Prepare Phuchka (Golgappa) at home

30 July 2009 2,870 views 16 Comments

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“When people wore hats and gloves, nobody would dream of eating on the street. Then white gloves went out of style and, suddenly, eating just about anything in the street became OK.”

- Jane Addison, quoted in the Great Food Almanac by Irena Chalmers

Street food in Kolkata epitomizes the pada (neighborhood) culture. Having something at the nearest roadside vendor is not only about eating and fulfilling ones gastronomic urges, but it is also a means of having food with family, friends and sometimes even strangers. Street foods that are in vogue are phuchka, jhal muri, papri chat, muri makha, vegetable chop, and beguni, but phuchka ranks above all. Someone from South Calcutta won’t find it a pain to travel all the way to Bowbazar (for the uninitiated in Calcutta’s geography, Bowbazar is almost an hour drive from South Calcutta) just to confront his friends that the phuchka wala at his pada is better than theirs.

Now, by “street food”, I don’t mean what one can get in the big or even the small restaurants, roadside food is that what you get from the makeshift stalls on the foot path of whole of Bengal. There are also other names for it in the different states of India. Some call it Pani Puri, some golgappa. But if you ask any Calcuttan he/she will say phuchka is definitely different from golgappa or panipuri. The difference may be obscure, probably it’s only the colloquial term that varies, but there is a little difference in one of the ingredients that significantly differentiates phuchka from all its synonyms. The vendors in Bengal use gandhoraj lebu (a typical lemon produced in suburbs of Bengal) to flavor the filling and the tamarind water of phuchka. And this is where all the difference is.

Kolkata street food is such a rage, that there are places in different part of India and even abroad holding “Calcutta street food festival”. When I started having phuchka, as far as I remember it was 5 for a rupee and the last time I had it back in Kolkata I got three for two rupees. Though here in Bangalore there are places where you get pani puri that almost tastes like those back in Kolkata, but are highly priced. Talking about phuchka, I can’t leave the phuckhwalas, people who sell the phuchka. They are mostly from Bihar/Jharkhand, and you just can’t beat them with their style of the phuchka preparation.

Cooking time: 8-10min

Preparation time: 12min

Makes 20 phuchka

Ingredients:

Phuchka balls: 20
Potato(Alu): 2 large
Whole Bengal gram (Chola): 2 tablespoon, soaked
Green chili (Kacha Lanka): 4, chopped finely
Cumin (Jeera): 1 teaspoon, roasted and then grinded
Lemon juice (Pati lebu ras): 1 teaspoon
Cilantro (Dhane pata): Chopped to 2 tablespoon
Tamarind pulp (Tetul): 4 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes with the skin on, peel off after boiling and mash properly so that no lumps remain
Add soaked bengal gram green chili, cumin powder, lemon juice, one tablespoon of cilantro to the mashed potato and mix well
Take the tamarind pulp in a big bowl and add 2 cups of water to it with salt and the rest of the cilantro, mix well
Add 2 tablespoon of the tamarind water to the mashed potatoes and keep the rest aside
Break just the upper part of one phuchka ball and put in one teaspoon of the filling, fill the other balls also similarly
Serve with the rest of the tamarind water

Phuchka with tamarind water

Hot Tips – Though not the basic component, you may also like to add some chopped onions to the filling to make it spicier.

Further Reading – Rasta Nasta, Sasta way, Crazy Street Food of Kolkata

Phuchka is the ideal recipe to send for the “Family Recipe” event at The Life and Loves of Grumpy Honey Bunch co-hosted by Laura of The Spiced Life.

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16 Comments »

sangi said:

Wow!this dish is really new to me..tnx
Ist time here u have an awesome space here!!!
sangi´s last blog ..Paneer dishes

[Reply]

Sudeshna Banerjee Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 5:10 PM

Hi Sangi,
Thanks a lot for visiting. I hope you get the pani puri balls from the market, and if you don’t get it then you can prepare it with same quatity of semolina(suji) and wheat flour (maida), knead to a dough, and then deep fry like puri.

[Reply]

Sudeshna Banerjee Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 5:12 PM

Hi Sangi,
Thanks for visiting our blog. I hope you’ll prepare it at home. If you don’t find the balls at your nearby store, you can prepare it at home too. Just knead semolina and whole wheat flour together with little water. make small puris and deep fry them.

[Reply]

# 31 July 2009 at 3:12 PM

Parita said:

I am crazy behind pani puris, here in swiss we dont get puris so once i made them at home thats a bit tedious but was totally worth it!
As for your question, i usually dont prefer micro for baking and i have never tried to bake in micro too, if you halve the recipe and then try out, hope this helps

[Reply]

# 31 July 2009 at 5:19 PM

HoneyB said:

Thank you so much for participating! Your Phuchka looks absolutely delish!

[Reply]

Sudeshna Banerjee Reply:
July 31st, 2009 at 7:51 PM

Shelby,
Thanks for visiting my blog and also accepting this recipe for the event.

[Reply]

# 31 July 2009 at 7:31 PM

Cook like a Bong » Blog Archive » July Roundup at BengaliCuisine said:

[...] Phuchka: The runway winner in the StreetFood category, phuchka (pani puri, golgappa) can be prepared at home in 20 min. Read the post to learn how. [...]

# 1 August 2009 at 3:57 PM

Laura said:

Thanks so much for submitting. This looks wonderful.
Laura´s last blog ..Reflections On Gardening: Green Bean & Cherry Tomato Salad

[Reply]

# 3 August 2009 at 1:07 AM

Rashmi said:

Hi Sudheshna,

Golgappas here are mouthwatering, will definitely tryout sometime and thanks for sharing it here

Rashmi
Rashmi´s last blog ..Saagu/Mixed vegetable in spicy coconut gravy

[Reply]

Sudeshna Banerjee Reply:
October 4th, 2009 at 10:34 PM

Rashmi,
Thanks for dropping by and for the comment

[Reply]

# 4 October 2009 at 6:52 PM

bristi das said:

plz tell me how can i made phuchka BALL ????

[Reply]

Sudeshna Banerjee Reply:
December 12th, 2009 at 12:21 AM

Bristi,
Thanks for dropping by. I need to say this, I have never tried out making the balls at home, but its almost similar to making puris or luchis. All you need to do is take same amount of maida and suji and make the dough, then prepare the small round flat round with a rolling pin. Fry these in oil.

[Reply]

# 11 December 2009 at 8:43 PM

Anuradha said:

another tip to make the puchka masala really like what we get at home – You can add a bit of Cajun Seasoning to the alu .Infact a combination of chaat masala , cajun seasoning, tamarind paste, salt , dhania pata and cayenne pepper is THE formula for the puchka masala . Adjust according to your taste.

[Reply]

Sudeshna Banerjee Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 11:10 AM

Anuradha,
Thanks a lot for the wonderful tip.

[Reply]

# 17 December 2009 at 10:58 AM

Kalyan said:

this remined me of how I made phuchkas in the chaat counter of the Park Hyatt Goa buffet… never enjoyed a meal in a five star as much
Kalyan´s last blog ..Calcutta Phuchkas … and the world of Bengali nicknames

[Reply]

# 10 January 2010 at 1:43 PM

Prepare strawberry flavored Sandesh - recipe in easy steps | Cook like a Bong said:

[...] neighbourhood. Let alone different types of Sandesh. [You may find Phuchka though. Even if not, home made Phuchka is easy to [...]

# 6 February 2010 at 2:20 AM