In Mumbai do as the Mumbaikars do. And what is the secret of the energy of the financial capital of India? What keeps the city that never sleeps up and running at all hours of the day? Well, the answer is possibly a little too modest for so bombastic a question - it is the unassuming yet very charismatic "Vada Pav"!
Straight out of the heart of Maharashtra in Western Indian, Vada Pav has iconic status in India. It used to be "poor man's food", but these days even the rich and famous can be spotted eating it at Bombay's (Mumbai) numerous roadside food-stalls!
Vada pav is a vegetarian fast food dish native to Indian state of Maharashtra and is one of the most popular and cheapest fast foods of Mumbai. It consists of a Batata (Marathi for potato) Vada a deep-fried potato mash patty served in a salted bun (pav) with savory condiments.
The potatoes are mashed or diced, made into patties, coated and mixed with green chilies, ginger and a phodani that is tempering of mustard seeds and turmeric. These balls are then dipped in an herb-seasoned batter made with gram flour, and then it is deep-fried. The finished vada is then placed between the halves of a small bun called a pav, a word borrowed for a bun borrowed by Marathi from the Portuguese pão (lit., "bread") and served with condiments such as various chutneys, red chili powder or green chilis (sometimes fried and salted). The chutneys are often made of coconut, tamarind pulp or garlic. Often just the vada can become a very good snack but then again that doesn't make it an "authentic" vada pav, does it? For the true blue Mumbaikars only the real Mc Coy would do.
The Vada Pav is considered staple teatime snack in Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai, where it has been popularized as street food. Vada Pav is available on hand carts, popularly known as Vada Pav chi gadi. They are seen everywhere in Maharashtra and also served at tea time in many of the state's small eateries and on long distance trains.
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