I was walking in a narrow and busy alley in Kathmandu. My Nepalese friend accompanied me. I chanced upon a guy standing beside a food cart. He was swallowing a rounded, brown, crispy-looking item. He filled it with a greenish liquid, then asked the vendor for another and then several more until he was satisfied.

I was very curious. I asked my host friend what the stuff was. I also asked why the man couldn’t stop himself from having several of those crispy brown things. I was told it’s a famous Indian delicacy, Pani Puri which is becoming popular in Nepal due to the influence of its neighbor country.

Pani Puri is a popular street snack in India. It is a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of water, tamarind, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. It is small enough to fit completely in one’s mouth. Pani comes from the Hindi word for water and puri (or poori) is the name of an Indian bread made by frying dough in oil. Source: Wikipedia

Since the man enjoyed eating his Pani Puri, I was encouraged to give it a try however my friend doesn’t advise that I eat Pani Puri served by street vendors. Instead she brought me to Angan a popular vegetarian restaurant chain and sweets & pastry shop at New Road near Durbar Square.

The place was so busy and full as it was Father’s Day which by the way is a big day for Nepalese. I asked my friend to teach me the proper way of eating Pani Puri. There’s no hard and fast rule on how a person should eat Pani Puri but this is how my Nepalese friend do it:

Here’s a step-by-step process on how to enjoy Pani Puri as demonstrated by my friend 🙂

STEP 1: Crack open the Puri using a spoon or fork

Step 2: Stuff  Puri with potato and chick peas

Step 3: Add chutney (chili, asala etc) to flavour

Step 4: Add Pani 

Step 5: Consume the Pani Puri at once

I religiously followed my friends’ instructions on how to eat my first Pani Puri and I wasn’t disappointed….The combination of different textures was remarkable. Crispy puri, smooth chutney, and coarse potato and chickpeas created an amazing experience. The contrasting flavors of chili and tamarind water were indescribable!

It was so good that I can up to now still remember how it feels and taste. A must try for first timers in India or Nepal 🙂