Vada Pav Recipe (Mumbai Style) - How to Make Bombay Style Vada Pav at Home?

Mumbai's very own Vada Pav!

If they say local trains are the lifeline for Mumbai, I would say Vada Pav forms the second life line for Mumbai. You would hardly find a person here in Mumbai who doesn't like Vada Pav. You will find Vada Pav being sold in every nook and corner of Bombay. Although this food item is so readily available everywhere in and around Mumbai, it is not a regular street food item in other parts of the country. Infact if you get a chance to have a wada pav in Mumbai you may not like it in any other state of India. That makes it one of the most humble street food that is definitely delicious.

If you ever visit Mumbai, make it a goal to eat Vada Pavs. No one can eat just one! And if you can't make it to Mumbai, I bring to you Mumbai style Vada Pav recipe! Try this at home.

How to make Vada Pav at home?

Vada Pav is basically a combination of Batata (Potato) Vada, Pav (Bun) and variety of chutneys as per your taste and preference. I have seen variety of chutneys being used by vada pav sellers in and around Mumbai. Before we jump onto the recipe, let me tell you; though this is a humble dish, this is a long recipe. While you will spend good amount of time preparing wada pav at home, every bit of this will be worth it!

Mumbai Style Vada Pav Recipe

Green chutney

Ingredients:

Coriander leaves 1/2 cup

Mint leaves 1/4 cup

Green chilli 2 to 3

Sev 1 tablespoon

Oil 1/2 teaspoon

Lemon 1/4 spoon

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Put them all together into grinder and add little water to make a consistent chutney.

Khatti Meethi chutney

Ingredients:

Dates seedless 1 cup

Tamarind (Imli) 1/2 cup

Jaggery 1/2 cup

Red chilli powder 1 teaspoon

Salt a pinch

Preparation:

Take two cups of water in a bowl, add dates, tamarind and jaggery to it and boil for about 15 minutes. Let it cool completely then grind into smooth paste.

Now add salt and red chilli powder to the paste and then mix gently.

Dry garlic chutney

Ingredients:

Garlic 4 to 5 cloves

Dry red chillies 8 to 9

Dried coconut 1/4 cup

Roasted peanuts 1 tablespoon

Salt a pinch

Preparation:

Take a pan on medium heat, dry roast garlic for 2 to 3 minutes, add red chillies to it and sauté. Set them aside and allow to cool. Then in the same pan add dried coconut and roast for 2 minutes.

Now add red chillies with a pinch of salt and grind them first. Then add the remaining ingredients to the same and grind into fine powder.

Batata Vada

Ingredients:

Potatoes boiled 3 to 4 medium sized

Green chilli 2 to 3

Ginger 1 inch

Garlic 3 to 4 cloves

Turmeric 1/3 teaspoon

Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander seeds 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

Curry leaves 2 tablespoon

Coriander leave chopped 2 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Oil 1 tablespoon

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat, add mustard seeds and let them pop up. Add the curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and coriander seeds, then mix.

Now add mashed boiled potatoes into the pan and salt to taste. Mix gently and switch off the pan. Add coriander leaves and mix well again.

Now make lemon sized balls out of the potato mixture. Set them aside.

Besan batter

Ingredients:

Gram flour (Besan ) 1 cup to 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder 1/8 teaspoon

Red chilli powder a pinch

Asafoetida (hing) a pinch

Banking soda a pinch

Salt to taste

Water ½ cup

Preparation:

Take a mixing bowl, add besan, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, hing, baking soda and salt to it and give a mix.

Now slowly add water and keep mixing. Make sure there should not be any lumps in the batter.

Make a smooth batter, shouldn't be too thin or too thick. If it becomes too thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoon water or if batter is too thin add 1 or tablespoon gram flour.

Heat oil on medium heat. When the oil is hot enough, drop a potato ball in the besan batter and coat it well.

Gently drop the coated ball in oil and fry on medium heat until golden.

Drain them and set aside, now fry the vada as much as you want.

In the same hot oil, you can fry green chillies partially. Fry them for a minute, take care they may burst.

Assembly

Pav

Vada

Green chutney

Khatti Meethi chutney

Dry garlic chutney

Slit a pav, keep one end intact and now apply green chutney on both sides, then add sweet chutney and sprinkle dry garlic chutney. Flatten the vada and then place it in the center.