What is Masala Puri
To know about Masala Puri you need to know first about pani puri. Pani puri is the original indian street food small bite snack which is a blend of textures, flavors and temperatures all in a single bite. My friends who sometimes give me a hard time about composed small bites being not filling or very complex are contrastingly the same ones who are huge fans of pani puri. What people sometimes forget is that this one bite has crunch, mush and liquid textures with sweet sour salty flavors and heady aromatics of herbs along-with interplay of cool and hot temperatures on the palate in one single bite. A crisp puri which is the shell is filled with warm mixture of potato and lentils and then finished with a mint and tamarind dominated sweet and sour dressing which is then supposed to be eaten in a single bite. And then comes the next one. Its like eating a shot! And when you are done if you are truly a seasoned pani puri eater you ask the pani puri artisan to fix you a masala puri. You do this at this point affectionately calling the chef as “bhaiyya” (brother).
This last bite, the masala puri is a dry bite. It is the crispy puri shell packed with some onion and cilantro and dusted with a very simple but aromatic blend of spices designed to leave you with a titillating memory of the experience on your taste-buds. This last bite of this masala puri is considered almost a right if you have ordered pani puri. But it is a brilliant snack on its own. And we many times just fix us a six pack of masala puris on their own!
The Masala Puri Masala
This masala is a great example of aromatics. You would have heard that it is a great practice to toast your whole spices before grinding them. This is showcased in the making of this masala. When spices are added to a dish and then boiled or cooked this toasting and last minute grinding could be sacrificed for convenience sometimes. However in this case this last minute toasting and then fresh grinding really makes this dish. It combines the aromatics of this mix and of the fresh cilantro.
The beauty of toasted and fresh ground coriander
Also coriander is the spice to which toasting and then grinding last minute seems to make a world of difference. You may not notice the explicit difference as much with other spices as you would with coriander. Go ahead and smell coriander seeds, smell some coriander powder sitting in the cabinet and then toast some seeds, grind them and then smell them. The volatile oils are released and this needs to be used right away if you want to capture the best of this spice. You will be treated with a heady orange bitter or burnt orange kind of aroma.
We keep this Masala very very simple. Its mostly coriander seeds, a bit of cumin, white/black pepper and salt. We then also sprinkle some mild chili powder for some heat. The chopped onion and cilantro mixture is added to the cracked puris and then pinches of our fresh ground masala are thrown in. From here its straight to the mouth. Many people add chat masala as well however we feel the unique aromatics of coriander seeds are to be celebrated here and keep this masala minimal.
A tribute to Anand Patankar
A couple of years back i made acquaintance with a very passionate artist named Anand Patankar. He was a foodie as well as a brilliant photographer. Alas fate conspired to take him away from us far too early and this post is a tribute to him. He had posted a picture he had taken of masala puri he had enjoyed. It was a brilliant picture taken with his cell phone and the puris almost feel like they would jump out of the screen so you could have them. Without any words it conveyed the brilliance of the dish, its composition and am sure made many people travel the breadth of pune to have masala puri’s. I retained the picture as an example of photography which makes simple things instantly crave-able and captures the beauty of food to be conveyed to all. I tried to recreate the puri’s in that picture but i never will be able to match his talent at photography and he will always be greatly missed.
Masala Puri
- Total Time: 12 mins
- Yield: Serves 2
Description
Masala Puri is the dry puri everyone wants at the end of a pani puri eating binge. We make them as a snack on their own.
Ingredients
- 12 pani puri puris
- 2 Tbs Coriander seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 white peppercorns (substitute with black)
- 1 tsp salt or more to taste
- 1 tsp mild red chili powder
- 0.5 cup chopped onion
- 0.5 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Add the coriander seeds to a dry pan and toast on low to medium heat shaking constantly and occassionaly lifting pan off heat till the coriander seeds are warm, dry and slightly aromatic. Then cool in a dish.
- Do the same with cumin seeds and the peppercorns
- Add above to a coffee grinder and grind till the coriander seeds are ground with only a few coarse shells present
- Mix in the salt and half the red chili powder
- knock the weaker side of the pani puri puri with a finger to make a hole in the puris
- Mix chopped onions and chopped cilantro
- Add the onions and cilantro to the puri shells
- Then stuff and sprinkle some of the ground masala using one to two pinches on the puri
- Dust with remaining chili powder and serve
- Prep Time: 2 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: snack
- Cuisine: Indian
