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! 

Mango yoghurt cake with spiced almonds and fresh mangoes

Mangoes! As mush as I like to eat them just as they come, they make such a versatile flavouring ingredient for desserts that it’s hard to stop myself from fantasizing about a mango mousse, a mango soufflé, a mango ice-cream…the list is unending! This however, is a simple mango cake. No exotic ingredients and no gourmet requirements. Just some nice plump mangoes, a whole lot of yoghurt and some crunchy almonds.

The most exciting bit is the icing, which is made from strained yoghurt (hung curd, as we call it). It has an almost cream cheese like consistency; it’s lighter than cream and gives a nice tang to the cake. The cinnamon spiced almonds are a storm…hard to keep them aside till the end (make some extra, just in case you end up eating some before you finally plate up).

It’s a lovely combination of colours and flavours. Try not to miss out any ingredient; the small things make a difference.

Just a word of caution here: I used 3 eggs because the ones I bought were really tiny. You could use 2 eggs if they are large ones. Once you start whisking in the eggs you will know if the batter is going to be too thick (you don’t want to lose the sponginess of the cake). Remember, its 300g of flour (a lot), so use your discretion. If you want to be safe, use 3 medium sized eggs.

Serves: 8-10 people

Prep time: 20 min (plus overnight time to strain yoghurt)

Cooking time: 40-60 min

Ingredients

1kg full cream milk yoghurt
1 cup unsalted butter (can use sunflower oil instead)
250grm caster sugar
3 eggs (tiny to medium sized)
300g all purpose plain flour, sifted with 1tsp baking powder
2 mangoes, flesh cubed
50g slice almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Fresh mint sprigs

Method

Pre-work

To make the yoghurt icing, line a large sieve with a clean tea towel and place over a bowl.  Add all of the yoghurt and leave to strain in the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight).

Making the cake

Preheat oven to 160˚c.

For the roasted almonds, scatter the sliced almonds onto a baking tray and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Place in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until golden and roasted. Set aside to cool.

Grease and line a 23-25cm cake tin.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until each egg is completely combined. Whisk until fluffy. Stir in half the yoghurt until fully combined. Don’t over mix. Fold in the flour until just combined. Then fold through half the cubed mango, reserving the rest for the top of the cake.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-60 minutes or until a cake skewer is inserted and comes out clean. Cool in the cake tin for 5 min before cooling on a cake rack.

Icing

Once completely cooled, spread the remainder of the thickened (strained overnight) yoghurt over the top of the cake and scatter with fresh mango cubes, cinnamon roasted almonds and fresh mint sprigs.

Note: Store this cake covered and refrigerated as the yoghurt will begin to sour if left at room temperature (I'm talking about Indian temperatures).