Mumbai's famous street food.. 'Vada Pav'

Mumbai's famous vada pav. The anytime anywhere snack of Maharashtra. Everyone's favorite :-) I would never miss having a vada pav when travelling by train. That's something I miss about Mumbai :-). But it's ok, I can make it at home :-) 

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients for Vada 

Stuffing:

3 boiled potatoes (meshed) ( yields about 6 vadas) 

1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander 

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/2 tsp red chilli powder 

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

5-6 curry leaves

1 tsp lemon juice

2-3 green chillies chopped finely.

1/4 tsp ginger paste 

A pinch of hing 

Batter:

1 cup besan

1/4 tsp red chilli powder 

1/4  tsp salt

1 pinch baking soda

2 tbsp rice flour(optional.. Added for extra crispness)

1 pinch turmeric powder 

Procedure

1) First let's prepare the batter. Mix little water in besan flour and whisk it well so that the lumps are gone. Add limited water .. Only enough to remove lumps. We need bhajiya consistency batter.

2) Add rice flour, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder and baking soda. Whisk to ensure everything is incorporated well.

Batter is ready.

3) Let's work on the stuffing. 

-Heat a pan. Add 1 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds. As soon as it crackles add cumin seeds,hing, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves and turmeric powder.

-Add meshed potatoes. Add salt and red chilli powder. Mix well. Switch off the flame. 

-Add lemon juice and coriander leaves. Stir it well. Let the stuffing cool down.

4) Let's make the aloo vadas now. Take little part of stuffing on palm and form small balls each of table tennis ball size. 

5) Let's start frying the vadas.

Take some oil in a pan enough for frying vadas. Dip each vada in besan batter and cover it all around with the batter and transfer it in the pan.  Fry it until each turns golden on all sides. 

6) If some batter remains, dip some less spicy green chillies in it and fry those too.. 

Now we have our vada ready. You need pav handy too.

Any green chutney (coriander) goes well with vada pav. However there is a special dry hot chutney that goes very well with it. Sukha garlic mirchi chutney.  Here's the recipe.

1) Dry roast 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts and 1/4 cup sesame seeds separately.  Blend these together in a blender to form a powder like mixture. Don't over blend. 

2) Take some oil in a hot pan and add finely chopped garlic (3 cloves), a pinch of  hing, 3-4 finely chopped green chillies, add 1/4 cup coconut powder. Add 2 tsp red chilli powder and 1 tsp cumin powder. Now add peanut and sesame powder. Add some salt (as per taste). Mix everything well. Switch off the flame. 

Teekha chutney is ready to be served.

Slit a pav and apply some green chutney. Sprinkle some teekha dry chutney over it. Place a vada and gently press it. Enjoy it hot. 

All I would say is, whatever you like, make it yourself. You and your family will love yourself even more :-)... 

Enjoy cooking..

Cheers,

Shweta