Vada Pav

Vada Pav is life for me. I grew up in Mumbai, pretty much munching on them my entire life. We mumbaikars can eat or breakfast /lunch / dinner / snack, pretty much anytime. We have seen the price for a vada pav being sold for 5 Rs to 20 Rs today. Most mumbikars will grab one at as early at 7 AM on their way to work and smell the fresh pav every morning on the way to the railway station.

History says it was introduced by a common man who wanted to sell a food item that was quick that could keep up with the fast pace of life and hence was born the vada pav. Vada is fried potatoes and Pav is the dinner roll of Maharashtra. It is served with a fried chilli by the side.

Need –

• Potatoes – 5 – boiled , peeled and mashed
• Oil – for frying
• Mustard seeds/ Rai – 1 tsp
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Ginger – 1 inch – chopped
• Chilli -1 – chopped
• Hing – 1 pinch
• Curry leaves – 6/7
• Salt
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves
• For batter – besan 1 cup, salt, hing, red chilli powder , water.
• Pav
• Green chuntey – Mint , coriander – a bunch , 2 garlic pod, 1 inch ginger, 2 green chilli, lemon juice, salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp peanuts.
• Sweet/Tamarind chutney -2 tbsp Tamarind pulp , 1 tbsp Jaggery , 3 dates, 1 tsp dry ginger powder,1 tsp jeera powder , 1 tsp chilli powder, salt
• Garlic chutney – Garlic 5 pods , peanuts 1 tbsp , 2 tbsp coconut , salt, 2 dry red chilli
• Chopped onions
• Fried green chillies

Process –

• In a pan take a table spoon of oil and heat it. Temper mustard seeds , jeera , curry leaves, ginger ,hing. Add chilli, turmeric powder , salt and mashed potatoes. Mix well . Switch off and add lemon juice and coriander leaves. Cool and make palm sized balls.
• Heat oil for frying while mix everything under batter to a thick consistency.
• Take the balls and dip in batter to coat well and fry on low-medium flame till nicely brown and crispy.
• Grind together everything under green chutney. For Sweet chutney cook all ingredients well till raw smell goes and it thickens. Mash well or grind it when cool. For garlic powder dry roast all the ingredients till coconut becomes dry. Cool and grind to a powder.
• To assemble take the pav and score 3/4th in between to open it and spread sweet chutney at the bottom , mint chutney on top , place the vada and top it with garlic chutney and chopped onions. Press the pav together and serve with fried green chilli.