Vada Pav with garlic and peanut chutney powder, mint and raw mango chutney, and stuffed green chillies

This is something I have grown up eating and loving. Having a whole bunch of cousins in Pune, I couldn't help myself from getting addicted to this wholesome street food winner. And yet, what I make at home seems like such a gourmet version of what you might find on the streets for only rupees 10. It is as close to the original as possible, as this recipe is a family pass on. So I can vouch for its authenticity.

When you are obliged to live in a city up north (like me), far far away from the vada pavs, bhel puris, and kacchi dabelis of Mumbai and Pune; this is the closest you can feel to your palate roots. Being from North Karnataka; having a host of family in Pune; and my obvious love for baking and continental food; render my cuisine at home so varied that you might find it odd that on the one hand I post recipes of cheesecakes and tarts, and on the other there is the very maharashtrian vada pav or the very 'namma bengaluru' kesari bhath. My recipes are mostly adopted from mum or grandmum, and I want to make sure that they don't get lost somewhere along the way.

I hope to post many more wonders of our simple Indian cooking in the months to follow. There's always room for suggestions and requests. If I know how to make it, I'll post it. For now, enjoy making and relishing the one and only 'vada pav'.

Prep time: 1 hour 30 min

Cooking time: 30 min

Serves: 4-5 people (10-12 pieces)

Ingredients

For the vada pav

10-12 Pav (bread), halved

50g softened butter

250ml vegetable oil for deep frying

Filling for vadas

½ kg potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed

½ tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

Masala mix:

6 green chillies

1 bunch fresh coriander

1 bunch Curry leaves

1½ inch piece ginger

1 whole pod of garlic (small), peeled

Batter for vadas

2 cups gram flour (besan)

1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

Pinch of asafoetida (hing)

½ tsp whole caraway seeds (ajwain)

½ tsp whole cumin seeds (jeera)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Water as required

 Mint and raw mango chutney

1 raw mango, peeled and flesh grated

½ bunch mint leaves

½ bunch fresh coriander

4-5 green chillies

¼ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 tbsp thick yoghurt

¼ tsp sugar or some jaggery (add only if the mango is very sour)

Salt to taste

Garlic and peanut chutney powder

½ cup roasted peanuts

½ cup roasted gram lentil (roasted chana)

2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

1 whole pod garlic, peeled

½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

2 inch piece of deseeded tamarind

3 tbsp desiccated coconut, grated

Salt to taste

Stuffed green chillies

4-6 green chillies, slit and deseeded

Rock salt (kala namak)

Cumin powder (jeera)

Asafoetida powder (hing)

Dry mango powder (aamchur)

Method

 Vada Pav

Grind all the ingredients of the masala coarsely.

Add oil to a large saucepan. Add the ground masala. Fry for a minute. Add turmeric powder. Add the mashed potatoes. Add salt, and stir well on a low flame. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the juice of a lime. Stir and keep aside, allowing to cool completely. Once cooled, divide the mixture into10-12 equal portions, and shape them into small patties.

For the batter, mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, adding water slowly to make a thick smooth batter without any lumps. Keep aside.

Dip the potato patties in the batter and deep fry on a medium flame until golden yellow.

Toast the pav with a generous helping of butter on a non-stick pan, till they are nice and golden brown.

Mint and raw mango chutney

Grind all the ingredients in a blender to get a smooth paste. Add water if necessary.

Garlic and peanut chutney powder

Grind all the ingredients in a blender to get a grainy and coarse powder.

Stuffed green chillies

Stuff the green chillies with all the ingredients mentioned above and deep fry in a small saucepan.

Assembling

Place a vada between the two halves of the pav, season with the two chutneys and serve with the stuffed green chilly! 

Garden fresh tomato pickle

The best part about having a vegetable garden at home is that sense of pride that fills your chest every time you look at a fresh sprig of mint/coriander, a juicy stalk of celery or a ripe swollen tomato! I have this wild variety of tomato growing in my garden that’s so juicy and tangy, and just a bit larger that a cherry tomato. My gardener brings me a whole bunch everyday and I’m running out of ideas to use them! So I put together this quick tomato garlic pickle which is a recipe that I learnt from my mother-in-law; and it goes surprisingly well with just about anything- paranthas, puris, sandwiches, or even as a spicy supplement with curd rice and pappad!

I haven’t posted many Indian recipes on my blog yet, but some friends told me that they would love to have recipes that they know can be trusted; those that are easy to make with few homely ingredients; and are not the usual ones you find on the internet like palak paneer or dal makhani. So I’m going to try and keep this up! I have a million home-cook-recipes that I can think of, but sadly I don’t have any pictures of them! So as and when I make one of my usuals at home, I’m going to make sure to take some pictures so I can share them here with you guys!

Ingredients

6 ripe tomatoes, chopped roughly

1 full pod of garlic, peeled

¼ tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds, roasted and powdered

1 tsp mustard seeds

¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)

¼ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)

1 tsp red chilly powder

¼ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt to taste

3-4 tsp vegetable oil

Method

Heat oil in pan, and add the mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Add the powdered fenugreek seeds and the garlic. Fry for a minute. Now add the chopped tomatoes. Season with salt, sugar and red chilly powder. Allow to simmer till the tomatoes are completely done (about 10-15min); or until you see the oil bubbling on the sides of the pan. Allow to cool completely, transfer to a jar and refrigerate.

The pickle lasts refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.