How to Make Vada Pav
One of Mumbai's most popular street food, Vada Pav has spiced potato filling sandwiched with layers of chutney inside a fluffy bread (pav).
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Mumbai’s iconic Vada Pav needs no introduction. It has a spicy potato filling sandwiched between soft bread and flavored with layers of spicy cilantro chutney, sweet & tangy tamarind chutney and spicy garlic chutney. With so much flavor packed in, it’s not surprising that vada pav is one of the most popular Indian street foods. Here, I share my recipe for making vada pav at home.
My very first memory of eating vada pav goes back to 2004. We went to Mumbai that year to celebrate the new year. And we literally gorged on all of Mumbai’s famous street food like pav bhaji, and my favorite tawa pulao. Sure, I have had all this growing up in Delhi, but this street foods just hits different in Mumbai. I can still almost taste them even after so many years.
This homemade street style vada pav recipe has 4 main ingredients – the vada, the dry garlic coconut chutney, the green chutney and the sweet tamarind chutney. Vada pav is often served with fried green chilies. Some vendors in Mumbai also serve it with some fried besan chura as well.
This recipe for vada pav is a long one and does take some amount of prep work. But trust me, one bite into this deliciousness and it will all seem worth it!
Manali’s Tip
Make the chutneys in advance and keep them refrigerated, you can even freeze them. This will help you save so much time on the day you plan to make and enjoy vada pav!
Let’s Make Vada Pav!
- Make garlic chutney: this chutney is a super important component of vada pav.
garlic chutney variation with besan
The usual dry garlic chutney is made with garlic, coconut and chili powder or dried chilies. I learned this variation from my house help in India (who has worked in cafes and made vada pav there) that this chutney can also be made with besan and garlic only. I have tested making this chutney with besan only and it comes out great. If you are running out of coconut, you can try making this chutney with besan only.
For that you will need: ¼ cup garlic cloves (around 15), 2 dried red chilies (or to taste), ¼ tsp salt, 2 tablespoons besan and 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder. Roast garlic in 2 teaspoons of oil until golden brown and remove on a plate. Then roast the dried red chilies in the same oil for a few seconds and remove them on a plate. Then dry roast besan on low heat for around 8 to 10 minutes or until the raw smell goes away. Add everything to a blender along with salt and Kashmiri red chili powder and mix and your chutney is ready.
- Make the cilantro chutney: this chutney can be customized to taste. Add as much green chilies as you like to make it super spicy. You can also add some fresh mint leaves to it.
- Make tamarind chutney: I take a shortcut and use tamarind paste to make this chutney rather than soaking the tamarind first.
- Make batata vada: I like using russet potatoes or yukon gold potatoes for making these batata vada.
- Make besan batter for frying the batata vada.
- Fry the batata in oil: I used avocado oil here but you can use any oil of choice.
- Assemble and serve the vada pav. It tastes best when served immediately after assembling.
Bread for Vada Pav
The pav (bread) that we get in India for vada pav is a soft, fluffy eggless dinner roll. It’s often called ladi pav. We don’t usually get that kind of roll here in the US at regular grocery stores. However, you can sometimes find them at Indian grocery stories. You can also make it at home but if you are in a rush, the Hawaiian rolls also work. You can find the Hawaiian at any grocery store in the US.
Important Tips
- Vada pav is supposed to be a spicy snack. However, my recipe isn’t super spicy. Add more of the Kashmiri red chili powder to your dry garlic chutney and more chilies to the potato mixture to make it spicier.
- Fried green chili and some of that fried besan batter (besan chura) is often served along with vada pav in Mumbai. You can add these 2 components while serving for that authentic presentation and flavor. For the besan chura, you just drop some of that besan batter using your fingers in hot oil. Fry until it becomes golden brown in color and then drain on a paper towel.
- Make sure the besan batter coating the potato balls is not super thick. Else you taste too much of the besan and less of the potato.
Homemade Vada Pav Recipe
Ingredients
Dry Garlic Chutney
- 2 teaspoons oil
- ¼ cup garlic around 15 cloves
- 1 cup grated coconut use fresh or frozen
- 3 teaspoons kashmiri red chili powder or add more to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
Green Chutney
- 1 bunch cilantro 30 grams
- 1-2 green chili thai green chilies
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar optional
- 1 lime juice of
- 1 tablespoon water as needed to blend the chutney
Tamarind Chutney
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup tamarind paste
- 50 grams jaggery
- 3 tablespoons sugar or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder or to taste, I use kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
For the Vada
- 1 inch ginger
- 5-6 large garlic cloves
- 2 green chilies or to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ¾ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon hing also known as asafetida
- 12-15 curry leaves
- 4 medium potatoes around 600 grams
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
For the batter
- 1 cup besan also known as chickpea flour
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- pinch baking soda
- ½ cup water + 1-2 tablespoons extra, as needed
Other ingredients
- 10 ladi pav or use Hawaiian dinner rolls
- avocado oil for frying, or use oil of choice
- butter for toasting the pavs
Instructions
Make the garlic chutney
- Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Then add ¼ cup garlic cloves (around 15 large cloves) and fry for 1-2 minutes until the garlic turns slightly brown in color. Drain on a paper towel.
- To the same pan, now add 1 cup freshly or frozen grated coconut. Cook for 2 minutes until the coconut is light golden brown in color. Then transfer the coconut to a blender along with the roasted garlic.
- Add 3 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Blend to a coarse chutney. The dry garlic chutney is now ready.
Make the green chutney
- To a blender add 1 small bunch of cilantro (around 30 grams). Discard the hard stems, the softer ones are okay to use.
- Add 1 to 2 green chilies (or as much as you like), 2 cloves of garlic, ¼ teaspoon cumin powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon sugar (if using) and juice of 1 lime juice. Add 1 tablespoon of water or as needed to bring it all together. Blend to a smooth chutney.
Make the tamarind chutney
- To the pan add 1 cup water, ¼ cup tamarind paste, 50 grams jaggery,3 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, red chili powder, cumin powder and ginger powder. Bring mixture to boil.Reduce heat to medium and let it boil for 3 to 4 minutes until the chutney turns thick and coats the back of a spoon. Set it aside to cool. It will thicken more as it cools down.
Make batata vada
- Boil 4 medium potatoes (around 600 grams) until soft, peel them and set them aside. Using a mortar and pestle, crush together 1-inchginger, 5 to 6 garlic cloves and 2 green chilies. Set it aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add ¾ teaspoon mustard seeds and let them pop.Then add 12 to 15 curry leaves and ¼ teaspoon of hing and mix.
- Add the crushed ginger-garlic-green chili mixture. Cook for one minute until the ginger and garlic starts changing color.
- Then add the boiled potatoes to the pan and remove pan from heat. Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric, ¾ teaspoon salt and mash the potatoes using a potato masher. Add 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro and mix well.Now make lemon sized balls out of the potato mixture. I was able to get 10 balls out of this mixture. Set these aside.
Make the batter to fry the vada
- To make the batter, take 1 cup of besan in a large bowl. Add¼ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt and pinch of baking soda to it.Start adding water little by little to the bowl.
- Whisk to make a smooth batter. You may need a couple of extra tablespoons of water to reach the desired consistency. The batter should be neither thick nor thin. I used around ½ cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.
Fry the vada
- Heat around 2-3 inches of oil in a kadai/wok on medium-high heat. Dip one potato ball into the batter, using a fork and make sure it's coated from all sides evenly. Drain off the excess batter while taking it out of the bowl and then drop it carefully into the hot oil.
- Fry the vada in hot oil until golden brown in color. Fry all vadas in a similar way. Drain on a paper towel.
Assemble & serve
- To assemble the vada pav, toast the pav with some butter on a pan until slightly toasted. I use salted butter.
- Then slice each pav but not entirely. It should still be attached at one end. Apply green chutney on one side and tamarind chutney on the other side of the pav. Then sprinkle garlic chutney on top of these chutneys.Place the fried vada in the center. Serve vada pav immediately with more chutney on the side!
Notes
- To speed things up even more, you can use store bought tamarind chutney. You can find it at Indian grocery stores. I would recommend making the garlic and cilantro chutney at home.
- If you can’t find a ladi pav or any other dinner rolls at all, you can just sandwich the batata vada between 2 slices of white bread. It won’t be vada pav but it will still be delicious.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I had my son make the garlic chutney to go with a pav bhaji. It was awesome. I’m psyched to make this vada pav in a slider version but use Martin’s slider rolls.
glad to know!
Best Vada Pav recipe ever. I made Vada Pav for the first time today and I’m so glad I used this recipe! I just had to put a bit more salt in the Vada and Batter than recommended, but everything else was good.
Thank you Saket!
Great recipe, quick and easy , thanks for sharing
Interesting I must try to make the chutneys, filling not difficult.
Awesome. Want to make for a party. What temperature should I reheat and how much time. I will fry them the same day but want to keep it warm as I want to make ahead (3-4 hrs). Pls let me know
to keep warm, make everything and keep in the oven at 200 F degrees, that will keep these warm
Hi there, thanks for the recipe! Which parts of this can you freeze? Thank you.
the chutneys for sure
I liked the way you have described the recipe for individual chutney and the rest. I made the garlic coconut chutney for the first time and it has come out yummy. My family enjoyed wada pav today to the core. Thanks.
Great recepie. I got lots of praises from my family and husband, which are priceless. Thanks a lot.
Perfect recipe .. Thanks Manali
Tried this recipe today for the breakfast!! Really delicious- whole family enjoyed the mouth watering the vada pav today
awesome!
Absolutely wonderful recipe, the Vada pav came out really legitimately Mumbai’s. Thanks a Ton
Made it today. Came out exceptionally tasty. Thank you, Manali. God bless you
glad to know!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. Have tried many Vada pav recipes but by far yours is the best and the favourite in my home. My husband just loved what I made… thank you once again
welcome!
We’re lucky to have an Indian grocer in town and got all the listed ingredients, including fresh curry leaves. You can use the green curry sparingly, but //do not skimp// on the tamarind or garlic coconut … load it up. Had raita on the side.
Heavenly … thanks.
Great work in your step by step explanation you missed to mention heat the oil , though it looks so common sense kind thing however this will be a perfection ..!
Best regards
hmm where? I see the instruction to heat oil in the post.
Just wow… Tried it & everyone loved it
This recipe was amazing….omg I made it with little changes here n there,but this is superb
CAN THE COCONUT CHUTNEY BE STORED IN THE FRIDGE FOR LONG?
Hi Manali,
For the vada mix I dnt hv ginger so can we use ginger garlic paste? Will it change the taste?
you may!
What Pav do you use and where do you get it from? I haven’t been able to find Pav that is just like India in texture and taste here in the States.
I either get from Indian store or make it at home https://www.cookwithmanali.com/homemade-pav/
Thank you so much for this recipe! Is turbinado sugar equivalent to jaggery? Also, do you use fresh or dried curry leaves–does it matter? This is all new to me, so thank you for your help.
no it’s not..jaggery is a concentrated product of cane juice..you can use brown sugar in place..I use fresh curry leaves always…if you can’t find them use the dried ones..fresh ones have more flavor!
thank u madam…i wanna start it in kolkata..i need a man who can make it..
Thanks for the recipe Manali!
My family loves Vada Pav. Our neighborhood Indian grocer has fresh Vada pavs on weekends. But I would love to make them. I believe he only uses mashed potatoes inside the buns and not fried parties. Interestingly I had Vada pavs for the first time in the US.
Welcome Anu! I love Vada Pav too, if you ever go to Mumbai make sure to try it out!! Its so good! hope you give these a try, they are easy to make but yeah take some amount of prep work. making the chutneys in advanced is a good idea, hope you enjoy them 🙂