Vada Pav

Step 1

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Then add garlic cloves and fry for 1-2 minutes until garlic turns slightly brown in color. Set aside on a tissue.

Step 2

To the same pan, add freshly grated coconut. Cook for 2 minutes until light golden brown.

Step 3

Transfer coconut to a blender. Add toasted garlic, salt and red chili powder and grind to a coarse chutney. Set it aside.

Step 4

To a blender add cilantro. Discard the hard stems, the softer ones are okay to use.

Step 5

Add green chili, garlic, cumin powder, salt, sugar (if using) and lime juice. Add 1 tbsp water or as needed. Blend to a fine paste and set it aside.

Step 6

To a pan add water, tamarind paste, jaggery, sugar, salt, red chili powder, cumin powder and ginger powder. Bring mixture to a boil.

Step 7

Reduce heat to medium and let it boil for 3-4 minutes until the chutney turns thick and coats the back of a spoon. Set it aside to cool. It will thicken more as it cools down.

Step 8

Boil the potatoes until soft, peel them and set them aside. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the ginger, garlic and green chili. Set it aside.

Step 9

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and let them pop. Then add the curry leaves and hing and mix.

Step 10

Add the crushed ginger-garlic-green chili. Cook for one minute until the ginger and garlic starts changing color.

Step 11

Now add the boiled potatoes and remove pan from heat. Add turmeric, salt and mash the potatoes using a potato masher. Add chopped cilantro and mix well.

Step 12

Now make lemon sized balls out of the potato mixture. I was able to get 10 of these. Set these aside.

Step 13

To make the batter, take besan in a large bowl. Add turmeric, salt and pinch of baking soda to it. Start adding water, little by little to the bowl.

Step 14

Whisk to form a smooth batter. You may need couple of extra tablespoons of water to reach a desired consistency. The batter should neither be thick nor thin.

Step 15

Heat oil in a kadai/wok on medium-high heat. Dip each potato round into the batter, coat it from all sides. Then drop it carefully into the hot oil.

Step 16

Fry the vada in hot oil until golden brown in color. Fry all vadas in a similar way. Drain on a paper towel.

Step 17

To assemble the vada pav, toast the pav with some butter on a pan. Then slice each pav but not entirely. It should still be attached at one end.

Step 18

Apply green chutney on one side and tamarind chutney on the other side of the pav. Then apply garlic chutney on top of these chutneys.

Step 19

Place the fried vada in the center. Serve the vada pav immediately with more chutney on the side!