Vada Pav

Step 1

Grind all the green chutney ingredients with little water till smooth. Avoid making a watery chutney.

Step 2

Soak tamarind in hot water for 30 to 40 minutes.

Step 3

With your hands, squeeze the pulp from the tamarind in the same bowl or pan. strain the pulp and keep aside.

Step 4

Heat oil in a small pan. lower the flame & add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

Step 5

Add ginger powder, red chili powder, asafoetida. Stir and add the strained tamarind pulp. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Step 6

Add the jaggery and salt and cook for 4-5 mins more. The mixture would thicken. Let the saunth chutney mixture cool.

Step 7

When cooled, store the saunth chutney in an air-tight dry jar or container. Refrigerate and serve the saunth chutney whenever required with chaat or snacks.

Step 8

Boil or steam potatoes in an Instant pot, pressure cooker or pan until they are completely cooked. Peel and then mash them with a fork in a bowl.

Step 9

Crush garlic and green chillies to a semi-fine paste in a mortar-pestle.

Step 10

Heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds and crackle them. Then add curry leaves and asafoetida. Stir and fry for about 5 seconds.

Step 11

Then add crushed garlic and green chilies paste, which have been crushed in a mortar-pestle. Add turmeric powder. Stir for some seconds until the raw aroma of garlic goes away. Do not brown garlic.

Step 12

Pour this tempering in the mashed potatoes.

Step 13

Add chopped coriander leaves and salt.

Step 14

Mix everything well and then make small to medium balls from the mashed potato mixture. Flatten these balls a bit. Cover and set aside.

Step 15

In another bowl, make a smooth and thick yet flowing batter from the besan, turmeric powder, asafoetida, a pinch of baking soda (optional), salt and water.

Step 16

The batter should not be very thick or thin. If the batter becomes thin, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of gram flour. If the batter becomes thin, then add 1 or 2 tablespoons water. Set aside.

Step 17

In a kadai or pan, heat oil for deep frying.

Step 18

When the oil becomes medium hot, then dip the slightly flattened potato balls in the batter and coat it evenly with the batter.

Step 19

Gently and carefully add these batter coated potato balls in medium hot oil.

Step 20

Depending on the size of the kadai or pan, you can add more or less of the vadas while frying. Don't overcrowd the pan while frying.

Step 21

When one side becomes crisp, lightly golden and firms up then gently turn it over with a slotted spoon and fry the second side. Turn over when the second side is fried.

Step 22

This way turning a couple of times fry the batata vada till they are evenly golden on all sides.

Step 23

Drain them on kitchen paper towels. Make all batata vadas this way and keep aside.

Step 24

When they are still hot or warm, you need to serve them. Take all the chutneys and pav on your work surface.

Step 25

Slice the pav without breaking it into two parts and keep aside. If you don't have sweet chutney, then just make the vada pav with green chutney.

Step 26

Spread both the green chutney and sweet chutney on the sliced pav. You can also spread green chutney on one side and sweet chutney on the other side.

Step 27

Sprinkle the dry garlic chutney. This is optional and if you don't have you can skip it.

Step 28

Place the hot batata vada sandwiched in the bread slices.

Step 29

Serve vada pav immediately or else the pav becomes soggy. You can also serve some fried salted green chillies and both the chutney along with it.

Step 30

You can also serve them as an evening snack with a side of ginger chai or coffee.