What is pani puri? This is party food in India. It’s commonly found as street food, though it finds it way into mall food courts as well. When my friend got married in Kolkata, the wedding venue had a pani puri station. It’s popular, and for good reason — it’s tasty, fun, vegan, and nutritious!

Yes, but what is it? Well, have you ever wondered what it would be like to have soup in a bread bowl as an hors d’oeuvre? No? How about chips and dip with the dip inside the chip, with more crunchy chip inside as a delicious chipception? American snack foods can’t even. Enjoy this as a light and fun dinner for two, an appetizer for a larger Indian-themed dinner, or set up a pani puri station at a party.

First, you start with the puri, which are crunchy, hollow puffs. You tap the top to create an opening, then fill it with a bean/potato mix. Add some boondi, which are smaller crunchy puffs. Top it off with the pani, which is a watery sauce with the consistency of soup broth, and pop it into your mouth quickly before it falls apart. You get the crunch, the savory bean mix, and the soupy sauce all at once to inundate the senses with multiple textures and flavors.

I’m lucky enough to live close to an Indian grocery that carries pani puri kits (Swad is the brand I’ve used, though there are others online that might be worth trying sometime). The kit comes with the puri puffs, boondi, and mixes for two kinds of sauce: one is slightly spicy, like a watery version of coriander chutney, and the other is tangy like watery tamarind chutney. One kit has about 30 puffs, which made a decent dinner for two. If you want to make a larger dinner or throw a party, get a couple more kits.

The kit doesn’t include the filling, which is usually a bean/potato mix, so for that I consulted this recipe. The author also has recipes for the sauces, which look better than the ones that come with the kit, so I might need to try making them sometime. To be clear, I am not Indian, and I mixed a little of this and that, so it should be understood that my recipe isn’t authentically Indian. But my version tasted good enough that I want to repeat it someday, so I’m recording it here for future reference.

1-2 Pani Puri kits (the bean mix makes enough for at least 2)
2-3 small potatoes, chopped into small pieces
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas
1/2 c. dried mung beans, optionally sprouted*
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. garam masala
Chili powder (optional, to taste; the “spicy” pani sauce is barely medium-spicy on an American scale)
2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped

*It takes 2-3 days to sprout mung beans. If you don’t have that kind of time, you’ll just need to add 10-15 minutes to your boil time. Sprouting adds another texture to the mix, which is worth trying if you have the time. Start with a 1/2 cup of dried beans and soak for 24 hours, changing the water every 8 hours. Then drain and move the beans to a colander over a bowl, and cover with a tea towel. Spray with water every 8-12 hours until the beans have sprouts roughly 1/2 an inch long.

Boil the mung beans for about 20-25 minutes (35-40 minutes for unsprouted beans). Drain and set aside.

While those are boiling, heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the potatoes and sautee until they soften, then mash slightly. The goal is to small, soft pieces (smaller than a chickpea) that can easily fit into a tiny puff.

Add the chickpeas, cooked mung beans, garam masala, and salt, and cook for a few more minutes until everything is hot. Add the onion and cilantro right before serving and mix to combine.

Toast the puri in the oven or a toaster oven for a few minutes to crisp them up.

Prepare the pani sauces. (If you’re using the ones from the Swad kit, this is just a matter of adding the packet to cold water.) To serve the sauces, a container with a spout will make it easy for people to pour it into the puri (I used the measuring cups I mixed them in, but if you’re feeling fancy you can put it into a creamer or gravy boat).

To Eat:

1. Poke a hole in the puri puff large enough to fit a spoon.
2. Drop a spoonful of the bean mix into the puri.
3. Add boondi.
4. Pour in a little pani sauce.
5. Eat it quickly before it falls apart!