Batata Vada Pav Recipe (Deep Fried Potato Dumplings with small loaf of Bread)

How to make Vada Pav | Batata Vada | Mumbai Vada Pav | Aloo Bondas | Deep Fried Potato Dumplings | Mumbai street food - Batata Vada | Indian Burger 

Vada Pav - Indian version of burger is very popular, spicy staple street food, native to the Mumbai (Maharashtra), but also very popular in all parts of India. Vada Pav is also known as Aloo Bonda in southern parts of India and Batata Vada in Maharashtra (West part of India) and spelled as Wada Pav or vada paav. It consists of a batata vada sandwiched between two pieces of a Pav and served with dry garlic chutney, fried green chilies, green chutney and tamarind chutney.

Batata Vada means spicy potato dumpling coated with gram flour and deep fried. Batata is a Marathi word which means potatoes. Vada means savory fritter type snack or deep fried dumplings. 

✏Recipe Details

Category: Vegetarian

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Technique: Deep Frying

Difficulty: Medium

Serving: 4 (make 8-9 vadas)

Preparation Time: 25-30 minutes (includes chutney preparation)

Cook Time: 12-15 minutes

I am putting up recipes in four blogs posting for better understanding. Chutney served with Batata Wada will be posted individually. We have to prepare garlic dry chutney, coriander  chutney  and tamarind chutney.

Refer this for vada Pav chutneys

•  Make red garlic dry chutney
• Secret recipe of vada pav chutney
• Almond Green Coriander Chutney  
• Green coriander chutney
• Tamarind chutney

How to get started for vada pav 

1. Prepare filling for batatawada

2. Prepare batter for coating

3. Deep fry them

4. How to serve

Let's get started with the ingredients required for batatawada

Ingredients required for Potato Filling

✒4 large potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)

✒2 Green chilies

✒1 Handful of coriander leaves

✒7-8 curry leaves

✒4-5 garlic cloves

✒1 small piece ginger

✒1tsp cumin seeds

✒1 tsp coriander seeds

✒1tsp mustard seeds

✒1tsp fenugreek seeds (methi Dana)

✒½tsp asafoetida (hing powder)

✒1tsp turmeric

✒1tsp red chilly powder

✒1tsp cooking oil

✒Salt to taste

For batter (for the coating)

✒250-300 gms Besan (Bengal Gram Flour)

✒1tsp soda bicarbonate

✒60-70 ml Water 

✒Salt to taste

For deep frying

✒250-300 ml cooking oil

For serving

1. 8 Ladi pav (Round rolls of white bread) 
2. 8 Batata vadas
3. Green chutney
4. Red dry garlic chutney
5. Tamarind chutney or tomato sauce
6. Fried green chilies

Ladi pav means small loaf of bread. I am using ready-made Ladi Pav..

Method

✏Step 1: Boil Potatoes

◾Boil the potatoes, peel and mash.

Potatoes should not be very soft or mushy as that result in very soggy vadas and will absorb more oil. To avoid potatoes getting mushy, put your potatoes in cold water and then pressure cook or bring the water to a boil. If you put your potatoes into hot water, the external of the potatoes start cooking immediately and start getting mushy before the center has cooked, but when you use cold water potatoes gets cooked evenly.

✏Step 2: Make coarse paste 

◾Wash coriander leaves, roughly chop them.

◾ Roughly chop ginger, garlic, curry leaves and green chilies

◾Add coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, curry leaves, green chilies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds in a chopper or blender and make the coarse paste.

✏Step 3: Prepare potato filling

◾Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds, when it starts crackling, add asafoetida and coarse paste prepared in step no. 2. Saute for a 20-25 seconds, then add mashed potatoes. Mix well and cook for another minute or two.

◾Now add dry ingredients i.e. red chilly powder, turmeric and salt to taste. Cook this mixture on slow flame for 1-2 minutes. Remove it from heat and hold it aside, when it comes to room temperature, transfer this mixture in a plate or bowl and make small balls of equal size (size of a tennis ball). Keep it aside

✏Step 4: Batter Preparation

◾ Make a thick batter using besan, soda bicarbonate, water and salt to taste, make sure that the batter is lump free and is coating the potato balls properly.

About batter consistency: 

Batter should be thick like cake batter and should not be very running, If batter consistency is thin, then it makes the vadas to absorb more oil and make it very soggy.

Step 4: Frying

◾Heat oil in a deep frying pan, the oil should be medium hot, before adding vada, check the heat by dropping a drop of batter. 

◾Dip potato balls in the batter and deep fry.

◾Drain , remove the extra skin from vada, and dish out hot with red garlic chutney, green chutney, tamarind chutney and fried green chilies.

How to fry green chilies 

◾Frying green chilies is a very risky task, if you simply add them in hot oil it will burst, so take very good care. Never add them in hot oil without a slit. Wash and slit the green chilies. Stuff with salt or with chat masala or dry mango powder. Deep fry them for a few seconds.

How to Serve

◾Hold the pav in hand, slit the pav in half. Spread chutneys of your selection, place Veda in between the slices and press slightly. Vada Pav is ready to dished out.

Also refer step by step recipe of 

mixed dal vada