Tara Kurkal

Racing to finish first, Sai Anumakonda ’27 and Adwik Rath ’28 eat their pani puris as fast as possible. Rath ’28 eventually won, and continued to the next round to win the Pani Puri Competition.

Hosting their annual Pani Puri Competition on Wednesday, Sept. 18, the South Asian Student Association (SASA) encouraged students to go head to head for a prize bag filled with Indian snacks and sweets. Pani puri is a fried circular shell, filled with potato, onion, and chickpeas, often spiced with tamarind chutney, chili powder, or chaat masala. After filling the shell, a mint coriander water is added into the mixture. It is a common street food in the Indian subcontinent, shared with friends and family as well as at communal gatherings. 

The competition took place through a bracket format with two people at a station. Each person was given three pani puris, along with a cup of the mint-coriander water, and whoever ate everything in their bowl first was declared the winner of that round. The winners then went on to the next bracket round, while those who lost followed and supported the winner. 

“The meeting takes a bit of planning, but it’s one of our most successful events and we have a lot of fun with it,” SASA President Shrishti Mahajan ‘25 said.

SASA members Ritvij Sharma ‘26 and Awik Rath ‘28 were the last two standing. Using a unique method to efficiently complete his pani puris, Rath ‘28 won by stacking the puris on top of one another, and drinking the pani individually after. 

“I participated to be a part of the community and hang out with friends,” Rath ‘28 said. 

SASA will host their next meeting to decorate their Snakes and Ladders-themed hallway for Homecoming on Friday, Oct. 11 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.