Vada Pav Recipe, Mumbai Vada Pav Step by Step

Vada Pav is often likened to an Indian-style burger. While it does resemble a burger in the way it is assembled, a well-made vada pav couldn’t be more different in taste to a burger. Even when you make vada pav at home with burger buns like I did here, it’s still a delightful little snack.

As any self-respecting vada pav lover would tell you, the key to making a good one is the dry garlic chutney that goes with it. It’s super easy to make an essential component for your vada pav. Also goes great with dosa, just saying!

Another key component of vada pav is, of course, the pav or the soft pillowy bread roll / bun that is essential to make this work. If you live in a place that doesn’t give you access to good pav in a store or you don’t feel like making pav at home, store-bought burger buns would absolutely work too.

A few reasons why I love vada pav

• The flavours are complex as Indian street food tends to be and balances heat, sourness, spice, tanginess, and saltiness perfectly
• When something gets coated in besan and fried, I normally don’t say no 😉
• The chutneys! They add a depth and yumminess to the vada pav which is just so good!
• It’s easy enough to make at home and doesn’t need ingredients that are special. I sometimes struggle with this aspect when attempting other Indian street food

Step by Step Pictures to Make Vada Pav

Boil or steam 2 potatoes until tender. A fork inserted should go in easily.

Set aside to cool and then mash without any big lumps.

Grind together – 2 green chillies, 2 cloves of garlic, and a small piece of ginger to a coarse paste.

Heat 2 tsp oil and add 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds and a few curry leaves. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the chilli-garlic-ginger paste and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.

Then, add the mashed potatoes, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, a pinch of hing or asafoetida, and salt to taste.

Turn off flame and mix well until the mixture is well combined. Don’t add any water, the potato mixture should be thick.

 Now we make the outer coating for the potato vada.

Place 1 cup besan (gram flour), 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp red chilli powder, a pinch of baking soda, and some salt in a bowl. Mix well to combine.

Add enough water to make a thick paste as seen below.

Divide the cooled potato mixture into 6 equal balls and coat in the prepared batter.

Heat enough oil in a kadai or wok to deep fry the vada. When the oil reaches smoking point, gently drop the vada into it.

Some besan coating will go astray and that’s ok, because I say so.

Once the vada is golden brown, drain and set aside on kitchen napkins.

You can also fry some green chillies to serve alongside, in true Mumbai vada pav fashion. Take care though, fresh chilies tend to burst in hot oil.

To assemble the vada pav:

Place a generous amount of green chutney on one side of the pav or burger bun. Place a batata vada over it and top off with a generous sprinkle of garlic chutney.

Serve with fried green chillies for those who want an extra spice kick. Some ketchup would go well with vada pav too.