One of the most famous street food, I have experienced so far is Gol Gappa. People love it and have different names like Pani Puri, Pani ke Batashe etc. But in the real sense, this street food has been able to win the hearts of all the food lover, be he from any part. If you are a street food lover, and you menu list doesn’t have gol gappa into, you need to edit it again because this street food has its own domination when it comes to Indian street food. Moreover, these are omnipresent. You walk the streets of market, and you will find gol gappe everywhere, on the carts, in restaurants, kiosks etc. because people are in love with gol gappe and that’s what make gol gappa one of the most famous Indian street food. Gone are the days when there used to be one or two flavors of gol gappa, now we have different varieties, different flavors to make our tongue feel spiced up. This street food has a very unique place in the street food menu and without it, the street food menu is just incomplete. The spicy water, which we often say masala pani, the stuff ingredient made up of mashed potatoes, pea, grams with chutney and a lot of other things are added depending on the place and flavors to give it an extra treat. The most important is how you serve it and the taste of masala pani! FoodRavel describes you the tale of Gol Gappe.
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What is Special about Gol Gappe?
Be it festival, celebration, party, marriage, gol gappe have their unique place everywhere. There are so many things which can be spoken about the specialties of gol gappe. The very first thing for which people love gol gappa, is the crispness of the balls, if it is not crispy then it’s not worth eating. Without crispness, this Indian street food loses its original flavors. So first thing is the crisp so that when you eat it when you put it in your mouth, it will give a sound of its crispness. So far I have only tasted two varieties of gol gappe, one is made of wheat flour, which we usually say aatey wale gol gappe and second is made up of rava which is known as sooji ke gol gappe. Now the aatey ke gol gappe are cheaper as compared to sooji ke gol gappe in terms of price. But I only love the first one because of the crispness. Sooji ke gol gappe are not that much crisper. But it depends on peoples’ choices. Mine is wheat floured. Then comes the spicy water, the masala pani. As a kid, I only remember there used to be only two flavors. One used to be theekha masala pani and other used to be sweet water, meetha pani which was made by adding laal chutney in it. But now, we see there are different tastes and varieties of masala pani. There is a famous gol gappe kiosk, Ambala ke Mashhoor Gol Gappe. These guys have their kiosks in many places in Gurgaon, at Sector 5 market, at Sector 5 market, at Vyapar Kendra Shushant Lok 1, etc. These guys are famous for their seven types of masala pani. There are several others who only have two basic types of masala pain, but are very famous with the basic only. The most important thing is how they do it and proper hygiene.
Where to go for Gol Gappe?
Gol gappe are omnipresent. You will find them all around in the streets, in the busy markets, near bus stands, near railway stations, and several other places. You can enjoy them eating at a cart, or standing next to a kiosk, sitting in a restaurant like Haldiram. Haldiram offers good quality gol gappe and they are really amazing. I often visit the Sector 4 market around the evening and night because the market only opens at that time. In the market, there is one gol gappe walah, which I mentioned above, Ambala Ke Mashhoor Gol Gappe. These guys have grabbed the attention of visitors in a short time due to their wide varieties of masala pani. What I like most there and others may also like is the crispiness of the gol gappa. Even if it is raining or the weather is wet, their gol gappa never lose their crispiness and that is what I count most at the first. They have Lemon pani, Zeera pani, Kevda pani, Heeng pani, Pineapple pani, Khatta Mittha pain, etc. They offer you two flavored gol gappe. And their price is very pocket friendly, they will charge you just Rs. 20 per plate and per plate they give six wheat flour gol gappe and five rava gol gappe. But their price varies depending on place. They have their kiosk at Vyapar Kendra as well but there they charge Rs.30 per plate with the same quantity. At the same place, there is another fast food and street food place, Alwar Sweets, they also have gol gappe in their menu. They have the same prices with the same quantity. They only offer one type of masala pani, so you will have to compromise there a little bit. Next to it, there is Shyam Sweets, which is a restaurant specialized in all street food, Chinese, south Indian cuisine. They also have gol gappe in their menu, but neither I liked their gol gappe nor the masala pani.
In Gurgaon, there are several bakeries that serve you high quality spiced gol gappe. I have tasted the same from Samrat Bakery and Harish Bakery. But I don’t often go to these big buildings because, for me, street food is enjoyed in the streets only. When you go to malls, big restaurants to enjoy gol gappe, it is no more street food. But in the end, it depends on the choices. I often hunt the streets for street food. There is a boy, Pawan who puts his cart at Bhim Nagar chauk, near to my college, DGC. I usually visit him and he knows me very well. It’s been long, more than a year. I don’t pay him for every visit. I pay him once and visit him thrice or four times. When the money finishes, he tells me and I pay him for my next visit. He treats me with extra gol gappe and extra sukhi papdi, which everyone enjoys after eating gol gappe.
I see people sharing their plates with each other with love. People enjoy sharing. If you are hardcore gol gappa lover, your mouth will water just by the glance of gol gappe, no matter if it is at a restaurant, a cart, a kiosk, or any poster. I have found my regular gol gappe walah. What about you? Have you found are still looking for one? If you have found, do tell us who is your favorite and why?
