Masala Puri - spicy

A favorite chaat dinner of ours. This was introduced to us by our friend Aparna in Austin,TX. She is a very good friend of mine and a lovely person too. Her husband Ravindra and Vivek used to work in the same place. She made it for me when I was pregnant with Arya and I fell in love with it from the very first bite.
The masala is made with onions and the filling is the same as we would use for most other chaats. It is a little time consuming but not difficult to make. I haven't made it for a long time and we decided to have it for dinner the weekend my brother-in-law was here. It was good and it was the first time he had it and he said it was good too.
It is a fun dish to make especially with kids around, as they are sure to love to play with the golgappas and have fun doing the fillings....So here u go and you can enjoy it too.

You need:-

1.Golgappas -- store bought is fine - this amount will serve upto 75.
2.Onions - 4 medium (red or white)
3.Tomatoes - 2 nos
4.Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
5.Green chilies - 3 nos
6. Elaichi - 2 nos
7.Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
8.Cinnamon - 1 inch
9.Cloves - 4 nos
10.Cashewnuts - 10 nos
11.Cilantro - 1 bunch
12. Mint leaves - a few
13.Coconut - half a cup
14.Tamarind - 1 tsp
15.Peas or chick peas - 1 cup
16.Amchur - 1/2 tsp
17.Pani puri masala - 1/4 tsp
18.Salt to taste
18.Cooking oil - 1 tbsp

For the filling:-

Onion - 1 medium chopped fine
Tomatoes - 2 chopped fine
Carrot - 2 grated
Peanuts - boiled (optional)
Lime - 1 cut into wedges


Method:-

1. Cut the 4 onions into medium sized pieces and pour a little water and put it in the cooker for 1 whistle.







2. Once the onions are done put them in a blender and puree them and keep it aside.





3. In a mixie take the ingredients 3 -10 and grind them into a fine paste by adding water if required.








4. In a deep non-stick vessel pour the cooking oil and when hot add the ground onions and after five minutes add the ground paste and keep stirring until the raw smell of the masala goes.







5. Take ingredients 11-14 and grind them to a paste and now add it to the masala.








6. It is okay to add a little water if necessary, but remember that the masala has to be really thick.
7. While it is simmering add two - three pinch of amchur to it and let it simmer until it becomes thick and the aroma arises. Then switch it off and set it aside.







8. In the meantime in a kadai boil the chick peas / peas with water, a little salt, a pinch of amchur and pani puri masala.
9. When fully done add two big spoons of the gravy to it and let it simmer for a while.
10. You can either smash it with a potato smasher or run it in the blender.








11. Now make holes in the golgappas and set it aside.









12. To fill them follow it by first adding the smashed peas or chick peas, onions, tomatoes, carrots and then pour the warm masala generously over it and just squeeze the lime a little for a tangy flavor and eat it warm. If you like to add 2 or 3 peanuts before pouring the masala.
I poured a little masala in the golgappas, but it will better to pour some more! Its ok to get our fingers messy...
Have fun eating it!