Learn how to make my favorite Mumbai street snack, vada pav. It's a party for the mouth, with a medley of flavors and textures from a crispy potato dumpling cradled within a soft, fluffy bun and spicy garlic chutney.
The street food of India is in a class of its own, spanning such versatile dishes as pav bhaji, samosa, vegetable pakora, masala pasta and moonglet. Today I have for you an iconic Mumbai street food snack: the inimitable vada pav.
I like to think of the vada pav as an Indian hot dog -- a vegetarian one. A spicy, deep-fried, crispy potato dumpling (batata vada) is cradled within a soft, fluffy roll (pav) and seasoned with exquisitely red-hot garlic chutney. The layers of flavor, textures and the stark, rustic simplicity of this dish have long secured the vada pav's place as one of the city's most sought-after -- and affordable -- foods. You can find vendors at practically every street corner in the city frying the red-gold vadas in bubbling hot oil and serving them up to salivating customers faster than you can say "vada pav."
When I was at school, the cafeteria served up vada pav for as little as a rupee, which is about the equivalent of two cents. I don't think any of the kids even considered eating anything else-- I certainly didn't. Even today, despite the onslaught of Western fast food chains, vada pav remains the quintessential street food snack, with an estimated and mindboggling 20,000 vada pav stalls situated around this buzzing megalopolis.
After moving to the United States, I'd find myself craving vada pav very often. At the time there were no Indian restaurants serving Indian street food in the DC area, so I had to learn to make my own. I've honed this recipe over years, gathering tips and tricks during my visits to India, and I am so proud to share it with you because it's just so darn good.
Would you like to save this recipe?
Enter your email and I'll send this recipe to your inbox!
This is a great recipe to serve a large gathering of family and friends. You can make the pav, the vada and the chutney ahead of time and assemble them before you serve. When you take your first bite, you'll be hooked for good!
Recipe card
Vada Pav Recipe
Ingredients
For vada
- 4 potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida or hing (hing)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon green chilli paste (crush green chilies in mortar and pestle)
- 2 teaspoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ cup chickpea flour (sifted to remove any lumps)
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (like paprika or cayenne)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup oil
For garlic chutney
- 1 cup grated coconut (unsweetened)
- 10 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons raw peanuts
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 4 dried red chilies
- ½ ball tamarind
- 2 teaspoon oil
- Salt to taste
To serve
- 12 pav
- Garlic chutney (recipe follows)
Instructions
Make batata vada
- Heat the oil and add the turmeric and the asafetida.
- Now add the ginger, garlic and chilli pastes and saute just a few seconds. Add the potatoes and salt, mix well, and take off the heat. Mix in the lemon juice.
- Allow the mixture to cool before you handle it.
- Mix the chickpea flour with red chili powder, turmeric, baking soda and salt. Add enough water to make a fairly thick batter, about the consistency of pancake batter.
- Make balls with the potato mixture, about 1 inch in diameter. Dunk one at a time into the chickpea batter. Turn to coat and then drop into the oil which should be at between 350 and 375 degrees.
- Fry the vadas on all sides until they turn reddish-brown. Don't overcrowd the pan. Remove to paper towels and drain.
Make garlic chutney
- In one teaspoon of oil, roast half the garlic cloves and the rest of the ingredients except the tamarind and salt, allowing everything to turn lightly golden brown and putting each into a plate before moving on to the next ingredient. Be very careful roasting the coconut because it will brown very fast.
- Place all the ingredients including the unroasted garlic cloves, the tamarind, salt and remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a food processor.
- Process until everything breaks down into a coarse powder.
Assemble vada pav
- Make a slit through the center of the pav without going all the way through the bottom. Smear the bread with garlic chutney and place a vada on to. To eat, place your thumbs on the underside of the pav and your fingers on top, press the top and bottom together, and dig in.
Nutrition Information
To print recipe card without images, uncheck "instruction images" after clicking the "print recipe" button.
Maya says
Hi Vaishali, I made these the other day, the vada and the pao and chutney, and it was deelish. Brought back so many fun memories of college days when we would hang around outside and munch down vada paos. Thank you for the recipe.
Vaishali says
Hi Nisha, It could be the maida which is quite different from all-purpose flour. Is your vital wheat gluten in powder form?
Anonymous says
Yes, the wheat gluten is in powder form and I have used the regular milled wheat flour that we generally use in India to make chapatis.
God Bless
Nisha.
Anonymous says
Hi vaishali,
I baked these yesterday. Since i was trying it for the first time I halved the ingredients and managed to bake 5 pavs. Overall it was a success but I felt the texture was a bit on the denser side.I did use the wheat gluten. Can maida be the reason for this, coz I dont get APF?
God Bless
Nisha.
jan says
I made only paav today, it turned really good,i used it for dabeli. I knew I can blindly follow your recipe and it will turn good.one small note, for paav you mentioned salt in ingredients,but forgot to mention when to add it, though i added in flour itself.
thanks
Janhavi
AgnostiChica says
This vada pav brought back memories of the ones I used to eat just after swimming lessons at the Ghatkopar BMC pool 🙂 I think the vada pav should have a religion in itself!
Maybe you've heard of a chain of outlets in Mumbai called the Jumbo King (a la Burger King)? They even have a cheese vada pav! Altho' I honestly think this is best eaten from the road side bhaiyya 🙂
Thank you Vaishali, this one made my Sunday!
Vaishali says
Suma, Thanks for your kind and thoughtful words-- I appreciate them.
About gluten, some people have gluten allergies and that means they cannot consume foods that contain gluten which occurs naturally in grains like wheat, barley and rye. That's the reason some foods are labeled gluten-free.
Anonymous says
Thank you Vaishali. That was a quick response. I feel better now and would love to make this vegan dish. I often wondered why it is widely advertized on food packets sometimes as "gluten-free" ..for example wheat flour, noodles etc. If gluten was not bad, why is it given this treatment? Is there something I am missing? Or is that a different kind of gluten ( derived from some animal byproduct) than what you have used in your recipe?
Your recipes and pictures are awesome Vaishali and I'm sure you know it. But what I would like to mention here is your style of writing and how every post, every step, every action, every sentence has this subtle message of how healthy vegan diet is. and how serious you are about it. You are a strong no-nonsense woman. 🙂
-Suma
Vaishali says
Suma, There's absolutely nothing wrong with gluten-- it's a high-protein flour derived from wheat that's perfectly wonderful and indispensable in wholegrain baking. The reason some readers can't use it is because it's not easily available everywhere. Even within the U.S. you'd most likely only find it at health food stores and online.
Anonymous says
What's wrong with Gluten? Can you please tell me? Why are people shying away from using it?
-Suma
Vaishali says
Priya, thanks!
Fifi, the wadas would have to be flattened to be pan-fried, and the texture will not be the same. I'd just advise deep-frying and exercising moderation-- foods fried at the right temperature absorb almost no oil, and because one eats them so rarely they taste all the more delicious 🙂
Pavithra, Raw Girl, AMA, Thanks.
Manasi, good luck and hope they turn out great!
Mints, the pavs are definitely easy to make. Hope you try 'em! 🙂
Apu, thanks!
LittleMy: Yes, who needs an excuse for yummy food 🙂 Hope you try them.
Ashwin, yes, I remember that stand near Apna Bazar. Although the words "Shiv Sena" just put a sour taste in my mouth 🙁
Anonymous, baby cribs: Thanks!
Preeti, Thanks!
Miri, Thanks, and I am with you on having the right pav for pav bhaji or it's just not the same :).
If you're not using gluten to make this pav, I would recommend reducing the whole-wheat to one cup and using two cups of all-purpose flour. Too much whole wheat without gluten to add structure would make the bread too dense.
Miri says
OMG! Those are the most beautiful home baked pav I have seen 🙂 I love pav - and nothing spoils the taste of pav bhaji for me as having to eat it with the pav we get in Delhi - commercial produced sweet rolls 🙁 On my trip to Mumbai last week, I actually bought pav and made bhaji the same day to eat it with - it was absolute heaven. What happens if I don't have wheat gluten? it will still turn out fine right?
The garlic chutney looks amazing
Miri
Preeti @ Heart and Mind says
Vaishali,
Wow, looks yummy! I can wait to get better so I can make these.
baby cribs says
The bread looks so nice and perfect. This is pretty interesting. I have never tried this one.
Anonymous says
Once again, you made it look so simple recipe.
Thanks