Simply Irresistible Fast Food - Vada Pav

Literally translated Vada Pav is "bread-roll(Pav) with spicy potato balls(Vada)". This is quintessentially a Maharashtrian street-food very popular in the bustling cities like Pune and Mumbai where the fast-food is a norm. Vada Pav is the star of street-foods because it is not only yummy but it is also filling , cheap and easily available! No wonder there are people who cannot live without it. It is a snack that is very hard to resist, even for the very diehard calorie conscious species!

The likes of us who live away from home are the Vada-Pav deprived folks - the Indian restaurants here cater more to the English taste and often overlook the expats who miss their favourite foods from back home.  You can prepare it at home but it's not the same as eating outside. Also, I do not like deep-frying that much as it is a messy affair. The other day when we were watching a Marathi movie, a glimpse of these yummies was enough for my DH to start reminiscing about Vada-Pav we get in Pune. So we decided it  about time we fulfilled this craving at home!

There are three components to this snack: Batata Vada, Pav and chutneys. I bought the bread-rolls (the smaller kinds) from local super-store and prepared the Vada and chutney to go with it at home.


Batata Vada

Ingredients (for 14 lemon-sized vadas)

For filling:
4 large potatoes
1 onion
6 Green Chillies
6 Garlic Cloves
1 inch piece of Ginger
2 tbsp chopped Coriander
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt taste

To make the batter for coating Vada

1 cup Besan (Chickpea/Gram flour)
3 tbsp hot oil for shortening
1/2 tsp Carom Seeds (Ajwain)
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric
Salt to taste
Enough water to make a thick batter
Oil for frying

Method

• Boil the potatoes until they are soft enough to mash - this is easier in a Pressure Cooker.
• Remove the potato skins and mash them.
• Grind chillies, ginger and garlic to make a paste. Take about 3 tsp of this paste (the vadas should be very spicy) and add it to the mashed potatoes.
• Add chopped coriander, onions, lemon juice and salt to the mashed potatoes and mix well.
• Divide the mash into balls - the size depends on how big you want your Vadas.

For the batter:

• Take the flour in a heat-proof container and add the hot-oil to it and mix well. Adding the hot oil makes the vada cover crispy and light.
• Add the spices - turmeric, chilli powder, cumin powder and carom seeds and mix well. Add salt according to your taste.
• Add water and mix well ensuring no lumps are formed.

To fry Vadas:

• Heat oil in a deep and wide pan on medium heat.
• Dip each potato ball into the batter to coat it all over and release it carefully into hot oil.
• Fry the Vadas until they are golden and take them out on a tissue paper.

Assembling Vada Pav

You will need:

Batata Vadas
Bread-rolls (as many as the vadas you have)
Peanut Chutney
Fried Green Chillies (optional)

To serve:

• Cut the bread rolls into half leaving one end intact.
• Spread the chutney on the bread-roll.
• Place a Batata-Vada in the Pav and flatten it slightly.
• Now press the bread-roll.

The Vada-Pav is now yours! Tuck in to your heart's content :-)

If this isn't enough, here are some pictures to inspire you:

You can look at other blogs for better photos. Hey, you can't expect great photos when the Vada Pav is waiting to be eaten...