‘We cannot live without pani puri’: how Indian street food thrives in Abu Dhabi

The man gently picks up the small, hollow puff of bread, making a hole in the top using his thumb. Methodically, he fills the deep-fried snack with chickpeas, sweet chutney, raw onion and potato chunks, finishing it off with a sprinkling of chaat masala before drowning it in a soupy liquid, deep green in colour.

Placed in a small tin bowl, the contents spilling down its sides, he passes it through the window where a hand reaches out, scooping the snack into the mouth of its owner in one swift motion.

Over the course of the day at Bhavna restaurant, housed in a small building behind Al Ain Tower on Hamdan Street, between 300 and 400 portions of pani puri will pass through the small window, from maker to eater.

A popular Indian street food, many a pani puri – which roughly translates to water bread – is consumed across the UAE.

Aside from satisfying a hunger pang – each portion consists of six of the carefully created snacks – there is a social element to pani puri, too, says Dubai resident Darshana.

“Pani puri is like the ultimate snack. It’s a great pastime food, the kind where you gather [to eat] with your friends and discuss work and life.”

Original article by Zaineb Al Hassani

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‘We cannot live without pani puri’: how Indian street food thrives in Abu Dhabi