vada pav

It has been a wonderfully relaxed summer so far.  Not having to wake up to an alarm, flowers in full bloom everywhere, ears of sweet corn and watermelon piled high in stores and some of the best mangoes I have had outside of India.  The days have been tolerably hot with occasional bursts of showers to cool things down.  At those times, when the sky suddenly turns dark and it gets really windy and I can hear thunder, I love to sit in my screened-in porch and watch the rain while sipping some chai.

Brings back memories of monsoons in Mumbai which is the season I remember and miss the most.  I am sure I am romanticizing the past and ignoring the not so fun parts like clothes taking days to dry, flooded roads, brown muddy water gushing by your feet carrying with it trash of all imaginable types, bus and train services disrupted and waiting for hours at the bus-stop only to have it pass by completely full, without stopping.  But as I type this, I find myself  smiling so I guess those were fun times too!

In Mumbai, vada-pav along with cutting chai are signature street foods, with stalls on almost every street.  The aroma of frying batata vadas (potato fritters) fills the air and your nose acts as your GPS to lead you right to the stall!  Usually a simple cart on which rests a stove that has the kadai (wok) with hot oil bubbling away, holding golden balls of batata vadas dancing and bobbing until ready to be taken out, steel containers with the red and green chutneys, slabs of laadi pavs that were freshly baked early that morning and a big tray holding the fried vadas, pakodas and fried green chillies.  Not to forget a small tin box to hold the money! Sometimes the cart would be close to wall on which were calendars and posters of gods and goddesses or sometimes a  movie star! At other times, there stall would be a simple cane hourglass shaped stool on which would rest a large round tray holding vadas and the pavs and the chutneys.

You would find kids and adults and day laborers and office-goers and college kids and people in swanky cars, all crowded around and enjoying a dish which at first glance is nothing more than a chickpea flour coated spicy potato fritter tucked inside a plain bun with fiery red and green chutneys.  Once you bit into it though, the combination would come alive in your mouth leaving you savoring perfection!

One of the best street foods, it also came without any frills or fancy packaging.  Sometimes it would just be handed to you as is since the bread would form the perfect container for all the fillings, sometimes it would be wrapped in a piece of newspaper and sometimes in a paper plate  Delicious any way you had it!

It has quite the fan following too and when I saw it mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, Guardian and Saveur, I felt it behooved me to tip my hat to this famous dish of my much-loved city!

The Laadi Pavs are also home made with a mix of bread and oat flours.  I will post that recipe separately in a couple of days.  Didn’t want this post to read like a tome!  Also since I was dealing with a particularly sticky dough, I needed to figure out a good way of taking pictures on self-timer without getting the camera doughy!

Vada Pav

Print recipe

15 pavs (You can also use any rolls/buns from the store if you like).

For the Batata Vada (Makes approx. 15)

Potato Filling:
3-4 medium potatoes, boiled and peeled (should yield about 2 cups when mashed)
a pinch of asafoetida (hing) – optional
6 -8 curry leaves
1/3 tsp black mustard seeds
1 large green chilli (serrano or thai)
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tbsp canola, peanut or vegetable oil 
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
salt to taste
oil for deep or shallow frying

Covering:
1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
scant 1/2 cup water
1/8 tsp red chili powder
a pinch of turmeric
a large pinch baking soda
salt to taste

For the filling:

Chop the boiled potatoes into large pieces and roughly mash them (they should not be a paste).

Take the green chili and garlic and make a rough paste (I use the small blender bowl).  If you don’t have a blender/mixie, just grate them finely.

Heat the 1/2 tbsp oil in a small pan and add the asafoetida.  Then add the mustard seeds and once they start to pop, add the curry leaves and  the chili-garlic paste/grate and fry on medium heat for a couple of minutes until the raw smell goes away.  Add the turmeric powder and turn off the stove.  Add this to the mashed potatoes.

Add the chopped cilantro, lemon/lime juice and salt.  Mix well and form into small balls.  You should get about 15 of them.  Keep aside.

For the covering:

Mix the chickpea flour, salt, turmeric, baking soda and red chili powder in a bowl.  Add 1/2 the water to make a very thick lump-free paste.

Slowly add the rest of the water and make a thick batter.  It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and stay there.

For the Vadas:

Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok.  (If you prefer to shallow fry, add about an inch of oil to the skillet and flatten the balls slightly into discs)

Dip each of the potato balls into the batter and add to the hot oil.  The oil should be hot to prevent the vadas from absorbing too much oil.  Add enough balls so as to not crowd the wok and deep fry while moving it around until the vadas turn golden brown.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and keep aside.

Red Chutney Powder:

1/4 cup red chili powder (I used the Korean red chilli powder since that is what I had at home)
5 cloves garlic
1/4 cup dry, unsweetened coconut
1/8 cup sesame seeds
3 tbsp raw peanuts
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

Dry roast the peanuts and sesame seeds in a skillet, separately.  Keep aside to cool.

In the same skillet, heat the oil and add the garlic.  Fry on medium heat until it starts to soften slightly.  Add the dry coconut, cumin seeds and coriander seeds and fry on medium-low heat until the coconut starts to turn beige.  Take it off the heat and let it cool.

Put the peanuts-sesame mixture, the garlic mixture and sat to taste in a spice grindre/mixie bowl and powder to a coarse texture.

* A simpler version can be made with just the red chili powder, garlic, coconut and salt.

Green Chutney:

1 bunch cilantro
1/4 cup fresh mint
1/4 inch piece ginger
1 green chili
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp canola or peanut oil
salt to taste

Grind everything in the blender to get a smooth paste.  You can also add 2 tbs of raw peanuts while grinding to give a thicker chutney.

Fried Green Chillies 

15 Fingerhot (they are usually not too hot) or serrano (these are hot) peppers.

Make a small slit in each pepper and deep fry right after frying the batata vadas.   Please don’t forget to slit them or they will burst in the oil.  Sprinkle some salt as soon as they come out of the oil.

To assemble:

Split the pav in half without cutting all the way through.

Add some garlic chutney powder on one side and put a batata vada on top.  Add green chutney to the other side of the pav, put a fried green pepper and close.  Take a big bite and enjoy!