Vada Pav is a popular Mumbai street food. It is made by adding fried potato fritters in pav (buns) along with garlic chutney, tamarind chutney, and green chutney.
Here are some more delicious street food recipes you can check out: Pav Bhaji, Misal Pav, Stuffed Bread Pakora, Aloo Tikki, Ram Ladoo, Dahi Bhalla, Aloo Kathi Roll, Instant Khaman Dhokla.
Though it is one of the popular street foods of Mumbai but now it is also served in many other parts of India. Even though I spent most of my life in India, I never got a chance to eat Vada Pav in Mumbai. I have eaten Batata Vada a lot. Batata Vada is basically potato fritters that we add in Vada Pav. So I thought of making my version of Vada Pav.
Vada Pav is such an easy recipe. You can fry or air fry or even cook the firtters in Appam Pan and they will still taste so good. The special ingredient of Vada Pav is dry Garlic Chutney. You can make your own at home or you can also use a store-bought one.
I always keep Green Chutney & Tamarind Chutney in my refrigerator. So the task of making Indian street food becomes easier. As I just need to prepare the main food and use the stored chutneys from the refrigerator.
WHAT IS VADA PAV?
Vada Pav is made of Vada & Pav. Vada is made of boiled potato fritters. Boiled potatoes are mashed and then some spices are added to them. These spicy mashed potatoes are shaped into round balls. Then those balls are added to gram flour batter and finally fried. Pav literally means buns. Fritters are put into the buns along with dry garlic chutney, tamarind chutney, and green chutney.
VADA PAV INGREDIENTS
- POTATOES: For this recipe, you need boiled potatoes. You can boil them in salted water or in a pressure cooker. Peel the skin off and mash the potatoes.
- SPICES: Usually the potato mixture is a little spicy. I have put garam masala, roasted cumin powder, red chili powder, amchur powder, and salt in the potato mixture.
- GRAM FLOUR: The potato balls are dipped in gram flour batter. The batter needs to be neither too thick nor too thin, just medium consistency.
- PAV: You can use mini buns, ladi pav, or Hawaiian buns for the recipe. I have used homemade ladi pav for the recipe.
- DRY GARLIC CHUTNEY: Vada Pav are incomplete without dry garlic chutney. You need garlic, grated coconut, red chilis for making homemade garlic chutney.
- OTHER CHUTNEYS: For extra flavoring you can also add green chutney and tamarind chutney.
HOW TO MAKE VADA PAV
- MAKE DRY GARLIC CHUTNEY: Saute garlic in a tablespoon of oil for a few seconds. Next, add sesame seeds and cook for a few minutes until it starts to change color. Turn off the flame and add desiccated coconut. Add salt and Kashmiri red chili powder. Once the mixture cools down then grind it coarsely.
- POTATO MIXTURE: Put boiled potatoes in a bowl & mash it using a fork or a potato masher. Then add spices (garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric powder, amchur powder, and salt). Also add tempering of curry leaves & mustard seeds. Mix until everything is evenly combined.
- MAKE THE BATTER: Make the batter by adding gram flour, salt, and red chili powder in a bowl. Add water little by little until it forms a batter of medium consistency.
- MAKE POTATO BALLS: Then take a small amount of potato mixture and form it into 1-inch diameter balls.
- DIP IN BATTER: Take one potato ball and dip it in the batter until the ball is covered in batter.
- FRY THE DIPPED POTATO BALLS: Place the dipped potato balls in the hot oil and fry until golden brown in color. You can also air fry the vadas at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
- ADJUST & SERVE: Slice the buns in the middle. Add green chutney on one side of the pav/bun. Add tamarind chutney on the other side of the buns. Add fried vada in the middle and press the bun gently. Lastly, sprinkle some garlic chutney and serve hot.
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is Vada Pav Healthy?
Traditionally, Vada Pav is made by deep-frying potato balls. But as more people are getting health conscious they are trying to find healthier ways to enjoy the flavor of street food. If you make Vada Pav in an Air Fryer without using any oil or in Appam Pan with hardly any oil then Vada pav will be considered healthier.
How to store leftover Vadas?
Once the vadas are cooled down then you can store them in the refrigerator for 3-5 days in an air tight container. Or you can also store in a freezer for 1-2 months in a freezer safe container or ziplocs. When reusing, you can fry them again or air-fry for 5-10 minutes in an air fryer.
VADA PAV
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- ¼ cup Garlic Cloves
- 2 tablespoon Sesame Seeds
- 1 cup Coconut desiccated
- 3 tablespoon Kashmiri red Chili Powder or more if needed
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 8-10 Curry Leaves
- 1 inch Ginger grated
- 1 Green Chili finely chopped (optional)
- 4 Potatoes boiled
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tablespoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon Amchur Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- Salt
- 10 Vadas
- 10 Ladi Pav
- 3-4 tablespoon Dry Garlic Chutney
- 3-4 tablespoon Tamarind Chutney
- 3-4 tablespoon Green Chutney
- 1 tablespoon Pomegranate Seeds
Equipment
Method
- Add oil in a skillet at medium-low heat. Add garlic to the oil and cook for 30-40 seconds. Then add sesame seeds to the skillet. When it starts to change color, turn off the heat. Add desiccated coconut, Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, and salt and mix gently. Let it cool down for 10-15 minutes. Transfer the mixture into a spice grinder and grind it coarsely.
- Add oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add chopped curry leaves. Add turmeric powder & ginger and stir. Lastly, add mashed potatoes and spices and mix until everything is well combined. Transfer in a bowl and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Make the batter by putting gram flour, salt, and red chili powder in a bowl. Add water little by little until it forms a batter of medium consistency.
- Make 1-inch diameter potato balls from the potato mixture. Take a small amount of potato mixture in your hand & roll it until it is round in shape and looks like a ball. Repeat the process for the rest of the potatoes.
- Take one potato ball and dip it in the batter until the ball is covered in batter.
- STOVE-TOP: Add oil in the wok or kadai or a frying pan. Once the oil is hot, place the batter-dipped potato balls in the frying pan. Once one side is golden brown, flip the vadas and cook until both sides are golden brown in color. Remove the vadas and place them on a paper towel.
- AIR-FRYER: preheat air fryer at 400°F for 3-5 minutes. Spray some cooking oil in an air fryer basket. Then place the batter-dipped potato balls in the air fryer basket. Air fry at 400°F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown in color. Remove the vadas from the air fryer basket.
- Slice the pav/buns in the middle. Warm the buns in a pan or you can also add some butter. Add green chutney on one side of pav/bun. Add tamarind chutney on the other side of the buns. Add fried vada in the middle of and press the bun gently. Lastly, sprinkle some garlic chutney and serve hot.
Nutrition
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