Pani Puri

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Fine semolina (rava)
• 1/2 cup Maida (all-purpose flour)
• 2 Tablespoons Urad dal flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 pinches Baking powder
• Ice water or drinking soda (to knead the dough)
• Oil (as needed, for frying)
• 1 cup Mature mint leaves
• 1/3 cup Coriander leaves
• 1 Tablespoon Salt (level)
• 4 Green chili
• Tamarind (egg-sized, soaked in water)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon Grated jaggery
• 1 Teaspoon Black salt (kala namak) (sold as a block; buy and grind it yourself)
• Tamarind (large-lemon-sized, for the sweet chutney)
• 1/4 cup Grated jaggery (for the sweet chutney)
• 5 Dates (pitted)
• 1 Teaspoon Dried raisins
• 1 Teaspoon Salt (for the sweet chutney)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Chili powder (for the sweet chutney)
• Potato (boiled and diced small, for serving)
• Whole moong beans (boiled, for serving)

Instructions

1. Roast the urad dal in a pan until light pink. Grind to a powder in a mixer and sift it. Combine this with the maida, rava, salt, and baking powder in a basin. Open a bottle of soda and sprinkle it in little by little, kneading into a stiff chapati-like dough. Cover with a damp cloth and rest for 10 minutes. Beat and knead the dough well until it becomes elastic.
2. Shape small marble-sized balls of dough and roll them into tiny puris. Fry each puri in oil as soon as it's rolled, without letting it sit and dry out. Frying gently for a while over low heat is what makes them crisp. (Roll the puris neither too thin nor too thick -- that's what makes them puff up properly.)
3. Mint chutney: Grind the mint leaves, coriander leaves, salt, green chilies, and soaked tamarind into a smooth paste. Mix in a litre of water and strain. Stir in a little dried mango powder, then squeeze in the juice of one lemon.
4. Sweet chutney: Soak the tamarind in water. Add the raisins and chopped dates to the same water and cover. After a while, add the grated jaggery, salt, and chili powder, grind in a mixer, and strain through a coarse-mesh strainer. Bring the chutney to a boil until it thickens slightly, then remove from heat.
5. To serve: Boil the potatoes and the whole moong beans. Peel the potatoes and cut into small pieces, sprinkle with salt and chili powder. Drain the boiled moong beans, season with salt and chili powder, and set aside. Take a puri, make a small hole in the top center, and put in a little of the moong and potato pieces. Add a teaspoon of the sweet chutney, then pour in the pani (mint chutney thinned with water) and eat immediately.