Name: Vada Pav Recipe | Mumbai Vada Pav
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 37 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Indian, Mumbai
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds; 2 large pinches asafoetida powder (hing); 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera); 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder; 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi); 7 each curry leaves; 500 grams potatoes, (about 5 medium potatoes), boiled, peeled, and mashed; 100 grams onions, (about 1 medium onion), minced, fried till light golden in colour; 1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice; 1 tablespoon garlic paste; 1 tablespoon ginger paste; 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste; 4 teaspoons coriander leaves, minced; 2 each green chillies, deseeded, minced; 1 teaspoon vegetable oil; 20 grams garlic cloves, (about 1½ tablespoons), peeled; 40 grams dried coconut, (about ½ cup), grated; 4 teaspoons roasted peanuts; 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste; 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, roasted; 2 1/2 teaspoons red chilli powder; 90 grams besan (gram flour), about 1 cup; 1 teaspoon red chilli powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste; 1 tablespoon rice flour; 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi); 1 teaspoon coriander powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, hot

Vada Pav Recipe | Mumbai Vada Pav

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Vada pav, Mumbai’s iconic street food, is a perfect snack for people in a hurry. It’s affordable, quick and convenient, portable, filling and satisfying, and totally delicious. Vada pav stalls in Mumbai are everywhere, so you never have to go hungry. Mumbai vada pav stands are clustered outside local railway stations, feeding armies of commuters—from factory workers to students, from officer goers to shoppers.

The origins of the vada pav recipe are generally traced to 1966 or 1971 (there is some confusion about the dates) when Ashok Vaidya, operating a food stall near Dadar station, handed a hungry and harried customer a fat batata vada (crispy deep-fried potato patty) shoved into a chutney-slathered pav (bun bread, slider bun) which the man could eat on the go. The vada pav was an instant hit and thus was born the Bombay vada pav, one of Mumbai’s most beloved and popular snacks.

The traditional Mumbai ka vada pav is now available in a myriad of new experimental avatars, like Schezwan vada pav, nacho vada pav (topped with tortilla chips), sweetcorn vada pav, and the fancy ‘slider’ with salsa. There is even a Pav Day on August 23 that celebrates this Indian or Bombay burger.

The soft, chewy pav and the crispy, deep-fried spicy, piquant vada offer a wonderful contrast in taste and texture, enhanced by the taste of the three accompanying chutneys—spicy green coriander chutney (tikhi chutney), sweet tamarind and date chutney (meethi chutney), and dry garlic coconut chutney (sukha masala). This marriage of sweet, sour, and spicy flavours makes for an irresistible vada pav.

The process of how to make vada pav at home may seem daunting and time consuming because of the multiple steps involved, but our Mumbai vada pav recipe shows you how to enjoy the delights of this yummy dish step by step. With a little bit of planning, you can relish this mouth-watering street food for breakfast, lunch, or teatime. Wash down your vada pav with piping hot masala chai or coffee, or a cooling lime soda.

Tips on how to make vada pav:

For best results, make sure the boiled and mashed potatoes are moisture free. If there is any residual moisture, heat the mashed potatoes in a pan for 2–3 minutes.

For really crisp vadas, add baking soda and 1 tbsp of rice flour to the besan (gram flour) batter.

Whisk well to form a lump-free, smooth-flowing batter. Generously coat the vadas in the batter.

Fry on medium heat till the vadas turn golden and crisp. Place the fried vadas on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.

Serve the vada pav immediately after deep frying and assembling. To serve later, warm the vadas in a pre-heated oven or deep-fry them again for 1 minute.

Add green chutney (tikha chutney), tamarind chutney (meethi chutney) and dry spicy garlic chutney (sukha masala) according to your taste, but do not overload these condiments in the vada pav. Otherwise you could end up with soggy pav.

Flatten the vadas slightly with the pav so they can sit properly within the pav.

Slit the green chillies just a bit before frying them; this is an important step to avoid the chillies .

Learn how to make Mumbai style Vada Pav recipe step by step by watching our vada pav recipe video and seeing all our vada pav images that show all techniques. Read our vada pav recipe below for all ingredients and detailed cooking methods.

You may also like our:

Easy Khaman Dhokla
Stuffed Paneer Pakoda
Keema Pav
Kaju Katli
Patra
Chivda

Or take a look at all our Street Food recipes right here!
RECIPE

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INGREDIENTS

Tempering:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1⁄2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 large pinches asafoetida powder (hing)
1⁄4 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1⁄4 teaspoon red chilli powder
1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
7 curry leaves

Vada Mixture:
500 grams potatoes, (about 5 medium potatoes), boiled, peeled, and mashed
100 grams onions, (about 1 medium onion), minced, fried till light golden in colour
1 1⁄2 teaspoons lime juice
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
4 teaspoons coriander leaves, minced
2 green chillies, deseeded, minced

Red Garlic Chutney:
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
20 grams garlic cloves, (about 1½ tablespoons), peeled
40 grams dried coconut, (about ½ cup), grated
4 teaspoons roasted peanuts
3⁄4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, roasted
2 1⁄2 teaspoons red chilli powder

Batter:
90 grams besan (gram flour), about 1 cup
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon rice flour
1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, hot

- 125 ml vegetable oil, (about ½ cup) for frying vadas
10 pao
hari chutney
imli chutney
10 green chillies, fried

COOKING METHOD

Make tempering and vada mixture: Pour 1 tablespoon oil into a kadhai or wok on high heat. Once oil is hot, but not smoking, toss in mustard seeds, and when they start to crackle, add asafoetida (hing), cumin seeds, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, and curry leaves. Give it all a few good stirs, and then tip in mashed potatoes. Mix well and cook for about 3 minutes. Add minced onions (that you have fried already till light golden in colour) and stir for about a minute.

Add 1 teaspoon water, garlic paste, ginger paste, and salt. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vada mixture occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Reserve vada mixture.

Make red garlic chutney: Pour 1 teaspoon oil into a heavy kadhai or wok on high heat. Once oil is hot, toss in garlic and stir till light golden brown, about 1 minute. Turn off heat and add coconut. Stir till the residual heat turns the coconut golden. Remove and when slightly cool place in a grinder or blender. Add roasted peanuts, salt, roasted sesame seeds, and red chilli powder, and grind to a paste. Set aside.

Make vadas: Add minced coriander leaves and minced green chillies to the reserved vada mixture. Mix well with a spatula, and then divide the mixture into 10 balls (vadas). Roll each vada between your palms till smooth and set aside to prepare the batter.

Make vada batter: Tip gram flour (besan) into a bowl. Add all remaining dry ingredients – red chilli powder, salt, rice flour, turmeric powder, coriander powder, and baking soda – and mix well. Pour in 1 tablespooon oil and 175 ml water (about a scant ¾ cup) and whisk to a smooth pouring consistency.

Fry vadas: Pour 125 ml oil (about ½ cup) into a kadhai or wok and place on high heat. Once the oil is hot, dip a vada into the batter and carefully place in the hot oil. It is better to work in batches of 2 or 3 vadas at a time to avoid crowding the pan. Fry till golden brown all over, about 3 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed. Remove vadas with a slotted spoon and set on kitchen paper napkins to drain. Repeat for the remaining vadas.

Assembling vada pav: Slice the pao in half horizontally leaving one side attached. Generously slather hari chutney (green chutney) on one cut side and imli chutney (tamarind chutney) on the other cut side. Spread red garlic chutney to taste on the hari chutney, top with one vada, one fried green chilli, and then press down with the top of the pao to smash the vada just a bit. Repeat for all vadas.

Serve immediately.

Serves: 10 as a snack
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 37 minutes
Tags:vada pav, vada pav recipe, mumbai vada pav
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