In this lockdown life when we crave different foods, there are two options either forget the craving or make it from scratch. A few days back we were missing Vada Pav badly, one of Mumbai’s iconic street foods, and I fell in love with this snack after shifted here in Navi Mumbai. Luckily there were some Pav Buns at home, so I made the Vadas and the inseparable Dry Garlic Chutney, which is a must-have if you’re eating Vada Pav. Craving sorted, and we loved having Vada Pav after a while. The recipe part might look long, but it’s an easy dish to try, trust me. If you’re making this recipe don’t forget to share your experience with me. 🙂
Vada Pav
Learn how to make Mumbai’s iconic street food, lip-smacking, delicious Vada Pav at home by following this easy recipe. India's very own Desi Burger.
Ingredients
- 8- Pav Buns
- Whole green chillies (optional)
For Vada
- 5 medium-sized- Boiled Potatoes
- 1 sprig- Curry leaves
- ¼ tsp- Rai /Black mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp- Hing/Asafoetida
- ½ tsp- Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp- Coriander powder
- ½ tsp- Aamchur powder/Dry Mango Powder
- Salt to taste
- ½ tsp- Garlic paste
- 1 tsp- Ginger paste
- 2- Green chillies (chopped)
- 2 tbsp- Vegetable oil/ Groundnut oil
- Vegetable oil for frying
For Dry Garlic Chutney
- 3 tbsp- Peanuts
- 1/3 cup- Desiccated coconut
- 3- Whole dry red chillies
- 10-12- Garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp- Kashmiri mirch powder
- ¼ tsp- Salt
- 1 tbsp- Vegetable oil/ Groundnut oil
For Besan batter
- ¾ cup- Besan/Gram flour
- Salt to taste
- ¼ tsp- Turmeric powder
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Water as required
Instructions
Making of the Potato mixture for Vadas
-
In a bowl add the boiled potatoes, crush them by using your fingers, don’t mash them completely, keep aside.
-
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat, temper with rai, and once it started to splutter add the curry leaves, hing. Give it a quick stir, next to add the ginger-garlic paste, chopped chilies, sauté for a few seconds.
-
Add coriander powder, aamchur powder, and turmeric powder, sauté for a few seconds.
-
Now add the crushed potatoes and salt, mix well, and keep cooking the potato mixture for 2-3 minutes.
-
Remove from the heat, keep aside. Let the mixture cool a bit for easy handling before making the Vadas.
Making of the Besan batter
-
Add everything mentioned for the Besan batter in a bowl except water. Now start adding water slowly, and whisk to make the batter. We’re looking for a thick batter here, so add water accordingly. Keep aside the batter for later use.
Making of the Dry Garlic Chutney
-
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute the peanuts until one tone darker in colour, keep aside.
-
Next, sauté the garlic and whole dried red chillies for a few seconds, keep aside.
-
Let these ingredients cooled completely.
-
Now in a food processor add desiccated coconut, sautéed peanuts, whole red chillies, and garlic cloves. Add kashmiri mirch powder and salt. Blitz until a coarse powder forms. Do not process for a long time otherwise, the oil from peanuts and coconut will make the chutney powder lumpy. Keep aside for later use.
-
You can adjust the amount of Kashmiri mirch powder according to your preference for the red colour in this chutney. If you want more hotness in the chutney, you can replace Kashmiri mirch powder with regular Red Chilli powder.
Making of the Vadas
-
Start making a little bigger round ball than a lemon from the potato mixture, keep aside.
-
Heat 1 cup of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Dip and coat the vadas in the besan batter and fry in hot oil over medium heat until golden in colour. You can fry 3 Vadas at a time.
-
Transfer the Vadas on a paper napkin.
Assembling the Vada Pav
-
To assemble the Vada Pav slit pav bun from the side. Sprinkle some Dry Garlic Chutney in between, put a hot Vada inside, serve immediately.
-
Serve the Dry Garlic Chutney separately in a bowl, along with the fried green chillies.
-
For fried green chillies, salt coat the chillies, and sauté them in vegetable oil over medium heat for a few seconds.
-
You can serve green chutney along with the Vada Pav though most of the local shops here don’t serve green chutney with Vada Pav, but it goes well with this snack.
