Vada Pav is a popular chaat recipe made from fluffy pao buns stuffed with spicy green chutney, sweet tangy tamarind chutney, garlicky coconut chutney and delicious aloo bonda/batata wada. Like a lot of chaat recipes, vada pav was alien to me until I moved to Bangalore and even then, I just didn’t get what the craze was all about some buns stuffed with fried potato dumplings. The versions I tasted in eateries were either too spicy or extremely bland leaving me unimpressed. Like all good things, I just got lucky one day when I tasted a delicious Vada Pav (because the husband insisted) in one of the local eateries. That’s where I grew fond of Dabeli too and my recipe is inspired by the version made by that specific eatery - Eateroo.
I make homemade Pav buns when I crave for homemade pav bhaji but a dozen small buns are definitely a lot for the two of us. In one such attempts, I decided to make Vada Pav at home as the husband is a huge fan (including all things fried). As I had the buns made already, I just had to get rest of the components ready – green chutney, tamarind chutney, garlic chutney and batata vada/aloo bonda. I twisted my brain trying to make a healthier version by avoiding deep-frying but gave in at the end, as some things are not to be tampered with.
Making Vada Pav at home from scratch is really simple if you have all the necessary chutneys prepared already. Unlike some chaat recipes, this doesn’t take a lot of time to put together and if you are like me, not keenly looking for piping hot food, it tastes good even after cooling down. Although I don’t want to westernize this Indian dish, but it does feel like our own desi burger that’s only better than our western counter-part. The potato stuffing dipped in besan/gram flour mixture, deep-fried until crisp and the plethora of chutneys turn the humble pav bun into one amazing Vada Pav. I served it as snack with piping hot ginger tea and the rest were great as a quick dinner for us.
So you can make this recipe as you like, as this is more of a guidance or how I make it rather than specific measurements. You can make the chutneys spicier or sweet as your preference and still make a delicious homemade vada pav. You can deep fry the potato bonda or shallow fry them in appe pan. You can serve this piping hot with a side of fried green chillies and more chutneys on the side or make the many other variations by adding cheese, chilli chutney to make it hot or make it just with sweet chutney to make a yummy but non-spicy version. You can make pav buns from scratch or cut down the effort by using store-bought pav buns. Have fun making this popular street food recipe at home!
📖 Recipe
To make Green Chutney – Add all ingredients under green chutney into a blender jar.
Blend into a smooth chutney by adding just enough water. Remove onto a bowl.
To make Sweet Tamarind Chutney/Saunth Chutney – In a pan add thin tamarind water along with jaggery, red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, ginger powder and salt.
Heat on low flame until the chutney is thick and bubbling. Remove onto a bowl.
To make Red Garlic Chutney– Dry roast the garlic pods in a pan until they are fragrant.
Add grated coconut and roast it until it is light golden brown.
Once cooled down, add it to the blendar jar with salt and red chilli powder.
Grind into a coarse powder. Remove onto a bowl.
To make Batata Vada – In a pan heat 1 teaspoon oil. Splutter mustard seeds and add asafoetida & curry leaves.
Now add mashed boiled potatoes along with turmeric powder and salt as needed.
Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add fresh coriander finely chopped. Mix well. Remove it from heat and let it cool down completely.
Make equal sized balls of the potato mixture.
Heat oil for deep frying. Once the oil is hot, keep the flame on medium. Now to make the outer coating, mix besan and rice flour along with red chilli powder, salt and pinch of cooking soda.
Add water as needed and make a thick batter. It took me ¼ to ⅓ cup of water. Adjust as needed. Take a ball of potato filling and dip it into the batter, coating it well.
Gently drop it into the hot oil. Fry 2-3 pieces at a time, rotating them constantly until they are golden brown.
Remove from oil once it is golden and crisp. Drain onto a kitchen tissue. Prepare all batata vada this way.
To Assemble the Vada Pav – Cut each pav bun in the middle making sure both the parts are still intact. On one side, spread green chutney and on the side spread tamarind chutney evenly.
Now sprinkle a layer of the red garlic chutney.
Place a batata vada/potato fritter at the center. Close the bun by pressing gently on both sides.
Serve with additional chutneys and fried green chillies on the side.
Here is the recipe for Homemade Pav Buns. Adjust the spices as per preference.
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