Fuchka

Fuchka/Puska/Gol Gappe/Panipuri — whatever you may call them are my favourite street food/snack of all time.

Like last meal on earth kinda favourite. I make a beeline for it as soon as I get off the plane in Dhaka.

There is quite bit of debate on the origins of this fried puffs stuffed with umami goodness (I mean it is in the Indian subcontinent). But they are probably one of the most popular street foods in India/Bangladesh/Pakistan. Each region as there own version of these and their own names for them as well.

The traditional Bangladeshi version of it they use boiled yellow peas and spiced mashed potatoes as the filling with a sour and spicy tamarind water.

For mine I use chickpeas instead of yellow peas — only because it’s proven difficult for me to find the right yellow peas here in Austin. But if you can find them use ’em!

Ingredients

For the shells: *(makes about 12 shells)

• 1/2 cup semolina (shuji)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of neutral oil
• 5 tablespoon warm water

Tamarind water/sauce:

• 3 teaspoons of tamarind paste (you can find the paste in any Asian stores)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon black salt (bit lobon)
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup of a lime juice
• salt to taste

Filling:

• 1 medium potato (golden or red)
• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon toasted cumin
• cilantro (one handful chopped)
• 2 thai chili 🌶️
• 1 teaspoon chaat masala
• 1/4 teaspoon black salt (bit lobon)
• 1/4 teaspoon amchur (green mango powder)
• salt
• mustard oil (or any oil you want to use frankly)
• lime juice (one lime)

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Directions

1. ‍For the shells — combine the semolina and all-purpose flour in a bowl and add the water and mix until you can form a ball. Leave it in the bowl covered with a damp cloth or paper towel for 10 minutes to rest.
2. After 10 minutes cut the dough into two pieces and roll them out to almost where you can see your hand through the dough. It should be pretty thin almost paper thin. Take a one and a half inch cookie cutter and cut out circles.
3. Get the oil to about 350° and start slowly putting in the discs. Once you put it in you want to kind of poke at it so it starts to fluff up. When it doesn’t flop fluff up you will know that it’s probably a little too thick. ‍
4. For the tamarind water — combine the paste and water and bring it to a slow boil. After you take it off the heat add the chili flakes, coriander, cumin, salt, sugar, lime juice and black salt. ‍
5. For the filling — warm up the chickpeas in the microwave (I usually have frozen cooked chickpeas that I make a head of time and store or feel free to use canned chickpeas)and boil the potatoes make sure to salt the water before you boil it. And then in a bowl combine potato, chickpeas, red onion, coriander, cumin, salt, cilantro, Thai chilies, chaat masala, oil and  1/3 of the tamarind water and mash it all together.\
6. To put the fuchka together make a hole with your thumb on top of one of the puffs and stuff it with a teaspoon of the the potato and chickpea filling and two teaspoon of the tamarind water.

The easiest way to do it — is to make about six of them and wait to drizzle the tamarind water before you pop it in your mouth. And always make sure to eat each fuchka in one bite otherwise all the tamarind will drip down.