Vada Pav , the most famous

street food of India is the most lip-smacking appetizer I have ever tasted. It reminds me of my childhood memories associated with it. Many of my class-fellows never cared to bring or eat their home lunch , because they loved to have this from our school canteen everyday. This snack could be enjoyed anytime of the day , without any craving too ;).
I followed “Nisha Madhulika’s recipe” for making vadas. So without wasting further time, lets jump to the easy fail-proof recipe. In U.P. we call them Aloo Bonde.:)

INGREDIENTS:

1. Pav Bread – 4 pieces or more
   For Outer Covering :
   
2. Chickpeas Flour (Besan) – ¹⁄₄ cup
   
3. Rice Flour (Chawal ka atta) – 2 tbsp(optional)
   
4. Salt – ¹⁄₂ tsp or to taste
   
5. Red Chilli powder – ¹⁄₄ tsp (optional)
   
6. Baking Soda – ¹⁄₄ tsp (optional)
   
7. Water – ¹⁄₄ cup
   
8. Cooking oil – 1-2 cups for deep frying
   

For Stuffing:
9. Oil – 2 tbsp
10. Cumin Seeds (Jeera) – ¹⁄₂ tsp
11. Asafoetida (Hing) – a pinch
12. Boiled potatoes (medium size) – 3
13. Chopped Onions – ¹⁄₂ cup (optional)
14. Green chillies chopped finely – 1-2
15. Ginger paste (adrak) – 1 tsp
16. Garlic paste (Lehsun) – 1 tsp
17. Red chilli powder(Lal mirch) – ¹⁄₄ tsp
18. Salt – 1.5 tsp or to taste
19. Cilantro/coriander leaves (Dhaniya) finely chopped – ¹⁄₄ cup
20. Coriander powder (dhaniya powder) – ¹⁄₂ tsp (optional)
21. Turmeric (Haldi)- ¹⁄₄ tsp

1. Red Dry Chutney (Lal lehsun chutney)
   
2. Hari Chutney (Coriander-mint dip)

METHOD:
|Preparation time : 10 mins | Cooking time : 20 mins | Makes 7-8 vadas |

1. Boil 3-4 potatoes in a cooker. For this , wash the potatoes and fill as much water just to cover them in the cooker and add some lemon juice or lemon peel too. This prevents blackening of the cooker.It takes 8-10 mins to get one whistle.Lower the heat and turn it off after 2 mins or second whistle ,whichever is earlier. Alternatively, you may wash these potatoes and keep in a ziplock bag or transparent plastic bag with the closed mouth in microwave for 6 mins.

2. Finely chop the onions and make a paste of ginger,garlic and green chilli in a mortar-pestle (Okhli).

3. By the time your boiled potatoes are cooling lets prepare the coating solution.For this take a bowl and add all the covering ingredients in it mix them with a whisk or spoon to avoid forming any lumps in the batter. Add water gradually while mixing with other hand to avoid forming lumps in the batter. The batter should not be runny not be very thick, should be of pouring consistency.
   

4. Now mash the boiled potatoes. Heat a wok or a non-stick pan.Add oil in it.

5. Add the jeera and hing. Let them sputter.
   

6. Next add the onions, ginger-garlic-chilli paste and stir them till they change color.
   

7. When they have almost cooked ,add the salt,turmeric, red chilly powder, coriander powder and stir them well.
   

8. Add the boiled potatoes and lower the heat, turn and toss them well in the spices mix to get evenly coated.
   

9. Turn off the heat and add the cilantro leaves and mix them properly in the mixture.
   

10. Transfer the sauteed stuffing in another bowl /plate and allow it to cool to the room temperature.
    

11. Make small tennis-ball size laddoos (loiyan) from this potato batter.
    

12. Heat some oil in a wok for deep frying.

13. When the oil is sufficiently heated, pick a ball ,dip it in the chickpea solution and gently place it in the hot oil in the wok with a spoon.
    

14. Similarly place 3-4 vadas in the wok and fry them until golden brown on all sides. Turn them in between for even frying.
    

15. When they are golden yellow from all sides, drain them with a slotted spoon on paper lined plate.
    

16. Yes, Yummy Vada are ready to Devour !! You may serve them as it is with tomato ketchup or assemble them in pavs and enjoy.
    This is the split vada.
    

17. For assembling, take a knife and cut the pav in the middle horizantally just leaving the last joint intact.
    

18. Apply green chutney on one side and red lehsun chutney on the other.
    

19. Place your vada in the middle and press it slightly such that it fixes. If the pavs were just out from the fridge, just heat them for 30 secs in microwave and serve with hot tea.
    

Please feel free to ask or comment!! We warmly welcome your comments!! 🙂