Indiyeah–The Phuchka Man

The Girl with the Phuchka Tattoo

This is the story of a girl who loves phuchka. The girl who thought she’d marry a phuchka wala when she turned 13.

The girl who wished to have the words “phuchka” carved on her epitaph upon her death. The girl who wanted a tattoo of phuchka on her heart. That girl is writing this post today.

My love for phuchka is famous. Even my in-laws joked that they’d have phuchka at my wedding reception, much to the shock of my Grandmother! Who still believes I will someday elope with a phuchka wala.

But why elope now? When I can make the meanest phuchka at home! And as a fringe benefit, I am married to a guy who is equally passionate about phuchka. Our getting-to-know-each-other over phone, emails, instant messenger was somehow always about that four letter word: F-O-O-D. Followed by the mention of the inevitable phuchka. After we got married, many times we’d do pillow-talk about phuchka too. Okay, I made that up.

I am a pretty tough girl when it comes to eating phuchka. I completely forget my hoity-toity convent education and get downright mainstream when it comes down to gulping phuckka after phuchka with élan. My personal best is a whopping 30!

I am also pretty touchy about calling my phuchka by the correct name. Its not pani-puri or gol gappa or gup-chup. Its phuchka. Pure unadulterated phuchka. The kinds you get on the streets of Calcutta.

I make the dipping water or phuchka’r jol by grinding together few sprigs of fresh coriander and a couple of green chillies. I then mix this paste with some tamarind pulp, kala namak, a pinch of red chilli powder, bhaja moshla and lemon juice. And pour enough water to fulfill the needs of dunking each stuffed phuchka in the water and then drinking little shot glasses of it on its own. You can throw in a few cubes of ice too. Just for special effects.

For the potato filling of the phuchka, I swing between using cooked lal chola (red gram) and yellow peas. I personally prefer the version with cooked yellow peas. Begin by pressure cooking the yellow peas (soaked overnight) with just enough water to cover them. One or two whistles should do it.

Now take ladlefuls of the cooked yellow peas and mix with boiled potatoes, chopped coriander, finely chopped green chillies (or green chilli paste if you can handle it!), bhaja moshla, kala namak, lemon juice and spoonfuls of the “water” we have already prepared. Give it a good mash, but just enough to retain the shape of the yellow peas. And please use your hand to do this.

It may be phuchka blasphemy for some, but I also add some chopped red onion to my potato-yellow peas mixture. I like it this way. You can completely give the onions a miss.

With all our bombastic, homemade ingredients now ready, its time to set your mouth on a flavourful fire.

Since I am not that enterprising, I choose to use store-bought phuchka. Convenience does have its own charm. Poke each phuchka right at the center with your thumb. You will probably end up crushing at least two or three if you are a first timer. Pretend to be a pro. For phuchka’s sake!

Stuff a little of that potato mixture, quickly dunk in the spicy tamarind water and directly put the ready-to-eat phuchka in your mouth. This should happen in seconds. No dilly-dallying. Else you will not only make the phuchka soggy with the wet ingredients, you will also deprive yourself from a burst of flavours in your mouth by two nanoseconds.

So go ahead. Pop that phuchka in quickly. For next awaits you is a plateful of alu kabli.

P.S. Did you realize there was no story to tell in this post? I just wanted to way lead you into looking at some phuchka photographs.

Calcutta Churmur Chaat

There are two things you need to have to enjoy street food in India – stomach and attitude. One thing that I can eat any time of the day is phuchka. I am not selling myself high when I say I can out-eat myself each time I have phuchka. I know there is nothing elegant about opening your mouth wiiiiiiiide and eating phuchka if you have people staring at you. There comes your attitude, I know my husband would quip!

But even street food can have its share of style. To add a touch of health and elegance to leftover phuchka, try making this Churmur Chaat. The word “churmur” literally means a crunch sound usually made inside your mouth! “Chaat” is Hindi for a medley of ingredients ranging from fresh or boiled fruits and vegetables predominantly potato, cooked chickpeas, black gram, or sprouts, a commonly used garnish of fresh coriander, green chilies, red onions, and a bevy of spices and chutneys. Chaat usually has a mix of sweet and savory taste to it. Often served with a dash of cool yogurt drizzling all over it!

Eating chaat in India is undoubtedly an unforgettable experience - watching the chaat wala scoop, pinch and ladle out each ingredient. You look at him all mesmerized as he “assembles” everything with the right balance of spices, and plates out the most delectable, colorful assortment of ingredients neatly lined in his push cart or small “redi”.

Since I cannot travel to India each time I have a chaat-urge, which is pretty much every other day, here is how I make Churmur Chaat at home!

Ingredients for Churmur Chaat are:

2 medium size potatoes, boiled
Quarter cup black gram, soaked overnight and boiled
Quarter cup green moong, sprouted overnight and boiled
1 small red onion, finely chopped
Handful of cilantro, finely chopped
4-5 green chilies, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
2 teaspoons bhaja moshla (dry roasted cumin and coriander seeds, roughly crushed)
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon Chaat masala
Half teaspoon black salt
8-10 readymade gol gappas
Roughly slice the boiled potatoes in a bowl, add the boiled green moong and black gram. Add the chopped onions, green chilies, and cilantro.
In a small bottle, add the tamarind pulp, lemon juice, red chili powder, bhaja moshla, chaat masala, black salt and very little water. Shake well to get some citrus action going. This is the instant chutney I make to drizzle over the chaat.
Pour this chutney over the potato mixture and mix well. Check on the seasoning and make necessary adjustments. I like to have a a good balance of tang and heat in my Churmur Chaat.

Just before you are about to serve, crush gol gappas between your the palms of your hand, and lavishly top the potato and spice mixture. Do not mix. The phuchka wala in India will usually use broken phuchkas or the ones which haven’t fluffed up.

Serve immediately as the wet ingredients will turn the crushed phuchkas/ gol gappas soggy.

Someone very wise once rightly said, this is how you experience an explosion of taste and texture in your mouth on the streets of Bengal. And that someone is me!

Isn't it a thing of beauty – the Calcutta Churmur Chaat waiting to happen! From my kitchen to yours…bring home street food.

Phuchka @ 4:40 PM

Do I sound too smug when I say that Phuchka is the world’s best street food!?

Spicy, tangy, crunchy, and mouth-wateringly delicious. That’s phuchka for you. If you are not already overwhelmed by the cumulative taste quotient of this Indian (Bengal and Bihar) snack, I’d like to delve deeper into how I like to eat my phuchka. And yes, my post is all about phuchka and not gol gappa, paanipuri, gup-chup, pani bataasha or whatever other names it is known as in the other parts of India.I have had the good fortune of having phuchka in Calcutta, Patna, Jamshedpur, New Delhi (CR Park) and yes, in Bangalore too! Right in the heart of Banerghatta Road by a phuchka wala from Benaras. It was my daily ritual to cross the street from where I worked, and walk to this small shack which sold nothing but phuchkas. Pavlov’s Theory would repeat itself Monday through Friday 4:40 PM on the dot.

I think I still have a deep relationship with phuchka. Else how would you explain my marrying a man who relates to my phuchka sensibilities, and demonstrates his love for me and phuchka by using the same endearments.

No matter how many phuchkas I eat, I crave for more. And today I have been finally successful in taking pictures of this homemade street food before P and I smacked every one of them off.I get the phuchkas (readymade) from the Indian stores. In India too, I never attempted to make them at home. I guess no clear-thinking person would!

Today I diverted from my usual stuffing of black gram and moong sprouts to only the latter. I was pretending to make my puchkas “healthy”!
To enjoy this street food at home, you need:

1 box of readymade gol gappas/ phuchkas
100 gms black gram / chana soaked overnight
100 green moong soaked overnight
1 small onion finely chopped (optional)
1 large potato boiled
100 gms fresh coriander
100 gms mint leaves
3-4 green chilies
2-3 tsps tamarind pulp
50 gms jaggery
1 tbsp bhuna masala (aka the quintessential Bengali “bhaja moshla”; equal proportions of jeera and dhania dry roasted and coarsely ground)
1 tsp red chili powder
½ tsp dry ginger powder
Chaat masala
Black salt
Lemon juice

Make the green chutney with fresh coriander, mint, green chilies, salt and lemon juice. Blend all these ingredients in a smooth chutney and keep aside.

I use this green chutney to mix in the the water filling of the phuchkas.

In a saucepan, mix the jaggery and tamarind with salt, red chili powder, dry ginger powder and bhuna masala. Boil for 10 mins, stirring frequently to make a sweet/sour chutney. Cool and keep aside to add to the water for the phuchka with the green chutney.

Boil the black gram and moong and strain. Make a filling for the phuchka with mashed potato, boiled gram and moong, chopped onions, chopped green chilies, chopped fresh coriander, chaat masala, bhuna masala, red chili powder, black salt and lemon juice. Mix them well.
Now make the phuchka dip water with cold H2O (some ice cubes thrown in), green chutney, tamarind- jaggery chutney, bhuna masala, black salt, red chili powder, chaat masala and very finely chopped fresh coriander.
And if you can handle the heat, top with some some finely chopped green chilies.

If you do not have fresh mint leaves or coriander leaves, you can also alternate with ice-cubed mint leaves. I usually preserve extra mint leaves this way.Fill the phuchkas with the potato filling and the chutney water and have a blast! I use my shot glasses to serve the spicy water, and its quite an experience taking shots of it!
We have tried mixing tequila and vodka in the filling-water at different occasions, and each time I have had to drain it down the sink only to make the water filling once again.

Lesson learnt: Do not mess with the real deal.

See more phuchka photos here.