ISO Pani Puri

[ScubaSteve]

The Kebab Factory had pani puri as a special last night and i really liked it. i must confess that if it wasn't for Zimmern or Bourdain i would not of known what to do with this when it arrived and my DC was Very Impressed that i did know so i picked up a few points for being a channel surfer.

as i've never seen this anywhere else around i was wondering if there's somplace i'm missing that does this delish little treat.

anyone?

tia,
SS

p.s. check out the attached pic, seems their proofreader had the day off.

[chickendhansak]

They have it at Punjabi Dhaba in Inman Square, though I haven't tried it there.

It's often part of Kebab Factory's lunchtime buffet too.

[gujubond]

I got my fix for pani puri when I went home (CA). I'm usually not a fan of restaurants serving chaat, its never any good. I am more a fan of the sketchy window at the back of an indian grocery store selling cart-style chaat. We have plenty back home, but does anyone know of something like that out here? even if its reasonable at best? Thanks.

[galleygirl]

For exactly what you describe, the sketchy window in the back of an Indian grocery store, I grequent the Indian Grocery Store at Trolley Sq. I think that's the name of the strip mall on Rt.9, in Framingham, right before Red Pepper...HUGE amount...

[galangatron]

indian food and spices in trolley square on route 9 in framingham. they also have really good jalebi made in-house. one of the best snacks i've had all year

[oniontears]

A number of spots offer pani puri. Staying the general Somerville/Cambridge area, check out Dosa Factory in Shalimar, Tanjore, Namaskar (where they are known by their alternative name, gol gappa), and Diva has dahi puri (a variation with yogurt) on their $1 tapas menu. I've never tried any of these because I'm pretty skeptical of all chaat in the Boston area, but I do love pani puri and usually just make it at home because its a sure thing. But please let us know if you try any of other spots and how they compare to KF!

[another_adam]

I think they're pretty common on menus of Indian places around-- a few specific places that comes to mind where I've had them in moderately recent memory are Punjab in Arlington, Tanjore in Harvard Sq, Namaskar in Davis, and Rani in Brookline. Sometimes it's called 'golgappa' (e.g., at Namaskar)

You can also buy pre-packaged puri at most Indian markets (for sure I've gotten them at the one in Central Sq, for example), which you can use to make them at home! They're not as good as fresh, but after a little visit to the toaster oven, they refresh quite presentably.

[galangatron]

any indian restaurant with a large selection of chaat should have it. i had it most recently at bombay mahal in waltham. rangoli had really good pani puri but they closed earlier this year