What is pani puri? Why a Google Doodle is celebrating the street food today and how to play the game

Posted By: Shweta Khandal

Posted On: July 12, 2023

Google is celebrating pani puri, a popular Indian street food, with today’s Google Doodle. Pani puri is also known as fucha, phuchka, gupchup, or golgappa, depending on where you are in the region.

To honor this delicious snack that is loved by many, Google has created a fun game, just like the one they made for bubble tea earlier this year.

The game is like Candy Crush and challenges players to fulfill customers’ pani puri orders by clicking on the right flavors.

Today is a special day to celebrate pani puri because something amazing happened on this date in 2015. In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, a restaurant called Indori Zayka and Dainik Bhaskar made history by serving the most flavors of pani puri. They offered a whopping 51 different options!

What is Pani Puri?

Pani puri is a tasty snack that consists of a crispy flatbread shell called puri. The puri is fried until it becomes crispy and then stuffed with yummy ingredients like potatoes, chickpeas, spices, or chillies. To make it even more delicious, it is filled with flavored waters called imli pani.

This snack has different names and variations in different parts of India. In Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, it is known as pani puri.

The puri shells are often filled with boiled chickpeas, a mixture of white peas, and sprouts. They are then dipped in tangy and spicy pani, which adds a lot of flavor to the snack.

In some northern Indian states like Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and New Delhi, pani puri is called gol gappe or gol gappa. They fill the puri shells with potato and chickpeas and dip them in jaljeera-flavored water.

In West Bengal, parts of Bihar, and Jharkhand, they call it puchkas or fuchkas, and they use tamarind pulp for flavoring.

Pani puri has its roots in chaat, which is a similar savory street food made from fried dough, potato, chickpeas, and other tasty ingredients.

It is believed that pani puri originated in the northern Indian region, particularly in what is now Uttar Pradesh. During the early 20th century, as people migrated, pani puri spread across the subcontinent.

The legend of pani puri’s creation can be found in the ancient Sanskrit epic called the Mahabharata. The story goes that Draupadi, the main character, had to feed her family, who were living with very limited resources during their exile.

She only had some leftover vegetables and enough dough to make one puri. So, instead of making a single large meal, she made many smaller bites, which eventually became pani puri.

How do I play the Google Doodle game?

The Google Doodle game is about helping a street vendor serve pani puri to customers. When a customer comes to the food stall, you need to click on a specific number of each flavor in a row. If the flavors are not next to each other, the order won’t be successful.

You have the option to play the game with a timer for some excitement or choose a relaxed mode if you prefer a more laid-back experience.

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