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.
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
- 4Â 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
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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.