Introducting my Mom’s Spicy Vada Pav! After being in India for two weeks, it’s really hard not to miss all of the amazing street food we’ve been indulging on.  When you go from eating 1-2 vada pav’s a day to ZERO, you go through a little bit of withdrawal. (Ok that was dramatic but its accurate AF).

When we went to Mumbai, we had the best vada pav at Mithibai College. There is a street with so many different carts, which I was hanging out at in between shopping breaks. If you guys haven’t been to these carts, PLEASE go next time you are in India.

This recipe is one that I learned through my mom, and since I learn how to cook mostly all of my Indian food through her, I wanted to start sharing her recipes.  And I will always give credit where it’s due! 🙂 My mom’s a great cook… and it’s not one of those situations where you say your mom’s food is the best because she is your mom. So trust me, this recipe will become one of your favorites.

Vada Pav is actually really simple to make, and I think everyone has their own twist to it.  Scroll down below to see how we make it in our house and WHY it’s so damn delish! Please reach out to me if you have any questions or need help on brands to use for my Mom’s Spicy Vada Pav!

Mom’s Spicy Vada Pav

Megha Patel

 

prep time:30 minutes mins

cook time:10 minutes mins

total time:40 minutes mins

servings:4 people

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Ingredients

• 4 russet potatoes
• 1 inch fresh turmeric (grated)
• 4 thai chili peppers or serrano peppers (finely chopped)
• 6 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• cilantro
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick (broken in pieces)
• 1 cup graham flour
• 1 pinch baking soda (or eno)
• butter
• 8 vada pav buns (or burger buns)
• 1 cup green chutney

Optional

• vada pav spicy masala

Instructions

 

• Cut the potatoes in half and cook in a pressure cooker until they are soft.  (Add salt to the pressure cooker when cooking) Remove skin, mash, and add the fresh turmeric, serrano peppers, garlic, lemon juice, garam masala, and salt to taste.  Add cilantro if desired.
  
• In a small pot, warm up the vegetable oil.  Once heated, add in the mustard seeds and pieces of cinnamon. 
  
• When the mustard seeds stop crackling, pour that pot directly into the potatoes and mix everything well.
  
• To make the batter for frying, mix together the graham flour, baking soda (or eno) and a little bit of water so it’s a thick consistency.
  
• Start making balls out of your potato mixture. You will be able to make about 12 medium size vada’s.
  
• When you are ready to fry, dip the potato balls into the batter to coat them, and then drop into your pot to fry.  Let them turn golden brown, and then place them on a paper napkin to let off the excess oil.
  
• To assemble, butter your pav and warm up on a pan.  Once it’s done, put about 1 tbsp of green chutney on both sides of the pav.  Then put the vada in the middle, sprinkle on vada pav spicy masala if you have, and enjoy!