Indian Street Foods Primed for Stateside In

Two Indian street foods, pani puri and papri chaat, are drawing outsized interest from younger and multicultural consumers, making them prime targets for stateside menus, according to Datassential’s World Bites: Global Snacks report.

A quarter of U.S. consumers say they want to try pani puri, also known as golgappa or puchka, a bite-sized crispy shell filled with spiced mashed potato and chickpeas and dunked in tamarind-and-mint-infused water, yet only 11% know what it is.

The snack appears on just 0.2% of U.S. menus, almost exclusively at Indian restaurants, making it “a true white-space opportunity,” according to the report. Interest skews toward Gen Z (36%) and Asian consumers (34%), against 10% of Boomers and 24% of White consumers.

Papri chaat is a Northern Indian street food of crispy wheat wafers layered with chickpeas, cooled yogurt, tangy tamarind-date chutney, green chutney, and crunch fried chickpea noodles (sev). The dish draws a similar consumer profile: 32% of Millennials and 30% of Gen Z express interest, versus 9% of Boomers.

Its layered build parallels nachos, a format with viral momentum. Crab rangoon nachos have surpassed 1.3 million social media engagements, according to Datassential’s Social Listening data.

Both concepts are built for the feed. Pani puri’s eat-in-one-bite format makes it inherently interactive and shareable, while papri chaat earns attention through vibrant colors and layered crunch, with its sev similar to the kataifi driving viral Dubai chocolate builds, according to the Global Snacks report.

For operators, the report suggests pani puri lends itself to a build-your-own appetizer station of cocktail shooter format, while papri chaat could slot into menus already running loaded fries or nachos.