Vada Pav

Vada Pav is a one of the most popular street foods from Mumbai. This simple street food recipe has won hearts not only all over India, but also internationally. I know you may not believe it, but this recipe is so easy to make at home. Whenever I visit Mumbai, a delicious Vada Pav, from a food joint near Mithibhai college is a must, along with Pav Bhaji and Tawa Pulao.

What is a Vada Pav?

This recipe consists of 4 main components, the batata vada, pav (buns/ dinner rolls), and the chutneys. The famous garlic chutney is a dry chutney, which is the star ingredient of this recipe! It elevates the experience of eating this street food recipe to the whole another level.

How to Make this Recipe Step by Step

You make the Vada Pav in 8 easy steps

Boil the Potatoes. In the Meantime Make the chutneys. Make garlic chutney, green chutney and Dates and Tamarind chutney. Once the potatoes are boiled, make the Potato Masala for the Batata Vada. Make the batter to deep fry the prepared batata vadas Deep Fry The Batata Vadas Assemble the Mumbai Vada Pav

Traditionally, the pav are not toasted, but it is one’s personal prefrence. My husband and I like them lightly toasted.

How to Make the Green Chutney?

I already have a green chutney recipe that is already on the blog. It is versatile and works for all the chaat and street food recipes. This recipe needs cilantro, mint, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and cumin powder. I add six to the recipe, to adjust the consistency of the chutney. I have written a quick and perfect cilantro chutney recipe for the vada pav below in the recipe card.

How to Make Dates and Tamarind Chutney?

Here’s my 10-minute instant pot dates and tamarind chutney recipe. It is easy and quick to make and uses only a few ground spices, dates, and store-bought tamarind paste. I have also mentioned a quick stove-top version of tamarind chutney using store-bought tamarind paste below in the recipe card.

How to Make the Special Vada Pav Chutney?

In a small frying pan, add oil and 5-6 cloves of garlic. Once the garlic browns add 1 cup of freshly shredded coconut. Toast it until the moisture evaporates from the coconut on a medium-low flame. Then add red chili powder and salt. In a spice blender, blend the prepared mix. Your dry garlic chutney aka vada pav chutney is ready.

How to Make the Batata Vada

The batata vada is a deep fried potato fritter. To make this, we start with boiling the potatoes. I prefer boiling the potatoes using my Instant Pot. Once the potatoes are boiled, peel the skin off while they are still hot. It is easier to remove the skin of boiled potatoes while they are hot. Mash the potatoes, and prepare a tempering. The tempering is super simple. In oil, add mustard seeds, minced ginger, garlic green chilies, and curry leaves. Add the mashed potatoes, turmeric and salt. Mix everything well. Finish with freshly chopped cilantro. Make the chickpea flour batter, and then deep fry the prepared lemon sized batata vadas in hot oil.

Assemble the Mumbai Vada Pav

Once you have all the components of the Vada Pav ready, cut the pav in the middle using a bread knife. Don’t slice it all the way, just enough to toast, add chutneys and vada to it. Then, lightly toast the pav with a little butter on low flame. You just want your pav to get soft and buttery. Once the pav is lightly toasted, add all three chutneys, on both sides of the pav, and add the prepared batata vadas. Now lightly press pav and serve with more chutney.

Expert Tips to Make This Recipe

The recipe has 3 main components. The pav, chutneys and the batata vadas. You can plan to make the chutneys ahead of time and keep boiled potatoes ready a day ahead of making the vada pav. The chutneys are a very important component of the recipe, and I highly recommend all three chutneys to make your vada pav. If you don’t have time to make the green chutney and tamarind chutney, you can use store-bought chutneys, but definitely do make the garlic chutney at home. The Batata Vada has a very simple potato masala. I recommend using golden potatoes, so the vadas feel moist and delicious. Russet potatoes can make the potato masala a bit too dry. The chickpea batter needs to be thicker for batata vadas, than for any other Indian fritters we typically make. Use fresh Indian ladi pav to make this recipe. They taste the best. The other buns/ dinner rolls are sweet, which don’t taste great with vada pav. If you like cheesy food, add some cheese to your vada pav and toast it with a little butter, they will taste delicious.

Storage Instructions and Serving Suggestions

Vada Pav tastes best when served right off the pan, piping hot. So frying and assembling the vada pavs go hand in hand. Serve with extra chutneys on the side. You can make the batata vadas and chutneys ahead of time. I like to reheat the batata vadas using an air fryer at 300F for about 5 minutes. The chutneys stay fresh for up to a week. You can also freeze the batata vadas and reheat them in the air fryer.