Gol Gappa (Delhi Street Snack)

Happy Belated Father’s Day and a Happy Birthday (10/9) to my DH Sudhir. This post is dedicated to him. He’s a bit shy so asked not to reveal too much about him so I will try to keep it short and simple.

Let me start with a little bit about my DH. He is a typical Delhite..you know with his crude sense of humour and very loud vocals. Thankfully he doesn’t dress like one especially in winter. What I mean to say is that Delhi happens to have a a very unique winter look. Everywhere you turn you see men and I mean lots of men, young and old wearing sleeveless jumpers. They are seen in all different colors and fabrics worn over kurta pyjamas, business shirts, t-shirts, tailored pants and jeans. My favourite ensemble happens to be the chequered/stripey shirt under a sleeveless shimmery acrylic jumper..saksyyy!

Image courtesy – Wearabout

Ok I know this is winter fashion for them but whats the purpose behind the sleeveless bit in the middle of freezing temperatures? Maybe it’s for freedom of movement? I will understand if that was the case with hipless pants if anything like that existed but i guess the Desi chaddis (Indian boxers) take care of that department. I’m not even going to get onto the topic of the Y-fronts..all I will say is..why oh why?

Image courtesy – Indiamart

Let’s now finish the look off with the head gear to scare the living daylights off you! The ultimate bank robber look..the monkey beanie!!!

Image Courtesy – BBC UK

Oops! I forgot this isn’t a fashion blog..back to DH. So anyway the two of us are poles apart..if he is North than I’m the South. I’m a typical islander…you know laid back relaxed. One look at me and you would think I’m constantly high on ghaas phoos/weed (I could be Cheech and Chong’s lovechild) and drunk on mocktails. DH often asks me “do you ever stress..worry..get tense?” (echo..echo..echo a daily soapie climax moment). Arre! yes I just dont make it the obvious. He, on the other hand just can’t sit still and on the days he does I get very worried. I’m so used to seeing him fuss over everything especially keeping the house clean. A very tiny food scrap lying on the kitchen floor will get him so worked up that he will not sleep a wink until he vaccuums it off the floor. I won’t be surprised if he cleans the house in the middle of the night in his sleep while my DD and I sleep soundly in oblivion.

My DH also keeps me highly amused at times with sudden episodes of unsuspecting humour. I occassionally find him attempting the Aussie accent with people he doesn’t know very well. The after effects of the accent trials leave him wondering whether he threw an Aussie or Desi. I therefore created an accent for him which I call Ausind. An example of his Ausind accent is at a drive-thru at McDonalds.

Maccas attendant: “Can I please take your order sir?”
DH:” Umm yep can I have a Chicken Mcmeal with regular fries?”
Maccas attendant: “What would you like for drinks sir and would you like an apple pie for an extra dollar?”
DH: “No apple pies and can I please have cock zero with that..cheers thanks mate“.

I literally hide myself when we approach the next window for payment.

I once saw a replica coke t-shirt which had “I love Cock” embellished on it (I’m sure it’s the fowl kind) so of course I had to buy it. He absolutely hated it!!! It took him a while to finally accept and wear it proudly but at home.

So for DH’s birthday special I decided to attempt a delhi street snack favourite Gol Gappa also known as Pani Puri. There are many versions of this popular snack out there but I chose to make a simpler version of it.

Well guess what? After all the effort put into whipping this up for DH, he tells me that this isn’t even his favourite snack. Grrrr!!! I knew I should have played it safe and maybe stirred up a scotch and cock for him instead hehe.😬

Disclaimer: I can not be solely held responsible for the above content if it may appear offensive to you as apparently my pet cock-a-too has learnt to type too.

Ingredients
1 Packet Puri (available at Indian Grocery stores)

For The Pani
1 Cup Fresh Coriander Leaves (washed thoroughly)
1 Cup Fresh Mint Leaves (washed thoroughly)
5 Cups Of Water
1 Tspn Black Salt
1 Tbspn Roasted Cumin/Jeera Powder
1/4 Tapn Ginger/Adrak Powder
1/4 Cup Tamarind/Imli Pulp
3-4 Green Chillies
Salt To Taste

For The Puri Stuffing
2 Medium Sizes Potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)
1 Tspn Chaat Masala
1 Tspn Roasted Cumin Powder
1/2 Tspn Red Chilli powder
1-2 Green Chillies (finely chopped)
1 Tbspn Coriander Leaves (finely chopped)
Salt To Taste

Method For the Pani
• Soak Tamarind pulp in 1/2 cup of hot water for 10-15 mins.
• Mash the soaked tamarind with fingers and separate the pulp from its seeds.
• Combine the tamarind infused water and the pulp with the all the ingredients for the paani except for the salt and black salt in a blender/food processer.
• Grind to a fine paste using only the tamarind extracted water.
• Pour the paste mix into a large jug or bowl and add remaining water & black salt to it. Mix really well.
• Chill in the refrigerator for later use.

Method For The Stuffing
• Add all of the ingredients of stuffing into a bowl and mix well.

Preparing For the Puri Consumption With Pani
• Take a puri in your palm and lightly tap the top in the centre to make a small hole in the puri.
• Fill the puri with a tspn of the mashed potato stuffing.
• You can also add 1/2 tspn of chopped onions and 1 tspn of Sweet Tamarind Chutney as extra garnishing.
• Finally fill the puri with the chilled spiced pani.
• Stuff the entire mini puri in your mouth and gobble it down. Worry about wiping your chin later. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy – Cooking Thumb