Vada Pav

Vada Pav is a well-known street snack consisting of layers of hot green chutney and a spicy potato mixture between buns. 

In Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra, it is a well-liked vegan street food snack. This dish is loaded with flavors and textures!

Vada pav is sold at Mumbai’s shops, and outside of colleges and universities, due to its popularity and adoration among street food enthusiasts. It’s one of Mumbai’s cheapest street dishes, but it’s tasty and delightful. 

As always, I request you read the complete article for useful information included in the blurb. However, you can find the detailed recipe with exact ingredients and step-by-step instructions below.

What is Vada Pav?

Batata vada is fried potato dumpling fritters coated in batter. Besan, or nutty gram flour, and spices are used to make the batter. The filling is made of tastily spiced mashed potatoes.

Batata is a Marathi word that means “potato”, and “vada” generally refers to a savory food that is fried and resembles a fritter or dumpling.

Pav, or pao, is an Indian word for a tiny loaf of bread, similar to dinner rolls. In India, bakeries, superstores, and sweet shops sell them. Usually, they are manufactured with all-purpose or whole wheat flour.

Vada pav is basically batata vada between 2 pieces of a pav, with green chutney, sweet chutney, and dry garlic chutney on top.

Vada pav can be enjoyed as a snack or for breakfast, brunch, or even in the evening. It goes ideally with Indian chai, crispy green chilies, and chutneys like mint, coriander, or green chutney.

Fortunately, if you are craving vada pav, but can’t travel to Mumbai, you can make them at home by following my recipe!

Why make vada pav?

This vada pao is:

• Pocket-friendly
• One of the quickest on-the-go snacks.
• So filling and delectably tasty.
• Vegan and gluten-free.

Vada pav recipe:

• Gluten-free slider buns – 1 packet
• Boiled potatoes – 3-4
• Chopped onions – one small
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Dry curry leaves – 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste
• Red chili flakes – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric – 1/2 teaspoon
• All spice powder – 1/2 teaspoon

For batter

• Gram flour – 250 grams
• Salt – to taste
• Red chili flakes – 1/4th teaspoon
• Turmeric – 1/4th teaspoon
• Water – as required

For Green Chutney

• Cilantro – half bunch
• Mint leaves – half bunch
• Green chilies – 2-3
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste

How to make vada pav?

1. Peel and boil potatoes in salted water.
2. In a pan heat some avocado oil.
3. Add in dry curry leaves, cumin, and chopped onion, and fry. Fry until onions are translucent.
4. Add the spices and mix.
5. Add in boiled potatoes and give it a good mix.
6. Take the mixture out to a bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.
7. Meanwhile, make the gram flour batter.
8. Add in salt, red chili flakes, and turmeric into gram flour.
9. Add in some water and make a fine batter.
10. Shape the potato mixture into an impromptu ball and coat it in the batter.
11. Shallow fry in some avocado oil.
12. You may bake or air fry the vadas but frying them will give the maximum crispiness and flavor.
13. For green chutney, blend together mint, cilantro, green chilies, and cumin seeds with some water. Add in salt if required.
14. Now assemble the vada pao.
15. Slightly toast the buns.
16. Apply green chutney on one or both sides.
17. Place the vada in between and it’s ready to serve.
18. This is one of my favorite vegan sliders, you may serve it with tamarind sauce or ketchup.

How to serve vada pav?

Vada Pav is a complete meal, in my opinion. The only thing that could make it better, in my mind, would be a cup of steaming ginger tea.

Sour & Sweet Dates and Tamarind Chutney – These are optional, but many street vendors serve a sweet and sour chutney alongside a hot green chutney to maintain the flavors.

To make a sour and sweet chutney, use dates, tamarind, roasted cumin seeds, jaggery, roasted byadagi chili, and salt.

Thin besan batter can also be used to make chura. Add additional water to the remaining besan to thin the batter.

Pour this batter into hot oil and deep-fry it to make chura. On low heat, deep-fry chura until crispy. When the chura is done, combine it with the vada.

Fried green chiles pair fantastically with vada pav. They are actually strongly recommended!

How to store leftover vadas?

Once the vadas have cooled, place them in an airtight container and preserve them in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.

Alternatively, you can keep the food in Ziploc bags or freezer-safe containers for 1-2 months. In order to reuse them, you can either fry them once again or air fry them for five to ten minutes.

When you are ready, you can reheat deep-fried vadas. Bake the re-heated vada for 8 to 10 minutes. They will keep their crispness and avoid becoming soggy in this way. A pan or an oven can both be used for baking.

How to use leftover ingredients?

This recipe yields 18 medium-sized vadas, which is sufficient for a big family or a small party. Or, like me, have a husband who is especially hungry for Vada Pav.

However, if you only need half as many vadas, you may easily use the remaining potato masala and gram flour batter in one of the following ways.

Potato masala can be used as a stuffing for stuffed bread rolls, paratha, potato sandwiches, or even stuffed capsicums that can be baked or fried in the oven.

In gram flour (besan) batter, you can dip anything for frying. Dip the bread to make bread pakodas, which are a favorite of my son’s. We usually can dip everything, including potatoes, onions, and capsicum.

More tips for making vada pav:

• When frying batata vada, the oil should be reasonably hot, between 360 to 375°F (180 to 190°C). The oil’s temperature can be checked with a candy or deep-frying thermometer.
• Alternatively, you might add some batter droplets to the oil. When the droplets gradually rise to the top and start bubbling, the oil is ready. However, if the drops rise slowly or disappear entirely, the oil is not heated enough. The oil is too warm if the droplets ascend too quickly and burn or brown.
• When vada is fried in overheated oil, the inside remains undercooked and the outside overcooked and burnt. They absorb additional oil and become wet and greasy when fried in insufficiently hot oil.
• Depending on your preferred level of spice, you can adjust the quantity. The vada pav served on the street in some Maharashtrian cities, such as Kolhapur, is quite hot. The vada pavs made using my recipe are not spicy. If you want it hotter, add extra green chilies.
• Vada is crispier when rice flour is added to the batter (so I recommend adding 1 tbsp.). If you are unable to find rice flour, you can either prepare it yourself by grinding raw rice or substitute it with corn flour.

Who invented wada pao?

According to the Times of India, Ashok Vaidya made the first vada pav in 1966 at a stall outside the Dadar railway station.

What to eat with vada pao?

You can eat vada pav with sweet tamarind chutney, green chutney, fried salted green chilies, Indian tea, or dry garlic coconut chutney.

Is vada pao healthy?

Traditionally, potato balls are deep-fried to make vada pav. However, as more people become health-conscious, they are looking for healthier alternatives to street food in order to experience its flavor. It is thought that vada pav is healthier if it is prepared in an appam pan or an air fryer with little to no oil.

Is vada pav vegan?

Yes, it is! I prefer to think of vada pav as a vegetarian version of the Indian hot dog. A spicy, deep-fried, wonderfully crispy potato dumpling slathered with deliciously hot garlic chutney and nestled inside a soft, fluffy bun.

What does vada pao taste like?

Every vendor boasts to have a distinctive ingredient or secret recipe that distinguishes his vada pav from the others.

Examples include a dash of masala powder or a top of choora, (which are the crispy crumbs that are cooked with the vada and then left in the frying pan). The flavor of vada pav totally depends on the whims of the chef.

What makes vada pao so unique?

Even though it is one of Mumbai’s simplest street dishes, it is excellent and delectable. Batata vada is the main component of vada pav, which is sandwiched between two slices of pav and covered in a mixture of sweet, green, and dried garlic chutney. Batata vada is fritters made from batter and potato dumplings.

More vegan Indian recipes to try:

• Potato Chickpea Masala
• Air Fryer Onion Pakoras
• Tofu Curry with Cauliflower
• Masala Okra
• Cauliflower Tikka Masala
• Gram Flour Flatbread (Besan Roti)
• Pao Bhaji
• Veggie Kofta Curry

As always, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave any feedback or share your own experience with us in the comments section below.

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