Try walking past a stand selling phuchka (or panipuri,gup chup, gol gappa or pani patase, whichever name you are familiar with ) and try resisting the urge to have at least 5 or 10 of them. I call them phuchka, as of course if you are there in Kolkata you will not think of any other name. It is said that the smell of phuchka triggers your taste buds and then the temptation emerges to gulp them one after the other.
The names-Golgappa, Panipuri and Phuchka are the rulers in the field. I think the difference between them is what goes inside and the water. The spices make all the difference. You will find jal jeera, pudina and saunth, flavored water in Golgappa. I am yet to try Mumbai’s Pani puri, but what I have heard is that the water served is not so tangy.
Here, I am not trying to analyze which is better as a Mumbaikar will vouch for Paanipuri, Dilliwala for Golgappa and a Kolkatan for phuchka. The winner here is the snack and it is so popular that people brag about how many phuchkas they can eat. There is another unique aspect you generally don’t fall sick having phuchkas in moderate quantity. The tamarind water does the trick.
Now to come to the calorie intake, well four phuchkas equal to 100 calories. Not much at all. Feel good and gulp some right now.
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