Pani Puri is a popular street snack in India. It comprises of a round, hollow puri fried crip and filled with a watery mixture of tamarind, chili and potato

Entymology
The name Pani Puri literally means water in dough. Pani is a hindi word for water and Puri or Poori is hindi word for dough. Since the dough is served with special spiced water it is known as Pani Poori.

Preparation
Pani Puri served in dry-saal leave based plateIn general any form of Phuchka or Pani Puri is a

hollow, puffed round dough - which tastes like a crunchy shell. The shell by itself is not a great tasting snack, unless it is stuffed with special spicy potato based stuffing and dipped in a masala water to fill up the hollow dough. Usually the stuffing needs to be prepared separately and a small hole is made on the top center of the dough with a finger to be able to insert the potato based stuffing inside the hollow dough. It is then dipped in the masala water and then served.

It is the associated stuffing and recipe of the masala water that makes it different. At different regions in India depending upon the local palette the stuffing and water is made differently. Based on these different recipes, they are also known by different names.

Presentation
Typically, the panipuris are served in 5-8 quantities - constituting a plate. The plate is constructed out of dry sal leaves and has triangular shape.Some places offer them premade into a whole plate but the popular way is to get them one at a time from a seller/server in the road. Everyone gets a small plate and stands around the servers cart. The server then starts making one panipuri at a time and gives it to each individual. The server has to remember everyone's preferences - one customer may want sweetened pani, another more of the filling, or more onions. He also has to keep a count of how many panipuris each person has had. The servers are renowned for remembering your choices and numbers even when serving an entire crowd. After you have had your fill of panipuris, you normally finish off with a cup of the pani, sweetened or sour depending on your taste.

Variations
For instance, in West Bengal it is called Foochka (Puchka). A lot of people love this particular recipe. An important observation is, these do not consist of any sweet or mint. In Maharashtra the recipe is usually a bit on the sweeter side. Other names are golgappa (plural golguppe). In certain central parts it is also known as Gupchup.

It is made from small, round, puffed, hard puris which form the 'container' or shell, and mashed potatoes and cooked chick-peas along with some finely cut onions, with salt and pepper added, and the chutneys are the stuffing. Normally, there are two chutneys, the hot and the sweet, each in a large round mud (or, nowadays, metal) vessel; although sometimes there is only one. The Chutneys are what is referred to by Pani, which means water in Hindi (the main ingredient of the Chutney), and they contain tamarind and fresh mint, as well as spices including cumin and black salt. The serving person will lightly crush open the puris on one side, put into it the stuffing, and then dunk it into both the chutneys and serve you the puri, which is now full. You have to put the entire puri into your mouth at one go and bite into it. This will release the barrage of different tastes into your mouth.

A recent emergence in the presentation of Pani Puri involves the use of Vodka as an intoxicating substitute for the more traditional stuffings. Typically, this serving method is reserved to privately-hosted parties, and is seldom (if ever) seen practiced among street vendors.

While many regions in India have their own variations of panipuri, the most famous ones are the ones from UP bhaiyyas (brothers) or Biharis who operate most of the chaat stalls all over the country.