Vada Pav (potato fritters)

• porcijos: 15-16
• aktyvus laikas: 1 hour
• bendras laikas: 1 hour

Ingredientai

Batter

• 3 cups besan (gram flour made from split chickpeas)

• Salt, to taste

• 1 pinch ajwain (carom seeds; approx. ¹⁄₁₆ tsp), optional

• 1 pinch baking soda (approx. ¹⁄₁₆ tsp), optional

• Water, as required

Kharda (chilli garlic paste)

• 5–6 cloves garlic

• 1 small piece ginger (approx. 1 tsp chopped)

• 4–5 green chillies, adjust spiciness to preference

• 1 pinch salt (approx. ¹⁄₁₆ tsp)

Thecha (spicy green chutney)

• 1 handful fresh coriander (approx. ½ cup loosely packed, before chopping)

• 5–6 green chillies, adjust spiciness to preference

• 5–6 cloves garlic

• ½ inch ginger

• Salt, to taste

• Water, as required

Aloo mixture (potato mixture)

• 2 tbsp oil

• ¼ tsp rai (mustard seeds)

• ½ tsp jeera (cumin seeds)

• ¼ tsp hing (asafoetida), or substitute with ¼ tsp garlic powder and ¼ tsp onion powder

• 8–10 kadi patta (curry leaves)

• Kharda (chilli garlic paste), made earlier

• ½ tsp turmeric powder

• Salt, to taste

• 1 pinch garam masala (warming spice blend; approx. ¹⁄₁₆ tsp)

• 8–10 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 handful fresh coriander (approx. ½ cup loosely packed, then chopped)

Red vada pav chutney (red chutney for potato-fritter buns)

• 2 cups chura (crispy fried batter crumbs)

• 8–10 cloves garlic, with skin

• Salt, to taste

• 2 tbsp red chilli powder

• Oil, for frying the chura (crispy fried batter crumbs) and vadas (potato fritters)

Nurodymai

Batter

In a mixing bowl, add the besan & other ingredients of the batter and mix well, add water gradually to make a smooth batter make sure there should not be any lumps.

Use a whisk to whisk the batter nicely, whisk for at least 4-5 minutes, makes sure the consistency of the batter should not be too thick or too thin, it should be in flowy consistency.

Once whisked well, let the batter rest for a minimum time of 15-20 minutes, by the time the batter rest you can make other components.

Kharda (chilli garlic paste)

Add all the ingredients in a mortar pestle or in a grinding jar and grind to make a paste. Keep aside to be used later while making the aloo mixture.

Thecha (spicy green chutney)

Add all the ingredients in a mortar pestle or in a grinding jar and grind to make a paste, make sure to add little water while grinding, even if the chutney is coarse its totally fine. Keep in the fridge to serve later with vada pav.

Aloo mixture (potato mixture)

Set a wok or a pan on medium heat, add oil and let the oil heat further add jeera & rai and let them crackle. Once they start to crackle, add the hing, kadi patta & the kharda made earlier, mix and cook on medium flame for 1-2 minutes.

Further add turmeric powder, garam masala & salt, stir briefly for 30 seconds on low heat, further add boiled potatoes, increase the flame to medium heat & cook for 2-3 minutes, further add some lemon juice & freshly chopped coriander leaves, mix & cook for last 5-6 minutes. Aloo mixture is ready, keep aside to cool down to room temperature.

Red vada pav chutney (red chutney for potato-fritter buns)

We need to first make the chura, for that, set oil in wok on medium heat, take the vada pav batter & give a mix, dip your fingers in the batter and randomly drizzle and drop in hot oil, deep fry on medium high heat until its crisp & golden brown in colour, make sure that the chura is not too thick. Keep aside to cool down.

You also need fried garlic, first pick the garlic with toothpick and deep fry briefly for 30-60 seconds, remove and keep aside to be used in making the vada pav chutney.

For vada pav chutney, add 2 cups crispy chura in a food processor, along with fried garlic, salt & red chilli powder, use pulse mode and grind to fine powder. Your red vada pav chutney is ready, serve with vada pav, you can also store in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Make hot crispy vadas: first start by shaping, take a spoonful of aloo mixture and roughly shape in ball, further lightly flatten with hands, shape all the vadas in same way.

Set oil on medium heat for deep frying, whisk the batter once again & further coat the vadas with the besan batter, use your thumb to even out the coating & slide the besan coated vada balls in hot oil for deep frying, deep fry in hot oil on medium high flame until the vadas take their shape, further low down the heat and fry until they are crispy & golden brown in colour, fry all the vadas in same way, crispy hot vadas are ready.

For fried green chillies, take as many green chillies you would like to have with vada pav, now make a slit with a knife without dividing in half, now, briefly fry the slit green chillies for 15-20 seconds & immediately coat with salt and serve with hot crispy vada pav.

Assembly

To serve, slit the pav in two, apply the thecha or sweet chutney as per your preference, add vada pav red sukha chutney, place the hot crispy vadas add some chopped onions and close, serve immediately with fried salted green chillies.

Also add some chura for that extra crispiness. You can tweak the addition of elements like chutney as per your preference.