It brings people together around the table. By Puvanaa D/O Lokanathan.
It may look like a simple dish, but it has a lot to uncover just from how it is consumed. “It [packs] a punch once you take your first bite,” says Ms Eunice Tan, 20, a product designer. Ms Eunice was one of the three people who recently had their first experience with pani puri.
On a rainy day in Singapore, I invited three people to try an Indian dish that they had never heard of before: pani puri. They were excited to try an Indian dish they had never heard of before. I got pani puri from the following stores in Little India: Kailash Prabat, RW Selmor and Ananda Bhavan.
Pani puri is a crispy potato-stuffed fried dough ball eaten with either spicy, tangy water or sweet tomato-based chutney. The crispy fried dough balls are also known as Puri.
As for the accompanying dip, each restaurant served their own preferred sauce.
“I like the mixture of different textures and also the crunchy shell of pani puri,” says Ms Zuaipy Farqi Santiago, 20, a student.
This dish originates from North India, where pani puri have their own identity in different places. According to a BBC article, in Delhi, pani puri are better known as Golgappa, whereas in Kolkata, they are known as Puchka.
To add on, all the pani puri sets were as affordable as they cost about $7.50 per set.
Ananda Bhavan served the dish with all the sauce and stuffing in the pani puri. This made all of the tasters agree that although they tasted good, they were soggy.
Two out of three liked the spicy tangy sauce with the pani puri. Ms Ann Tan, 21, a nurse, says she liked the sauce from Ananda Bhavan as it was sour and tangy, which caters to her liking.
However, they all agree that the best pani puri out of all the restaurants was the set from Kailash Prabat as they all feel that the sauces and stuffing complemented the dish.
They also agree that RW Selmor has the best pani puri as they are the crispiest out of the three restaurants.
Ms Tan says RW Selmor’s pani puris have “a good combination” of crispy dough balls and delicious sauce.
Overall, they loved the snack and see them as good additions to parties, given that they would be a good conversation starter because it gave all of them an opportunity to try something new from another culture.
They also like how the pani puri is not overpowering with its spices and it allows one to explore the dish by allowing them to pour the sauce and stuffing themselves. Ms Eunice adds that she likes that this dish gave her a hands-on experience.
Ms Zuaipy says: “I enjoy it and would eat it whenever!”
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