Vada Pav (Mumbai Spiced Potato Fritter Burger)
وڑا پاؤ (ممبئی کا مصالحے دار آلو کے بڑے کا برگر)
Vada pav is the snack that feeds Mumbai. A *batata vada*, a ball of spiced potato with mustard seeds, curry leaves, garlic and ginger, is dipped in batter, fried until crisp and pressed into a soft bread roll with fiery garlic chutney. It costs very little, it's eaten standing up at stalls outside railway stations, and it's often called the Mumbai burger. Pakistani readers will recognise the vada as a close cousin of aloo pakora and the bun kebab idea.
- ⏱ Total: 50 min
- Prep: 25 min
- Cook: 25 min
- Medium
- Serves 6
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Heat 1 tbsp oil and crackle the mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves, garlic, ginger, green chillies and and fry for 30 seconds. Add the turmeric, potatoes and salt and mix well. Stir in the coriander and cool. Shape into 6 balls.
For the dry garlic chutney, toast the coconut in a dry pan until golden, then pound with 3 garlic cloves, the chilli powder and a pinch of salt. (Or use ready-made vada pav chutney.)
Whisk the besan, chilli powder, baking soda, a pinch of salt and about ½ cup water into a thick, smooth batter that coats a spoon.
Heat the frying oil to medium-hot. Dip each potato ball in the batter to coat completely and fry for 3–4 minutes until golden and crisp. Fry the whole green chillies for 30 seconds until blistered.
Slit the pav, spread with green chutney and a spoon of dry garlic chutney, press in a hot vada and serve with a fried chilli.
Kitchen notes
Keep the potato filling fairly dry so the vada holds its shape.
Leftover batter makes excellent pakoras: dip onion rings or chillies and fry.
Dinner rolls or slider buns work well in place of pav.
The snack that runs Mumbai
Vada pav is said to have been first sold in the 1960s by a street vendor near Dadar railway station, who put a batata vada inside a pav so office workers could eat it on the move. It caught on immediately. Today millions are eaten every day across Mumbai and Maharashtra, from railway platforms to college canteens.
The potato filling
The vada filling is simple but full of flavour: potatoes with a tarka of mustard seeds, curry leaves, lots of garlic, ginger and green chilli, coloured yellow with turmeric. Crushing the garlic and chillies in a mortar, rather than chopping them, releases more flavour.
The chutneys
Two chutneys make vada pav: a sweet-sour tamarind or fresh green chutney, and the dry red garlic chutney made from coconut, garlic and chilli. The dry chutney is the signature; don’t skip it.
Serving
Serve hot, with a fried green chilli on the side and a cup of masala chai or a cutting chai. For more Mumbai street food, try pav bhaji and misal pav.
Questions people ask
What is batata vada?
It's the potato fritter alone, without the bread. It's served with chutney as a snack.
Can I bake the vadas?
The batter needs frying to turn crisp. For a lighter version, shape the potato into patties and pan-fry them like aloo tikki.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 330
- Protein
- 8 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 44 g
