Vada Pav (Mumbai's Potato Fritter "Burger")
A spiced mashed potato patty dipped in chickpea batter and deep-fried, tucked into a soft white roll with green chutney and a crunchy dry garlic, coconut and peanut chutney.
Vada pav is a deep-fried potato dumpling in a soft bread roll, Mumbai's most famous snack and sometimes called the Bombay burger for its looks (Wikipedia:). Its parts came by sea. Food historian Mohsina Mukadam told NPR that Europeans brought the potato to India and the Portuguese brought their bread, pão, which became pav; Wikipedia agrees that pav comes from the Portuguese word. Mukadam dates the first restaurant batata vada to Mama Kane's in 1928 (NPR, Rathina Sankari, November 4, 2016, via GBH:).
Putting the two together is credited to Ashok Vaidya, who in 1966, NPR reports, sold snacks from a handcart outside the railway station in Dadar; his son Narendra still sells vada pav there. Wikipedia says some sources credit Sudhakar Mhatre, who started around the same time. Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray encouraged Marathi people to open food stalls in the 1960s, and after the 1982 textile mill strike, NPR reports, out-of-work mill hands opened vada pav stalls of their own. Wikipedia counts over 20,000 stalls in Mumbai today. America's burger has a beef patty; Mumbai's has none at all.
Why it works the kitchen science
Chickpea batter
Besan fries into a crisp, nutty shell that seals in the soft potato, and the pinch of baking soda makes it puff and stay light.
Tempered spices
Blooming the seeds and curry leaves in smoking mustard oil releases their flavor into the fat, which then seasons every bit of the mash.
Step by step
- Step 1
Cover the potatoes with cold water in a pot, bring to a boil and cook 35 to 40 minutes, until tender. Drain, cool 10 minutes, peel and mash gently (or rice them). Fold in the cilantro.
- Step 2
Heat the mustard oil in a skillet over high heat until it smokes. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and cook until they pop, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1/4 tsp turmeric, the coriander and asafoetida, then the curry leaves for 5 to 10 seconds, until glossy. Add the chiles and onion, lower to medium and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until the onion is translucent but not brown. Stir into the potatoes, season with salt and cool.
- Step 3
Shape 4 even patties (about 4 oz each) and freeze them, uncovered, 15 minutes to firm up.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, whisk the chickpea flour, baking soda, remaining 1/4 tsp turmeric and a pinch of salt with the water into a smooth, thick but pourable batter, and rest it 15 minutes. Make the chutneys: blend the green chutney ingredients smooth; toast the garlic, coconut and peanuts in a dry skillet over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, until golden, then pound or pulse with the chili powder and salt into coarse crumbs.
- Step 5
Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy pot fitted with a thermometer to 350°F over medium-high heat.
- Step 6
Dip the patties in the batter to coat, lower them gently into the oil, two at a time, and stir at once so they don't stick. Fry 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels.
- Step 7
Spread the inside top of each roll with green chutney, set a hot vada on the bottom, add tamarind chutney if using and a generous spoonful of dry garlic chutney, close and serve hot.
Vada Pav (Mumbai's Potato Fritter "Burger")
Serves 4 · 4 vada pav · 1 hr 45 min total
Potato filling
- 1 1/3 lb yellow potatoes (about 3 medium)
- 2 1/2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 2 tsp mustard oil (or vegetable oil)
- 3/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 3/4 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, divided
- 1/3 tsp ground coriander
- Small pinch asafoetida (hing)
- 4 curry leaves
- 1 or 2 green bird's eye chiles, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
- Kosher salt
Batter
- 1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
- 1/3 tsp baking soda
- About 1/2 cup cool water
- Vegetable oil, for deep-frying (about 6 cups)
Green chutney
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro (or half cilantro, half mint)
- 1 small green chile
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 to 3 tbsp water, salt
Dry garlic chutney
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 3 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 2 tbsp dry-roasted peanuts
- 1 tsp Kashmiri or mild chili powder, salt
To serve
- 4 small soft white rolls (pav), split almost through
- Tamarind chutney (optional)
Method
- Cover the potatoes with cold water in a pot, bring to a boil and cook 35 to 40 minutes, until tender. Drain, cool 10 minutes, peel and mash gently (or rice them). Fold in the cilantro.
- Heat the mustard oil in a skillet over high heat until it smokes. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and cook until they pop, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1/4 tsp turmeric, the coriander and asafoetida, then the curry leaves for 5 to 10 seconds, until glossy. Add the chiles and onion, lower to medium and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until the onion is translucent but not brown. Stir into the potatoes, season with salt and cool.
- Shape 4 even patties (about 4 oz each) and freeze them, uncovered, 15 minutes to firm up.
- Meanwhile, whisk the chickpea flour, baking soda, remaining 1/4 tsp turmeric and a pinch of salt with the water into a smooth, thick but pourable batter, and rest it 15 minutes. Make the chutneys: blend the green chutney ingredients smooth; toast the garlic, coconut and peanuts in a dry skillet over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, until golden, then pound or pulse with the chili powder and salt into coarse crumbs.
- Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy pot fitted with a thermometer to 350°F over medium-high heat.
- Dip the patties in the batter to coat, lower them gently into the oil, two at a time, and stir at once so they don't stick. Fry 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels.
- Spread the inside top of each roll with green chutney, set a hot vada on the bottom, add tamarind chutney if using and a generous spoonful of dry garlic chutney, close and serve hot.
Adapted from Floyd Cardoz, "Vada Pav (Indian Potato Fritter Sandwich)", Saveur (updated August 2, 2024), adapted by Saveur from the version at the late chef's New York restaurant, Paowalla; serves 12. We make a third of it (4 patties of about 4 oz) and keep its mustard-oil tempering, its turmeric chickpea batter rested 15 minutes and its 350°F oil, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Saveur serves three chutneys but gives no chutney recipes; our quick green chutney and dry garlic chutney follow the ingredients Saveur names (mint and cilantro; garlic, peanuts and coconut), with amounts that are ours, and we suggest store-bought tamarind chutney. The freezer time is ours (Saveur only says to firm them slightly). Saveur. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- If the batter slides off, it's too thin; whisk in a spoonful more chickpea flour.
- Fry a few green chiles, slit lengthwise, in the oil for 30 seconds and serve them alongside, the street-stall way (NPR).
- Dry garlic chutney keeps in a jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
- Use the softest white rolls you can find; Saveur suggests homemade or store-bought.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Ashok Vaidya invented vada pav in 1966. Disputed: NPR credits Vaidya; Wikipedia says some sources credit Sudhakar Mhatre, and an early kiosk in Kalyan dates to the late 1960s.
- Pav comes from Portuguese pão. Documented (Wikipedia; NPR quoting Mohsina Mukadam).
- Vada pav is a burger. Folklore: "Bombay burger" is a nickname (Wikipedia), not a category.
- The 1982 mill strike spread vada pav stalls. Documented as NPR's account; Wikipedia ties the stalls to the mill workers more generally.
- The dry garlic chutney is essential. Folklore: Wikipedia calls garlic-coconut chutney the most common; NPR describes three chutneys.
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