Vada Pav (Indian Slider)

By
Prerna Singh
-

Did I tell you we went to Napa for the 4th of July weekend? Ok, not exactly the whole long weekend but made a quick one day trip to Napa. Enjoyed a fabulous weather, tasted some wine and had our little family picnic. It was after quite a while that we as a family spent some relaxed time. Just the three of us! Chased the little one in an open field, fell off and laughed till our stomach hurt. Good time! And this is when come pouring the memories of your own childhood.

I remember as children we did not have the luxury of getting away every long weekend. We had to wait the whole year for the summers to come until there were summer vacations. Every summer vacation our parents would take us to a new place. A new city every summer. India is a country of diverse cultures and one part of the country is so different from the other. So every trip used to be a new experience. Every summer used to be different from the previous. This one summer we went to Bombay (now Mumbai), the big city with the ocean, local trains, bustling streets and vada pav! Vada Pav was the first thing that we ate at the train station as soon as we stepped into the city. I remember me and my dad loving it so much that we ate just vada pav for the next three days! A fried potato dumpling sandwiched between two pieces of a pav (bread). It was good and its taste lasted long – until today!

It’s a hugely popular street food in India and has its origins in the state of Maharashtra. For the vada pav you need some potatoes – don’t ask what kind. In India back then if you asked for potatoes you’d get potatoes. No Russets, Yukons or Idahos, just potatoes. So out of two most important things for vada pav, one is potato and the second is pav. Pav is the dinner roll you use at your home every day. But it was not before I bit into the vada pav I made for this post that I realized that there was a third very important ingredient. That is this dry red coconut and garlic chutney. I forgot to make it before taking photos but very soon I realized the mistake, so please try and make this chutney to accompany your vada pav.

Vada Pav

My friend Brian from A Thought For Food invited me over to his lovely blog to share an Indian recipe with him and his readers. It was 4th of July and I had made these Vada Pav for the picnic. Prefect time for me to share this recipe which is easy, simple and yet packed with tons of flavors. Brian says his readers loved the recipe. If you want to check it out head over to Brian’s blog. But let me warn you that its going to be tough for you to come out of it. Yes, he is awesome and so is his photography and blog. Hope you enjoy!

Prerna Singh
http://www.indiansimmer.com

26 Comments

  2. Mouthwatering…If you ask me which street food I like the most, without any doubt I can say it is Vada Pav. When we visited Mumbai in 2013, my husband bought me the best Vada Pav..Cannot forget that..Looks awesome..great clicks!!! Pls visit my space too when you have time..

  3. Was looking out for some vada paav recipes, and bumped into yours ☺growing up in Mumbai and hopping around those versatile fast foods coming from each different state was such a great fun there.. Gonna try out this one sometime

  4. Hello,
    We love your recipes, especially when its on Vada Pav .
    These are so delicious.
    I have always looked at your blog for the various pictures and the way you write.Just Love it!
    You have shared some nice information about Vada Pav in this post.
    The points you mentioned are genuine and perfect.
    The content completely describes about the topic you wanted to portray with us.
    Thanks for sharing such valuable post.

    Regards
    VentairIndia Team

  8. That first pic is a total WOW shot and this is one of my favorite burgers. In fact I even love it more than the meaty classics. I’m in awe of your photography skills Prerna, Sachi! Teach me how to click so good..? :))

  11. Love love love it! I was reminiscing about the foods of Mumbai only yesterday, with my sister and ofcourse, vada pav was on top of the list. Nothing better than a spicy, hot vada pav with the peanut and chili red chutney and some hot masala chai while dodging droplets of rain under the tin roof of a tapri. Bliss!

  14. This is so unique! I love the potato story… it’s the same in the Middle East. You ask for a potato, you get what the farmer grew that season!

  18. Heading over there for the recipe now, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen dry red coconut before. I will eat just about anything made of potato.

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