From Puchka to Pani ke Batashe, the fabled journey of Golgappa

Google Doodle on Wednesday celebrated the beloved South Asian street food, which is popularly known as ‘pani puri.’ The occasion marked the anniversary of a restaurant in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, achieving a Guinness World Record on 12 July, 2015, for serving the highest number of pani puri flavors, offering a remarkable 51 options.

Pani puri is a popular snack, which consists of a crispy shell filled with a combination of potatoes, chickpeas, spices, and flavored water. It goes by various names, such as pani ke batashe, puchka, gol gappa, and has numerous regional variations across India. In Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, this delicacy is typically stuffed with boiled chickpeas, a mixture of white peas, and sprouts, all dipped in a tangy and spicy water. In Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and other northern Indian states, the treat filled with potatoes and chickpeas, immersed in jaljeera-flavored water, is known as gol gappa. West Bengal, parts of Bihar, and Jharkhand use the names puchkas or fuchkas for their version, which features tamarind pulp as a key ingredient. The origins of this popular snack can be traced back to the time of the epic Mahabharata. It is said that the newlywed Draupadi faced the challenge of feeding her five husbands. With only a few leftover potatoes, vegetables, and a small amount of wheat dough, Draupadi filled small fried dough pieces with the potato and vegetable mixture, thus inventing pani puri. In today’s interactive doodle game, players are tasked with assisting a team of street vendors in fulfilling orders for pani puri. The objective is to select the puris that match each customer’s desired flavor and quantity, ensuring their satisfaction. With inputs from agencies