Masala puri is an extremely popular south Indian street food that is readily and easily available almost everywhere in the southern states. Masala puri or Masalpuri is a local Indian snack usually eaten in the southern states of the subcontinent. It is prevalent in the down south states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. It is a type of chaat that is supposed to be spicy, but that entirely depends upon your preference. The spiciness can be controlled by increasing or decreasing certain ingredients.
What is a Chaat?
You must be wondering what chaat is. It is primarily a dish of Asian cuisine wherein one particular ingredient is used as a base, and other ingredients are mixed in their raw form over the base. The whole thing is then topped with green chutney meant to be spicy, tamarind, or meethi chutney is supposed to be sweet and curd.
Puri- What is that?
Puri is nothing but what is known as phulki in North India. Different names realize it in different places. Its other names are batashe, gupchup, etc.
Puri is taken as the base or primary ingredient to make masala puri.
It is super easy to prepare masala puri. To make masala puri, one should have the following ingredients:
Masala Puri Ingredients
- Two cups of white peas or chana
- Water to soak the white peas overnight and to pressure cook the peas
- Two chopped potatoes
- One teaspoon turmeric
- One teaspoon clove
To make the paste of masala puri, you need the following ingredients:
- Four tablespoon oil
- Two teaspoons of fennel seeds
- Ginger-garlic paste
- Chopped onions (two should be enough)
- Chopped tomatoes (One to two, depending on your preference)
- Mint leaves
- Coriander leaves
To prepare the curry, you need the following
- Oil
- Cumin seeds or jeera
- One to two bay leaves or tej patta
- One to two inches of cinnamon bark
- Cumin powder
- Garam Masala (it can be prepared at home, or you can use the one available in the market)
- Chili powder
- Dhaniya or coriander powder
- Salt to taste
- Two cups of water
Some other ingredients that would be required are:
- Green chutney (made from mint, coriander, lemon juice, and green chilies)
- Tamarind chutney
- Sev ( narrow vermicelli which is crispy and crunchy and made from gram flour)
- Chaat masala (using a ready-made chaat masala will save your time and effort).
Method to prepare Masala puri
- Soak the white peas overnight. The following day add the peas into a pressure cooker and add one medium-sized potato cut into four parts in the cooker with turmeric and cloves. Pressure cook the ingredients up to five to six whistles. Mash the potato once you take off the cooker from the stove while still inside the cooker. The consistency of the peas will also change. Keep this aside.
- In a pan, heat up to two to four tablespoons of oil and add two teaspoons of fennel seeds. Add two chopped onions, and two teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste, and saute. Further, add two chopped tomatoes and saute them till it becomes soft.
- Once this mixture is cool, transfer it to a blender, add mint and coriander leaves and make it puree. Add water if required but only enough to blend the mixture. This is the puree.
- Now in a skillet or kadhai, heat four tablespoons of oil. Once it is hot, add cumin seeds, bay leaves, and cinnamon, and saute it till the raw taste goes away. Add chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and one teaspoon of garam masala.
Saute on low flame till the spices become aromatic. Now add the puree and saute for five minutes.
- Now add the boiled peas and potato mixture. Add two cups of water, mix well, and add salt as per your taste (about two teaspoons should be enough).
- Adjust the consistency by adding water, covering the skillet with a lid, and letting everything simmer for about eight to ten minutes on low flame. After ten minutes, your curry for the masala puri is ready.
The final step
In a plate or bowl, crush around seven to eight puris, add a ladle full of the curry over it, top it with green chutney and tamarind chutney, and add chopped onions over it with coriander leaves and chopped tomatoes, and a pinch of chaat masala.
Your masala puri is ready to enjoy.
It is a delicious snack.
You can skip putting green chilies in the green chutney if you cannot digest spicy food. You can also add more red chili powder to your masala puri if you are a fan of spicy, rich food for which Indian food is famous and popular worldwide.
Since it is a time-consuming process to prepare masala puri at home, most people prefer to eat it outside. It is available as street food. It is one of the favorite snacks of Indian people. People expect it at every function like marriage ceremonies, receptions, or a small get-togethers. Enjoy the snack but do not have too much of it.
