Paani Puri? I want Phuchkas!
More than being a Bengali by birth, I have been a Bengali by appetite and so the immense unique taste that I developed for food, more so, for Junk Food always left me searching and yearning for the Kolkata Phuchkas here in the cosmopolitan of Pune.
I remember the first time I tried the Paani Puri in Pune about two years back, it left me wondering why did they (read : Paani Puri Walas) combine the extreme hot and the cold. The hot boiling Ragda which they put inside the Puri never appealed to me and so my search for a Phuchka Wala in Pune continued and until today evening when I chanced upon one all the way from the City of Joy, Kolkata, opposite to the famous Coffee Stop in Model Colony.
The Ragda filling used in Maharashtra.
The filling for a phuchka is made with a mixture of mashed potatoes, assorted spices, tamarind juice, lemon and coriander put together in proportion. After the mixture is put into the phuchka, it is then dipped into raw tamarind water and it is then served on a small bowl made of dried leaf.
From a distance I could make out that the man had his phuchkas placed in the shape of a huge turban wrapped typically in a huge red muslin cloth. Expecting a “No” as an answer, I still asked asked him whether Churmur, another famous Kolkata junk food made by them by crushing dry phuchkas with boiled mashed potatoes and other spices with an extra dash of raw tamarind water. Surprisingly he had that too.
The phuchkas are priced at a nominal 5INR per plate and with that comes along an extra dry so that the taste of the snack lingers on for a considerably long period of time.
The experience is fulfilling especially for those who are accustomed to a potato mixture inside the puris instead of the hot ragda. So all you people who wants to take a first hand at the Paani Puri ala Kolkata go ahead treat your taste buds and all my dear Kolkatans, there is another reason to rejoice after the famous Oh! Calcutta.
Saiyona Ghosh
[ratings]
[image courtesy: http://wikipedia.com]
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