Pani puri: The Indian snack that Draupadi supposedly invented
If you hear that people are eating golgappe, phuchka, pani ka batashe, gupchup or phulki, know that they are all savouring the same Indian delicacy. Well, it's panipuri! It’s understandable if you are already craving this mouth-watering snack and can’t wait to head out and have it.
Panipuri is a tiny, crispy and hollow ball of fried dough, usually filled with potato stuffing. This stuffing is incomplete without the delicious flavoured water in it! The spicy jal jeera water, sweet chutney or tamarind water gives it that ‘chatpatta’ (spicy yet tangy) taste. Often considered the king of Indian street food, panipuri is both diverse and delicious in nature. The different versions of panipuri can be the story of another day. Today, we have something really interesting for you: The origin stories of this lip-smacking dish. There are in fact two versions, both rooted in Indian history and mythology. The most commonly believed one claims that Draupadi made it for her husbands. Let's explore both the stories.
Magadha’s phulkis
Get on to a time machine and rewind back to the 6th BC Indian kingdom of Magadha. Well, legends would have us believe that your favourite snack originated there, now known as Southern Bihar. This is where panipuri’s oldest form, phulki, was born. Back then, the crispier puris were apparently way smaller in size and presumed to have had potato fillings. However, whether or not it was dunked in flavoured water is still a mystery.
Jalapatra of the Mahabharata
Now, let’s explore the more popular version of panipuri’s birth story. For centuries, people have believed that Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandava brothers from The Mahabharata invented the dish. As we all know, the Pandavas, Draupadi and their mother Kunti were all exiled after having lost their kingdom during a game of dice with the Kauravas. Now, legends believe that during this exiled period, Kunti had challenged newly-wed Draupadi to prepare a single dish. This food was to be made out of scarce resources to satiate the hunger of all her husbands. Draupadi was only provided with some leftover potato stuffing and a small amount of dough and the outcome was Jalapatra or what we now identify as panipuri.
Wait, that’s not the end of the story! Legends also have it that Kunti was so pleased with her daughter-in-law’s expertise, that she had blessed Jalapatra to be immortal. Well, looks like it worked out after all!