Vada pav is one dish that makes me feel nostalgic for my hometown. This is a famous Indian vegetarian burger. A very popular Indian street food it is popularly sold at stalls in Maharashtra.
I miss the vada pav available as it is sold on the streets in India. These cravings are just not comparable and one can’t find the perfectly delicious vada pav as you get in Mumbai/Pune or most parts of Maharashtra.
Just like the Misal Pav, kanda Thalipeeth ,Puranpoli and Kothimbir vadi,Vada pav is yet another popular specialities of Maharashtrian food.
The first thing I eat when I land at the Mumbai airport at wee hours is the very favorite vada pav with a hot cup of Desi chai and the famous chowpatty Pav Bhaji. We tend to love the homemade food and crave for it when we are away from it for long time. It happens to us especially when we are on a long trip. Whenever we return from a long road trip as soon as we reach home all of us crave for is Dal Khichadi and vada pav.
This famous Indian burger is made with a potato dumpling stuffed between a pav (similar to a dinner roll) or burger bun. It’s super simple to make, it’s heavy, filling and is super tasty. The best part is the red garlic crumbles served at the sides of the vada pav along with the fried green chilli. Its spicy, and scrumptious.
What goes in the vada pav
Vada is a potato dumpling/Potato patty made by frying potato dumpling with a coat of gram flour. This patty is assembled with the pav (Bun) and various chutneys/dips like the coriander chutney and the Tamarind Date chutney.
Let’s check the recipe in detail
Vada Pav
Ingredients
- 4 Medium sized boiled potatoes.
- 1 Tbsp Green chilli paste
- 1 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 3-4 curry leaves
- 1/2 cup coriander leaves
- 4-5 mint leaves (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 lemon juice
- salt As per taste
For the batter
- 1.5 cup Besan / ChickPea flour (Gram flour)
- 1 cup water
- 1 ajwain (Caraway seeds)
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
For assembly
- Green coriander chutney/dip
- Tamarind date chutney
- Red chilli garlic crumbs
- Pav (Unsweetened dinner rolls/ Burger buns)
Instructions
For the Patty/Vada
- Mash the boiled potatoes, and heat oil in a wok/pan.
- Crack curry leaves in the oil and saute mint leaves, ginger garlic paste and the green chilli paste in it.
- Add turmeric powder and the mashed potatoes to it. Add salt as per taste and give it a good mix.
- Switch off the flame and squeeze lemon juice to it. mix the mixture well.
- Now make lemon sized balls/ scoop out the mixture and keep the potato balls ready covered aside.
Batter
- Take the gram flour/besan, add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric and mix.
- Now rub a few caraway seeds(ajwain) on your pamsand add it to the mix.
- Now add water to make a thick batter. Whisk it well to break all the lumps.
- You can add baking soda but its optional(I did not add it)
- Adjust the batter consistency to medium thick.
Frying the vada
- In a deep pan/kadhai heat oil for deep frying.
- Take the potato balls we made and flatten them gently.
- Dip each ball in the batter and ensure to coat it evenly. Now gently slide them in the hot oil one by one.
- Flip the vadas couple of times to cook it evenly. It should be golden, crispy and cooked well.
- You can dab these vadas on a paper towel.
- The vadas are ready to assemble.
Red chilli garlic crumbs
- While frying vadas we have some tiny gram crisps in the oil or you can simply make some gram crisps by splatting some batter and frying it.
- In a mixer grinder add the gram crumbs, 2-3 dry red chillies, 3-4 garlic cloves, salt and 1 teaspoon red chilli powder. Grind it to a bit coarse powder.
The vada pav assembly
- Take the pav and slit cut in the middle just to create an opening. Not to cut in two parts.
- Apply green coriander chutney, tamarind chutney and some chilli garlic crumbs.
- Now place a fried patty on it and its ready.
- The potato dumpling is between the two bread caps and is served with some spicy fried green chillies and the red garlic crumbs.
- The Vada pav is ready to serve.
Notes
- If potatoes are overcooked the vadas/patty can burst in oil and become oily.
- If the batter is too flowy the potato balls won’t get coated evenly.
- We do not need to add any rice flour or cornflour to the batter , they are not fritters to make crispy. Just the gram flour is enough.
- Links for coriander chutney and tamarind chutney.
- The vadas are typically spicy but you can adjust the spice level as per your taste.
- Caution while eating because the vads might be hot.
Do enjoy this street food whenever you visit the western ghats (Mumbai) in Maharashtra, India.
Until you visit if you are craving for it do try out the step by step recipe.
What’s better on a rainy day? Or a cold winter evening?
Oh I am gonna love this with my cup of Desi ginger chai.
Also check our other Maharashtrian recipes and other recipes made from Bhajani flour
If you like and try this recipe do write reviews in the comment section below.
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