An easy and fool proof recipe to make perfectly puffed, hollow and airy crisp puris for pani puri.
These puff up perfectly and are carriers for all the pani puri stuffings, chutney and spicy water.
Indian cuisine has a wide variety of chaat recipes. From ragda pattice and pani puri to dahi puri and bhel puri; these are all so popular and delicious. Plus, there are some unique ones like paan chaat and makhana chaat.
Chaats are unique in their own way. They combine a crunchy base with colorful vegetables, flavorful chutneys and numerous toppings. They can be made in numerous ways once you have the ingredients. Moreover, once the components are ready, most chaats come together in minutes.
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What is Pani Puri
Pani puri; as the name suggests is puri (fried puffed crisps) filled with spiced potato and moong mixture, sweet tamarind date chutney and spicy mint water (pani).
This dish is popular all over the country by a bunch of names like gup chup, gol gappa, puchka, paani ke patashe and pani puri. Some fillings and serving style may differ based on the origin.
The true pleasure of enjoying is definitely from a street vendor but it is fairly easy to make at home. And while most folks make the fillings, chutney and pani at home; they resort to store bought puri. However, making puri at home is not very challenging.
What is Semolina Puri
There are different types of puri recipes to enjoy with fillings and chutney. Some call for all purpose flour, some wheat flour but most need semolina. Fine semolina combined with a bunch of ingredients make the perfect puri dough.
And there is a little science in making these puris. The concept in the puris puffing is that the moisture in the dough escapes when it touches the hot oil and the puri puffs up. And so we need to have the right temperature of oil and the perfect dough.
Why this recipe works
- It is fairly easy to get the ingredients as they are all pantry essentials.
- The recipe scales up or down very easily.
- It is quick to make a few dozen puris in under an hour.
- The ingredients can be customized based on preferences.
- Once ready, the puris make so many easy and quick chaats.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fine Semolina: Semolina provides the structure and strength to the puris. Pick fine semolina so that the puris can be rolled super thin. We prefer to use a fresh batch over a dated one for best results.
- All purpose flour: the binder in the recipe is all purpose flour. Try not to skip this for perfect binding. Using just all purpose flour in the recipe is an option too.
- Baking Soda: A pinch of baking soda makes the recipe fool proof and yields more puffed puris than flat. This is totally optional if you have a lot of experience in rolling the puris even and perfect.
- Club Soda/ Sparkling water: Another element that helps ease the recipe. I like to use club soda to bind everything together. The carbon dioxide in the soda makes the dough light and helps every semolina puri to puff. Adjust salt based on the sodium content in club soda. Sparkling water does not have salt so no adjustment is required.
- Oil: We fry the puris in hot oil. I generally stick to sunflower oil, but any neutral oil with a high smoking point works.
- Salt and water: Some salt to season the dough. Water is needed only if the dough remains stiff in spite of the addition of soda.
See the recipe card for detailed ingredient information, measurements and nutrition.
How to make this recipe
1- In a bowl add fine semolina, all purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
2- Add club soda or sparkling water. Mix well.
3- Add water as required to make a dough. The dough should not be too tough or soft.
4- Knead the dough well for 8-10 minutes.
5- Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a wet kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
6- Once rested, knead it again for a couple of minutes.
7- Then divide the dough into 5- 6 equal parts.
8- Using one dough ball, roll it out to a disc of 1.5-2 mm thickness. Keep the other dough balls covered with wet towel.
9- Using a cookie cutter of 4-5 cm diameter cut out discs. Place the discs under a wet kitchen towel so they do not dry out.
10- Collect the leftover dough cuttings and save them. Then repeat for all the dough balls and for the saved dough cuttings.
11- Heat the oil in a wok or pan till hot. Keep the flame high when adding the puris to fry.
12- Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry about 5-6 puris depending on the size of the pan.
13- Lower the flame to medium high and fry the puris pressing them down with a slotted spoon.
14- Once they puff up, turn them over and fry till golden brown.
15- Remove from oil and place the puris on paper towels to drain off excess oil.
16- Store in an airtight container once completely cool. Enjoy as pani puri with sweet dates tamarind chutney, spicy mint pani and various fillings.
Expert Tips and Notes
- Make the dough 'elastic': For the recipe we need the dough to be firm and not soft. If it is too wet the puris will turn out like bread. And if the dough is too dry the semolina puris will not puff up.
- The resting time: Once the elastic dough is ready, let it rest for at least 30 minutes. This time is critical for the semolina to absorb the liquids. If the grains have not completely absorbed the liquid, the puris stand a chance to tear while rolling.
- Roll the puris paper thin: We need to roll the puris super thin for them to puff well. It is easier to roll a large puri and then cut our smaller puris instead of rolling each tiny puri. Moreover, it needs to be evenly thick throughout.
- Frying the puris: Put the puris in medium high heat oil. This ensures that the puris puff up on contact with the oil. Once you add the semolina puris to oil, gently press the puri down with your slotted spoon as it rises—this shocks it into puffing up.
- Crisping up soggy puris: If the puris happen to lose some crunch when stored, simply pop them in an oven or air fryer at 300 F (150 C) for 2–3 minutes. They’ll crisp right back up!
How to enjoy Pani Puri
These puris are made for traditional pani puri that is served with sweet tamarind date chutney, spicy mint water (pani) and stuffing like potato, chana, ragda and moong. get the complete pani puri recipe.
The same puris can be used to make dahi batata puri too. A lot of places in the US serve sev batata puri in these puris too.
And for some odd puris that did not puff up during frying; use them to add in bhel or to make sev puris. They taste the same; just that they did not puff up. I do end up with 3-4 puris like that.
Recipe FAQs
There are two reasons why the puris turn soggy. One is that the puri looked brown but still had moisture inside. You need to fry them on a medium-low flame after they puff up to form a shell. Second; if you stack hot puris in a closed container, the steam softens them. Let them cool completely on a flat wire rack or a paper towel-lined tray first.
No not at all. Dusting dry flour while rolling may not be absorbed completely when the puris are rolled. This loose flour burns in the oil and makes it murky. Instead, simply spread a drop of oil on the rolling pin and roll.
If made correctly and stored in a truly airtight container, these semolina puris can stay crisp for 2 to 3 weeks.
While the non-puffy ones will not work for pani puri; they are not waste. Those are Papdis. Use them to make Sev Puri, Dahi Puri, or crush them to use as a crunchy garnish for any Indian chaat.
The concept here is that the moisture in the puri dough escapes when it touches the hot oil. So the same recipe may not work too well when air fried or baked.
More Chaat Recipes to try
Love this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below & if you REALLY like it, consider a review in the comments whilst you are there, thanks!
Puffed Crispy Puri for Pani Puri
Ingredients
- 1 cup fine semolina (rava)
- 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon baking Soda
- ¼ cup club soda (sparkling water)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water (if needed)
- oil (to fry)
Instructions
- In a bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix well.1 cup fine semolina, 2 tablespoon all purpose flour , ⅛ teaspoon baking Soda , ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add club soda or sparkling water. Mix well.¼ cup club soda
- Add water as required to make a dough. The dough should not be too tough or soft.¼ cup water
- Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.
- Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a wet kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- Once rested, knead it again for a couple of minutes.
- Divide the dough into 5- 6 equal parts.
- Using one dough ball, roll it out to a disc of 1.5-2 mm thickness. Keep the other dough balls covered with wet towel.
- Using a cookie cutter of 4-5 cm diameter cut out discs. Place the discs under a wet kitchen towel so they do not dry out.
- Collect the leftover dough cuttings and save them. Repeat for all the dough balls and for the saved dough cuttings.
- Heat the oil in a wok or pan till hot. Keep the flame high when putting the puris to fry.oil
- Do not overcrowd the pan. Put about 5-6 puris depending on the size of the pan.
- Lower the flame to medium high and fry the puris pressing them down with a spatula.
- Once they puff up, turn them over and fry till golden brown.
- Remove from oil and place the puris on paper towels to drain off excess oil.
- Store in an airtight container once completely cool. Enjoy as pani puri with sweet dates tamarind chutney, spicy mint pani and various fillings.
Notes
- Make the dough 'elastic': For the recipe we need the dough to be firm and not soft. If it is too wet the puris will turn out like bread. And if the dough is too dry the semolina puris will not puff up.
- The resting time: Once the elastic dough is ready, let it rest for at least 30 minutes. This time is critical for the semolina to absorb the liquids. If the grains have not completely absorbed the liquid, the puris stand a chance to tear while rolling.
- Roll the puris paper thin: We need to roll the puris super thin for them to puff well. It is easier to roll a large puri and then cut our smaller puris instead of rolling each tiny puri. Moreover, it needs to be evenly thick throughout.
- Frying the puris: Put the puris in medium high heat oil. This ensures that the puris puff up on contact with the oil. Once you add the semolina puris to oil, gently press the puri down with your slotted spoon as it rises—this shocks it into puffing up.
- Crisping up soggy puris: If the puris happen to lose some crunch when stored, simply pop them in an oven or air fryer at 300 F (150 C) for 2–3 minutes. They’ll crisp right back up!
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