Vada Pav Recipe – Street Style | Mumbai Batata Vada Pav with detailed photo and video recipe. A popular Indian street food recipe prepared mainly with pav bread and deep-fried batata vada stuffing. Most commonly, this snack is also referred to as Indian burger or Bombay burger because it hails from Maharashtra or Marathi cuisine. Generally, it is served as an evening snack, but can also be adapted to breakfast.
Unlike the traditional burger recipe, vada pav recipe is much easier and quicker to prepare and assemble it. The critical part of any good wada pav recipe lies in its crispy and savory vada or batata vada. These patties are slightly different from the conventional aloo bonda or vegetable bonda. Basically, the batata vada stuffing is mainly made from potatoes without an onion or peas combination. Also, it contains a strong flavor of garlic, ginger, and coriander leaves. Moreover, the patties are typically oval-shaped as compared to round bonda’s. Having said that, it is not mandatory and can be shaped to round and then later pressed while assembling it.
The vada pav recipe is extremely simple to prepare, yet I would like to add a few tips and recommendations while preparing. firstly, ensure the boiled and mashed potatoes are moisture free and removed immediately from the pressure cooker after it is cooked. If you feel your mashed potatoes contain moisture, fry them in a pan for 2-3 minutes to remove them. Secondly, I added baking soda to the besan batter to make vadas crisper. also, add 1 tbsp of rice flour/cornflour to make it even crisper. lastly, these vada pav should be served immediately after deep frying and assembling. Alternatively, you can place the deep-fried vadas in a preheated oven or even deep fry again for 1 minute if serving later.
Finally, I request you to check my other Street Food Recipe Collection with this post on how to make vada pav recipe. It includes recipes like pav bhaji, misal pav, bhel puri, sev puri, aloo bonda, vegetable bonda, samosa chaat, dahi puri, aloo chaat, and pani puri recipe. further, I request you to visit my other similar recipes collection,
About Vada Pav:
It is a popular street food and a staple of Maharashtra state in India. Vada pav is often termed a thrifty, affordable, or economical Indian burger prepared with basic ingredients to match the local desi taste buds. It basically originated in Mumbai streets in the late 1960s and the whole idea was to offer something cheap yet filling to the mill workers. Since then it has become an iconic if not a pride of Marathi cuisine. It has been widely accepted across India if not all over the world.
Since its inception, it has been transformed into many local variants across India. The changes are mainly introduced to its stuffing or the way the vada is prepared. Additionally, depending upon the taste preferences, additional condiments like chutney, chilies, or even cheese grate are added. Particularly the fast food joints have embraced the traditional Mumbai Vada Pav and transformed it into myriad variations. The most popular types are masala, schezwan, or cheese vada pav.
Why does this recipe work
The popularity and acceptance of the vada pav recipe should be contributed to the following reasons,
- Simplicity – The recipe for vada pav has to be a simple street food prepared with basic ingredients. Yet there is no compromise on the taste, flavor, and more importantly the filling nature.
- Cost-effective & Economical – The ingredients used are basic like potatoes, gram flour, and small dinner roll breads. Therefore, the cost of production is low and hence affordable to prepare or to even buy from street vendors or fast food joints.
- Flexible & Movabale – The end product is similar to a burger and does not have wet ingredients. Hence it makes it easy to carry and makes portability easy from one place to another.
- Filling – It is not only easy and quick to prepare, but it is also a filling snack. The main reason is the combination of bread and potatoes. Both the key ingredients are rich in carbohydrates and fiber.
Faqs:
What is vada pav?
It is a popular street in India popularly known as desi burger of India. It is prepared with small dinner roll bread with fried vada as stuffing.
What are the key ingredients in vada pav?
The key ingredients of vada pav are, pav (dinner roll bread), fried potato vada, and then condiments like green chutney and tamarind chutney.
Is vada pav vegetarian?
Yes it is vegetarian as it is prepared with pav bread, fried potato vada, and chaat chutneys.
Are there any variations of vada pav?
There are many variants to the traditional recipe. The popular one are masala vada pav, schezwan vada pav, cheese vada pav and paneer vada pav.
Can vada pav be spicy?
Yes it can be made spicy. The additional spice can be introduced to the vada, or with additional stuffings like green or red chutney condiments. Finally, to make it spicy, the vada pav is served with fried green chilies.
Can vada pav be made at home?
Yes certainly. It is made with basic ingredients and can be easily made at home.
What are some popular accompaniments for vada pav?
Based on individual taste preferences, it can be served with additional condiments like green chutney, tamarind, cheese, and even dry garlic chutney powder.
Video Recipe:
Recipe Card for Vada Pav:
Vada Pav Recipe - Street Style | Mumbai Batata Vada Pav
Ingredients
for aloo mixture:
- 2 tsp oil
- ½ tsp mustard
- pinch of hing / asafoetida
- few curry leaves
- 1 inch ginger, crushed
- 2 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 chilli, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp turmeric / haldi
- 2 potato / aloo, boiled & mashed
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
for besan batter:
- ¾ cup besan / gram flour
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- ¼ tsp turmeric / haldi
- ¼ tsp kashmiri red chilli powder / lal mirch powder
- pinch of hing / asafoetida
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup water
- oil for deep frying
other ingredients:
- 6 ladi pav / dinner rolls
- 7 green chilli
- 6 tsp green chutney
- 3 tsp tamarind chutney
- 3 tsp dry garlic chutney
Instructions
- firstly, take ball sized aloo mixture and dip in besan batter and coat well.
- deep fry in hot oil stirring occasionally.
- now slit the ladi pav and spread 1 tsp green chutney, ½ tsp tamarind chutney and ½ tsp dry garlic chutney.
- place the prepared vada in center of pav, chura and fried chilli.
- finally, press the vada pav and serve immediately.
How to make Vada Pav with step-by-step photos:
Preparing Batata Vada:
- Firstly, in a large kadai heat 2 tsp oil and splutter ½ tsp mustard, a pinch of hing and a few curry leaves.
- Also add 1-inch ginger, 2 clove garlic, 1 chili, and 2 tbsp coriander and saute well.
- Further, add ¼ tsp turmeric and saute for 30 seconds.
- Additionally, add 2 boiled and mashed potatoes and ½ tsp salt.
- Mix well making sure all the spices are combined well with the potato.
- Turn off the flame and add 1 tbsp lemon juice.
- Mix well and the aloo mixture is ready. Keep aside.
- Further, prepare besan batter by taking ¾ cup besan, 1 tbsp rice flour, ¼ tsp turmeric, ¼ tsp chili powder, a pinch of hing, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp baking soda.
- Add ½ cup water or as required and prepare the smooth lump-free batter.
- Now make a ball-sized aloo mixture. I like my vada to be round rather than flat, flatten the balls slightly if you prefer.
- Dip in prepared besan batter and coat well.
- Deep fry in hot oil stirring occasionally.
- Fry on medium flame till the vada turns golden and crisp.
- Drain the vada on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. keep aside.
- Now fry the green chilli, by turning off the flame – be careful as the oil splutter.
- Stir occasionally, till the blisters appear on the chili.
- Drain the fried chili on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Keep aside.
- Now with leftover besan batter prepare chura by pouring watery besan batter in hot oil. Add 2 tbsp of water to the besan batter to make a watery besan batter.
- Fry on medium flame till the chura turns golden and crisp.
- Drain the chura on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Keep aside.
Assembling:
- Now slit the ladi pav center halfway without cutting fully.
- Spread 1 tsp green chutney, ½ tsp tamarind chutney, and ½ tsp dry garlic chutney on one side of the inside pav.
- Place the prepared vada in the center of the pav.
- Also, stuff a few prepared chura and place a fried chili on top of the vada.
- Finally, press the vada pav and serve immediately.
Notes:
- Firstly, adjust the amount of green chutney, tamarind chutney, and dry garlic chutney to your choice.
- In addition, to keep the vada flat, make sure to shape it before deep frying.
- Furthermore, add rice flour/corn flour to besan batter to get crispy vada.
- Finally, vada pav tastes great when served hot with fried green chili.