Vada Pav

Vada Pav:

Now there are many stories that come to my mind when i think of vada pav. Earliest one being from my childhood, when i first saw this hilarious song in a Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit movie Hifazat, sung in an even more funny south Indian accent, lyrics are "Batata Vada, dil nahi dena tha dena padaaaa...." :D :D. The Video is also as funny as the song itself comprising of extra large sized batata wadas. 

The second story that i am going to share is the first time i had a vada pav. It was in Mumbai, on a street near Haji Ali Dargah along with a friend of mine, and I instantly fell in love with it. Though normally I refrain myself from eating any thing street side but I guess I was hungry and tired from sightseeing that day and ate whatever I saw first, and truth be told , i don't regret eating it. :D

Another memory that comes to my mind is from my last office, my whole team used to order loads of vada pav and have it together in our free time from work along with a nice cup of tea and tease each other in a friendly way. It was actually this vada pav that persuaded me to try it myself. Which i did and result was awesome. Here is the recipe that i tried. Hope you like the outcome too. :)

Ingredients:

For Potato Mash:

4 Medium Sized boiled potato nicely mashed.

Fresh coriander.

1 teaspoon red chilli powder. Reduce the quantity if you don’t like it very spicy.

1 teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon coriander powder.

Salt to taste.

1 Teaspoon lime juice.

Masala for Mashed potato:

1 tablespoon Oil.

1 teaspoon mustard seeds.

6-7 curry leaves

Paste of green chilli, ginger and garlic, about two tablespoon. All used in equal quantity to make the paste.

Pinch of Asafotida and Turmeric.

Salt to taste

For Batter:

3 Tablespoon Besan / Gram Flour.

Salt to taste.

Pinch of Asafotida /  heeng.

1 teaspoon chilli.

½ teaspoon turmeric.

Water to make the batter.

½ teaspoon soda bicarb.

And oil for deep frying.

Recipe:

To make the batter:

Mix besan, turmeric, chilli, salt, asafoetida and soda together. Add water to make a batter of it. It should be of liquid consistency but thick enough to coat potato balls or batata wada. Whisk it nicely.

To make Masala:

Heat oil, add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Then add curry leaves and saute for few seconds, be cautious to not let it burn. Add ginger garlic and chilli paste and saute it. Add salt turmeric and asafoetida and mix nicely. Masala is ready.

Potato Mash:

Mix the masala, fresh coriander along with all the spices with the potato and mash them together with a masher. When everything has come together nicely , mash is ready.

Making Vada:

Heat oil in a wok for frying. Make smalls balls of potato mash and dip them in besan batter and fry them till golden brown in color. Have it sandwiched between bread slices or with a pav.