Is there no way to avoid the golgappa?

Recently, I visited a South Indian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, where I encountered a golgappa infused with the distinct flavors of Kerala, featuring prawn, tamarind, and rasam among the appetizers.

Malayalis, along with many other South Indians, are re-embracing the golgappa, despite a Tamil Nadu minister's disparaging remark three years ago, referring to Hindi speakers as “pani puri sellers.” (He might benefit from broadening his horizons. Hindi speakers refer to the dish as golgappas or, in Uttar Pradesh, batashas. The term pani puri is specific to Mumbai.)

During my visit to Kochi two months ago, I experienced an entirely unique interpretation of the golgappa crafted by Suresh Pillai, Kerala’s renowned chef. Pillai incorporated buttermilk into his golgappas. It seemed unconventional, yet surprisingly, it worked remarkably well.

Punjabis, who typically have little connection to golgappa or Bharatanatyam, have now joined the trend. Some well-known Punjabi restaurants are now creatively filling golgappas with butter chicken and proudly showcasing this innovation. (This is not a fabrication; feel free to verify it online.)

What on earth is happening?

It appears that we are witnessing the golgappa being embraced as a culinary canvas across India. Each community is utilizing it to showcase its unique flavors.

This concept is not entirely new, upon reflection. In 2013, during the Singapore Gourmet Summit, which was then a premier food event in Asia (I wonder if it still takes place?), I experienced Sanjeev Kapoor’s menu at his pop-up and was captivated by his chicken pani puri. As with all of Sanjeev's creations, it was exceptionally successful.

Curious about the inspiration behind it, I asked him how he conceived the idea. He shared that long before achieving fame, while working as a chef in a restaurant in New Zealand, he became fascinated by the tartness of black grape juice and pondered whether it could replace the traditional pani in golgappas. He found that it could, leading him to experiment with the golgappa puri, resulting in the chicken version I enjoyed in Singapore.

Did Sanjeev Kapoor create the modern golgappa? He dismissed the notion with a laugh. When he first crafted his innovative golgappas in New Zealand during the 1990s, he genuinely thought he was introducing something novel. However, as he has gained more experience over the years, he has come to understand that there are very few truly original concepts in Indian cuisine; there is always a chef who has come before you.

Sanjeev asserts that the concept of a modern golgappa is so apparent that he is confident other chefs had already developed their own interpretations prior to his.

This is a common trait among exceptional chefs; they tend to be modest about claiming credit for new ideas. For example, the first time I encountered golgappas served in five shot glasses, each filled with a different type of pani, was in the inaugural menu of Delhi’s Indian Accent in 2009. This presentation style has since become commonplace in contemporary Indian restaurants worldwide.

I inquired with Manish Mehrotra, the founding chef of Indian Accent, whether he was the originator of the multi-pani golgappa served in shot glasses.

Similar to Sanjeev, Manish is hesitant to accept credit for any innovations. “In 2009, I featured this on my first menu with five distinct waters, but I believe it had been previously done in simpler individual glasses with green water by chefs in London,” he replied.

Manish is justified in declining to take credit for the vodka golgappa, although I personally believe he was the originator of the idea. This is because many individuals with innovative concepts often assert their originality without verifying whether similar ideas have been conceived by other chefs.

Consider the vodka golgappa, a dish that numerous establishments claim as their own. I first encountered it at the residence of the late Parmeshwar Godrej in Mumbai during the 1990s, a time when the notion of filling a golgappa puri with vodka seemed quite radical. My curiosity led me to inquire about the catering service, which turned out to be the Mumbai Taj, with the vodka golgappa being the brainchild of Hemant Oberoi. Although Hemant is not known for his modesty, he was unable to claim ownership of the concept due to the absence of social media at that time. Today, the inaugural vodka golgappa would undoubtedly become an Instagram phenomenon.

Furthermore, the various modern golgappas that Hemant introduced on the inaugural menu of Varq at the Delhi Taj are not credited to him, as record-keeping was not a common practice back then.

Nevertheless, it is chefs like Hemant, Sanjeev, and Manish who have successfully bridged the gap between street food and fine dining, demonstrating that all of it constitutes Indian cuisine. Gaggan Anand elevated this concept further with his Yoghurt Explosion, which utilized spherification techniques developed by El Bulli to encapsulate the flavors of papri chaat in a small, bursting ball of dahi. (It is worth noting that the original spherification method from El Bulli was not effective with dairy, prompting Gaggan to adapt it.) Today, street food frequently appears on contemporary Indian menus, sometimes to an excessive degree.

Returning to Sanjeev Kapoor’s observation: What drives chefs to continually seek to reinvent the golgappa?

I can identify two key reasons for this approach. First, why limit oneself to just one or two varieties of pani? As demonstrated by Sanjeev and Manish, a wide array of flavors can be utilized for pani. This concept has been further developed by Himanshu Saini at Dubai’s Trèsind Studio, where pani puri is a hallmark dish, and each menu features a new twist on the traditional recipe. (While the pani may vary, the puri remains constant.)

The second reason lies in the difference between culinary traditions. Unlike Western cuisine, India lacks a strong pastry heritage. European chefs can easily incorporate diverse flavors and ingredients into pies or pastry dishes. A prime example is Beef Wellington, while French chefs often create savory pithiviers or pies using choux pastry.

In contrast, Indian chefs do not have a similar option. This gap has led chefs like Vineet Bhatia to adapt Indian breads for innovative uses, such as placing bacon on naan or stuffing kulchas with mushrooms. Manish is credited with the creation of the butter chicken kulcha, and Singapore’s Revolver has introduced the smaller kulchette, adorned with luxurious toppings like caviar.

While this method has its constraints, it notably demands a high level of skill and creativity from the chef.

In comparison, utilizing puris is a more straightforward option. Ready-made puris are readily available, and even if one opts to make them from scratch, the process is not overly complicated. Consequently, chefs are increasingly employing golgappas as pastry alternatives for a variety of dishes, ranging from prawn curry to rogan josh. The underlying concept remains the same, but it is accessible to anyone.

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