Panipuri

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 teekha pani and a sweet tamarind chutney called meetha pani. 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...