India’s Slider

Vada Pav is a spiced gram flour coated potato slider served with green chili and garlic seasoning. This popular street food has always been iconic to Mumbai streets and is a local favourite. Like with any other popular Indian street food there are a number of stories related to its origin. The story relates to a vendor outside Dadar train station in 1960’s and 70’s, In search for a food to fend off commuters hunger he devised a simple snack that could be eaten on the go. It is needless to say that his idea was a huge success and it has been an integral part of life in Mumbai. From the richest people to the poorest Mumbaikars they all savour this local favourite. The interesting part about this sandwich is its political connection and history. The meteoric rise in popularity in the early 70’s is also credited to the nationalist party Shiv Sena, as they decided to promote this snack. They promoted this sandwich as a common man’s snack, at a mere 10 rupees a filling snack which appeals to the masses and was easy to replicate. The party encouraged and supported party members to set up street stalls. When the Mumbai textile mills started laying off workers they would help the newly jobless set up vada pav stalls outside the factory, using their political clout to bypass the need for a licence. The scheme was very successful, it provided job to the people in need, an economic meal for workers and street muscle for the party. Through their efforts they were able to adopt the vada pav as their own food and create their own story around it, Maharashtra’s authentic snack that sustains workers in times of labour trouble. In 2008, Shiv Sena even organised a vada pav competition in which the winning recipe was called shiv vada. Every school, college, mall or office building started developing their own version/ recipe for the snack. As is the case with any popular food-enthusiasts always make variations to the original recipe. Fusion played a huge role in modernising this conventional Maharashtrian snack. There was  soon the schezwan vada pav with Chinese influences that perhaps the Chinese would never recognise, but the local public eating this knew and loved cheese vada pav, which included a nice scattering of grated cheese that melted deliciously and was a delight to the taste buds. Jain vada pav that catered to the demands of no onion, no garlic, and no potato eating community. You may wonder what is left? this version was made with cashew nut, raisin, and maraschino cherry and can also be called an exotic vada pav.When the mass production of this popular snack caught up several chins came up. The chains like jumbo king-which served pre fried, pre packaged and far less spicy vada if required, almost like a local version of the Mc donald’s aloo tikki burger. Gold vada pav was another rival chain and the Shiv Sena’s own shiv vada made its own niche in the business. But the name vada pav has always been synonymous with the local street vendors who have got the perfect vada pav and have been serving the common man for years. Vada Pav IngredientsPotato, boiled 3 nos.Green chili 3 nos.Mustard oil 1 tbspMustard seeds  1/2 tspCurry leaves 2 sprigGarlic 2-3 clovesGinger 1/2 inch cubeTurmeric powder 1/2 tspAsafoetida 1/4 tspCoriander, chopped 2 tbspGram flour 6 tbspWater 3 tbspSalt to tasteBaking powder a pinchPav bread 6 to 7 Green chili 4-5 nos.MethodBoil the potato, cool them, peel and coarsely grate them and keep aside.In a sauté pan heat 1 tbsp oil and add mustard seeds to crackle.Add curry leaves, ginger chopped, garlic chopped, green chili chopped, turmeric and salt and cook to remove the raw flavour of garlic.Add this tempering to the potato mixture.Combine to evenly season the potato mixture.Divide the potato into 7- 8 equal balls and keep aside.In a separate bowl combine gram flour, water, salt and baking powder and whisk to make a smooth dough.Heat oil to medium heat in a heavy bottom pan.Dip the potato ball in the batter and deep fry over medium heat, to evenly fry the potato balls.Once the vada is lightly fried, remove and keep aside.Increase the heat and deep fry the vada again to make the coating crispy.Place the vada in lightly toasted slider bun and fried green chili on the sideNote: the Gram flour batter should be thick, ensure you don’t add a lot of water to thin it. also while frying the potato mixture, the batter should evenly coat it otherwise the potato ball will break while frying.* Chef Tarun Kapoor, Culinary Mastermind, USA. He may be contacted at tarunkapoor83@gmail.com