How to Make Vada Pav like a Mumbai Local
Master the Art of Mumbai's Most Beloved Street Sandwich at Home
There is nothing quite like street food from the streets of India. So, this year, on my annual trip to India, I went to Mumbai and closely observed the street food vendors to pick up some of the age-old techniques that they use to make consistently delicious complex dishes with multiple components.
I'm breaking it all down for you so you can recreate the street food experience in your home.
If you don’t know what a vada pav is, it’s essentially a slider with a fried potato fritter in between. It’s garnished with a fried chili and is served with 3 distinct sauces.
I had heard a lot about Araam Vada Pav near the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The shop was established in 1939, everyone raved about their garlic chutney and there was always a line of locals.
The vada was perfectly crisp and seasoned so well. All three chutneys had a purpose and brought complementary flavors to the table. The fried chili garnish wasn't too spicy and added a nice fresh kick.
Key Techniques
There are mainly two techniques in this recipe (three if you're making the bread but we'll save that for another post)
Tempering (tadka): This technique is used to flavor the potato filling and involves blooming spices in hot oil to extract maximum flavor. Avoid overheating the oil and add the spices in the order mentioned.
Deep Frying: The second technique is deep frying so the potato fritter is crisp on the outside and doesn't soak up too much oil. Get a digital cooking thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil since that is the key factor that determines the crispness of whatever you're frying.
Makes 4 Vada Pav
Potato Fritter (Vada)
1 tbsp neutral oil like Avocado + more for deep frying
2 medium sized potatoes, boiled and peeled
2-3 green chilies (depending on your spice preference)
3 cloves of garlic
6-8 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp hing (asafoetida)
Salt
Tamarind Chutney
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
3 tbsp jaggery, grated
4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp dried ginger powder (optional)
Cilantro Chutney
1/2 bunch cilantro
2-3 green chilies (depending on your spice preference)
Salt
Garlic Chutney
3 cloves of garlic
Chura (chickpea batter droplets fried until crispy golden - made from the same batter used for the vada)
1 tbsp red chili powder
Batter
1.5 cups chickpea flour
~1/2 cup water
A pinch of salt
Ingredients for assembly:
4 white bread rolls
3 green chilies, deep fried
Make the batter: Mix the chickpea flour and salt. Gradually add in the water so make a paste that flows easily but is still thick (like the texture of heavy cream). Cover and set aside.
Make the potato fritter: Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp neutral oil to it. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and hing, in that order. Stir till fragrant.
Now add crushed garlic and green chilies and cook for 1 minute or until the raw smell of garlic goes away.
Next add in the turmeric and stir for a few seconds before adding in the crushed, boiled potatoes. Add salt.
Cook for 5-6 minutes and set aside to cool.
Make the tamarind chutney: Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan (excluding spices) and bring to a boil. Bubble for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the spices.
Make the cilantro chutney: Crush the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle or in a blender with very little water, if needed. Cover and set aside.
Make garlic chutney: Drizzle some of the batter into hot oil (350°F) and deep fry till crisp and golden. Turn it into a dry garlic chutney by adding 3 garlic cloves, red chili and blending coarsely.
Fry fritters: Shape the potato filling into 4 balls, dip into the batter and deep fry until crisp and golden (~5 min).
Assemble: Cut the bread in half and apply tamarind chutney on one side and cilantro chutney and garlic chutney on the other. Put the fried fritter in between and garnish with the fried green chili.
Serve immediately.