Vodka 'n' Pani Puri
This is culinary equivalent of the desi babu-gori mem hit jodi. He is street born and proud of a pedestrian bearing that makes him sharp, spicy and a survivor. She traces her heritage to snowy Russian steppes, which make her cool. fluid and spirited. He is aspirational, and she is assimilative. You couldn't have found a more unlikely combination than pani puri and vodka.
The marriage, solemnized some years ago in five-star climes, was the creation of an F&B team seeking to tickle taste taste buds. Perhaps, even they didn't expect the pairing to become an enduring hit.
For years, vodka pani puri remained in the elite confines of exclusive eateries. But of late, the couple has jauntily stepped out, and is basking in the admiration it receives wherever it goes.
The duo made an international debut in New York, and is established fare at some of the Indian eateries there. They'are also creating waves at a dhaba in suburban Mumbai now.
"There are different version of vodka pani puri", says Santosh Jori, executive chief of Mumbai's Le Meridien. A continental approach is to use cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese as filling, then dipped into the pani, and munched along with a shot of vodka.
But the bestseller is the one is which the tangy pani is spiked with a liberal dash of vodka and spicy chaat filling are used. The sharpness of the alcohol blends easily with the tamarind water, causing a surprising implosion of tastes and flavours.
Now, what does vodka have that the other spirits don't? Perhaps, it's because vodka is a smooth operator. It's light and doesn't have a strong odour, which also makes it acceptable as a ladie's drink. Rum is too robust, whiskey too male. Beer is all froth.
Wine has too much of attitude about its own flavours, and doesn't lend itself to cocktail style mix and matches. Vodka doesn't take away the essence of the pani puri, but rather augments it. Vodka is an invader and a conqueror. Remember that martinis were once made of gin, and vodka entered the scene only as a vodkatini.
That is appropriated the martini itself is typical of the élan with which vodka expands its horizons. No wonder even James Bond endorsed it.
As a food writer Rashmi Uday Singh once noted, when two foods are paired, they could either scuttle each other's individualities or live in peaceful co-existence.
Only when two flavours combine to create a kick that's better than what you get from the individual foods does the pairing reach epicurean heights. Vodka pani puri one such rare combo. But then, don't take our word for it, go get a mouthful. Hic!
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