a popular street food.
Panipuri is the most popular street food in the Indian subcontinent. It is a highly popular fast food in India and in Nepal. Many panipuri wallas achieve fame within their neighbourhoods for the ways they prepare the dish.
Panipuri is popular in both urban and rural areas
Stores sell pre-packaged puri shells for panipuri.
According to ethnographer Arindam Das, phuchka is culturally associated with Bengali identity; for example, the 1981 film 36 Chowringhee Lane depicts an Anglo-Indian character eating the food with Bengali friends to represent the intermingling of their cultures. In Kolkata, the most famous phuchka vendors include those of the Vivekananda Park neighbourhood, and the city's ITC Royal Bengal hotel serves the dish more than any other hotel in India. In Bangladesh, panipuri and chotpoti are served by the same street vendors.
In Mumbai, panipuri is popular on beaches. In Pakistan, golgappe were historically served from street carts, although snack restaurants have become more popular.
Panipuri is also served as a street food in South India, requiring less cost and labour than regionally traditional snacks such as paniyaram. Panipuri and other chaats are also popular in the South Indian city of Mysore, alongside dishes more local to the region, having historically been sold by migrants from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. In the city of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, street vendors sell panipuri on a plate with a spoon.
Indian migrants have introduced panipuri to other parts of the world.
See also
- Pholourie
- Jian dui