Panipuri

Panipuri (also known as phuchka or golgappa; see other regional names) is a deep-fried breaded hollow spherical shell, about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter, filled with a combination of potatoes, raw onions, chickpeas, and spices. It is a common snack and street food in the Indian subcontinent. It is often flavoured with chilli powder, chaat masala, herbs, and other spices.

The word pani means 'water', referring to the watery chutney used in the dish, and puri refers to rounds of deep-fried dough.^[1] The term pani puri is used in Mumbai^[1] and the rest of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,^[2] and Nepal.^[3]

The term phuchka (or fuchka) is used in Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal,^[4] including in Kolkata.^[1] The dish is called golgappa (plural golgappe) in North India, including in Delhi.^[2][1] It is known by many other regional names in the Indian subcontinent:

• Uttar Pradesh and Haryana: pani ke patashe (also spelt batashe)^[2][1]
• Nepal, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat: phulki^[2][5]
• Inland Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh: pakodi^[5]
• Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Hyderabad, Telangana: gup-chup^[5]
• Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh: padaka^[2][5]
• Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh: tikki^[5][a]

The puri used in panipuri is made using a thin circle of dough, about 3 to 6 centimetres (1.2 to 2.4 in) in diameter,^[6] which inflates when frying to form a hollow spherical shell that keeps its shape. It is most commonly made of semolina flour, though it may also be made of wheat flours, including maida and atta.^[7][1] The filling may contain mashed potato, chopped onion, peas, bean sprouts,^[1] chilli powder, chaat masala, and tamarind chutney.^[2] It is then dipped in chutney waters—a tamarind water and a spicy coriander leaf water—which are often chilled.^[1] The dish balances spiciness with the astringency and cooling of tamarind.^[8] The puri is punctured using a finger, then quickly filled with the filling and submerged in watery chutneys. It is then eaten by hand in one bite.^[1]

The brown water is known throughout India as khatta meetha pani, which translates to as "sweet and sour water". The main composition of this water is tamarind and jaggery. The hotter alternative to this water, which is also typically the standard dipping green liquid for this dish, is known as theeka pani, which means "spicy water". It consists of herbs like mint and coriander along with green chillies. Both waters can include a garnishing of boondi, a concoction made of fried chickpea flour. Some regional variations also use sweet flavours like fruit juices or dates, as well as many optional toppings like sev.

Panipuri is a chaat, a broad category of small snacks combining multiple ingredients, which are consumed in the early evening. Like other chaats, it is typically served by street food vendors, though versions also exist at restaurants. Street vendors of the dish, known as pani puri wallas, each use their own recipes and serve panipuri by each customer's order.^[1]

Panipuri is a perishable product whose ingredients may get contaminated with bacteria.^[3] The risk of foodborne illness is caused by poor hygiene during preparation and serving as well as contamination of water or raw vegetables^[9] as these are not cooked before consumption.^[10] Hygenic risks occur as vendors often store the water used for panipuri in open containers and serve the dish by hand.^[11] Several studies analysing panipuri served by street vendors have found bacteria such as E. coli, Staphylococcus, Salmonella, and Listeria.^[12] As panipuri is a popular street food, its safety has been seen as a public health issue.^[13]

According to culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal and Krivi Pathella, chaat originated in the North Indian region of what is now Uttar Pradesh.^[1] Panipuri may have originated in the Magadha region of Bihar.^[14] He also noted that it possibly originated from Raj-Kachori: an accidentally-made smaller puri giving birth to panipuri.^[15] Panipuri spread to the rest of India mainly due to the migration of people from one part of the country to another in the 20th century.^[1]

During the COVID-19 lockdown in India, homemade panipuri became popular as street foods were not available. In the five weeks following the first lockdown order on 25 March 2020, Google searches for panipuri recipes doubled, and the food was a common topic on social media.^[1]

Panipuri has evolved significantly over time. The dish consists of a small, hollow, fried wheat and/or semolina shell filled with spiced mashed potatoes and served with either a green or a brown-coloured dipping water; or both. This "water" is technically a diluted chutney. Over time, variations of the filling and the flavoured water emerged, reflecting the regional preferences and availability of ingredients.

Regional variations differ based on filling or the type of flour used in the puri.^[1] In West Bengal, phuchka is often flavoured with gandhoraj lemon.^[2] The panipuri in the town of Bangarapet, Karnataka, is renowned for its distinctive white-coloured pani. This recipe has been served by a vendor called Ramesh Chit Chat since the 1970s.^[16]

Upscale restaurants have developed versions with unusual ingredients, such as using guacamole as a filling or flavoured vodka as the water.^[1] Another upscale version is panipuri shots, an item that combines familiar Indian cuisine with international influences.^[17]

Panipuri is the most popular street food in the Indian subcontinent.^[3] It is popular in both urban and rural areas^[1] and among all ages and social classes.^[3][1] It is a highly popular fast food in India and in Nepal.^[18]

Panipuri is a traditional street food of Delhi, where vendors are typically migrants from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar.^[19] Compared to other street foods in the city, selling panipuri requires the lowest investment. Most vendors migrate to the city with the intent to enter this job, often learning to make the dish before migrating; this commonly involves chain migration as a panipuri vendor invites others within their social network to set up a set up a shop in the same neighbourhood.^[20] Some of the city's panipuri vendors expand to sell other chaats, such as papri chaat or aloo tikki.^[21] In Mumbai, panipuri is popular on beaches.^[22] Panipuri and other chaats are also popular in Mysore, in South India, alongside dishes more local to the region, having historically been sold by migrants from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar.^[23]

Stores sell pre-packaged puri shells for panipuri. Ready-to fry puri shells have also been available since around 2020.^[1]

• Sooji puri used in panipuri
• Homemade panipuri

• Bhel puri
• Chotpoti
• Dahi puri
• Pholourie
• Jian dui

• Bhattacharya, Suvendu (2023). Snack foods: processing and technology. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-819759-2.
• Hassan, Rafid; Shamim, Abu Ahmed; Ali, Masum; Amin, Md. Ruhul (September 2025). "What Drives Fast Food Consumption in Asian Low- and Middle-Income Countries?—A Narrative Review of Patterns and Influencing Factors". Public Health Challenges. 4 (3) e70095. Wiley. doi:10.1002/puh2.70095. ISSN 2769-2450. PMC 12320721. PMID 40762002.
• Thakur, Monika; Modi, V. K., eds. (2020). "Street Foods: Safety and Potential". Emerging technologies in food science: focus on the developing world. Singapore: Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-981-15-2556-8.
• Kundu, Aditi; Dutta, Sayak (2020). "Migration and Entry to Urban Street Food Market: A Study of Selected Street Food Vendors in Delhi". In Bandyopadhyay, Sumana; Pathak, Chitta Ranjan; Dentinho, Tomaz Ponce (eds.). Urbanization and Regional Sustainability in South Asia. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 39–54. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-23796-7_4. ISBN 978-3-030-23795-0.
• Loss, Christopher R.; Bouzari, Ali (15 March 2016). "On food and chemesthesis – food science and culinary perspectives". In McDonald, Shane T.; Bolliet, David A.; Hayes, John E. (eds.). Chemesthesis (1 ed.). Wiley. pp. 250–267. doi:10.1002/9781118951620.ch13. ISBN 978-1-118-95173-6.
• Misra, P. K. (December 2019). "Ethnographic Approach in Understanding Street Vendors in Modern India: A Plea for Research and Documentation". Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India. 68 (2): 175–190. doi:10.1177/2277436X19877311. ISSN 2277-436X.
• Mitra, Abhijit; Zaman, Sufia; Pramanick, Prosenjit (2022). "Blue Economy and Livelihoods in Indian Sundarbans". Blue Economy in Indian Sundarbans. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 175–259. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-07908-5_3. ISBN 978-3-031-07907-8.
• Nanjangud, Apoorva; Reddy, Madhavi (July 2020). "'The Test of Taste': New Media and the 'Progressive Indian Foodscape'". Journal of Creative Communications. 15 (2): 177–193. doi:10.1177/0973258619893804. ISSN 0973-2586.
• Pandey, Swati; Bhushan, Keshani; Kocher, Gurvinder Singh; Sahota, Param Pal (14 May 2024). "Microbiological assessment of ready-to-eat foods and drinking water sources as a potential vehicle of bacterial pathogens in northern India". Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 196 (6) 547. Bibcode:2024EMnAs.196..547P. doi:10.1007/s10661-024-12704-0. ISSN 0167-6369. PMID 38743188.
• Prapti, Bushra Benta Rahman; Ahmmed, Md. Tanjir; Proma, Nishita Ghosh; Aunu, Durratul Zanan; Shampa, Shumia Islam; Rahman, Aminur; Islam, Md. Shafiqul; Siddique, Mahbubul Pratik (December 2025). "Bacterial load assessment and multi-drug resistant Bacteria isolation from Fuchka in Mymensingh City, Bangladesh". One Health. 21 101170. doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2025.101170. PMC 12396293. PMID 40894952.