Google celebrates world record set with 51 flavours of Pani Puri in Indore

Search engine giant Google on Wednesday gave a pleasant surprise to Indians as it celebrated 'Pani Puri', the country's lip-smacking sweet and tangy street snack, by introducing an interactive doodle game around it.

It was on this day in 2015 that a restaurant in Madhya Pradesh's Indore achieved the World Record for serving the most flavours of pani puri by offering 51 options, under the guidance of Masterchef Neha Shah. A local firm named 'Indori Jayka' and leading Hindi newspaper 'Dainik Bhaskar' had set a world record for organising the event. Talking to PTI, Rakesh Dawani, director of Indori Jayka, said, "Google has mentioned our record through its doodle focusing on pani puri. We feel proud. Due to this Google doodle, people from all over the country are calling us." Telling the story of how the feat was achieved, he said, "We were celebrating the first anniversary of our firm on July 12, 2015 and wanted to organise something different to mark the occasion." We thought of creating a world record for pani puri because this is a favourite food item for people of all ages across India, Dawani said.

He said that under the guidance of masterchef Neha Shah, pani puri was served to people in 51 different flavors, which included the local flavours of Indore. Dawani said the Golden Book of World Records issued a world record certificate for serving the most number of flavours of pani puri at the event.

"On that day, people consumed a total of 25,000 pani puris served by us in just seven hours," he said.

Pani puri, occupying a special place in India's hearts - and stomachs - is a fried disc of dough commonly filled with boiled chickpeas, a white pea mixture, and sprouts dipped in tangy and spicy water. It is also known by the name Pani Batashe, Phulki, Golgappa, Puchka, Fuchka in parts of the country.

Indore, which is famous all over the world for its traditional flavors of vegetarian cuisine, also has a great demand for pani puri. Gunjan Sharma, president of the traders' association of 56 Dukaan', the city's leading street food hub, said, "Many enthusiasts come to our chaat-chowpatty only to eat pani puri.