Vada pav, or urulaikizhangu bonda inside bread is a very popular Maharashtrian snack, sometimes a poor man's meal. It is as famous as our idli sambar, in every nook and corner of Maharashtra.
Guest Chef: Saraswathi Varadarajan
Vada pav…urulaikizhangu bonda maharashtrian style
Ingredients
- Boiled potatoes – 4
- Besan / kadalai mavu – 1 cup
- Green chilies – 4-5
- Garlic – 10-12 pods
- Chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) – 1 huge bunch
- Dried red chilies – 3-4
- Tamarind pulp – 6-7 tsp
- Date pulp – 4-5tsp
- Vellam ( gud) – 5tsp
- Oil – To fry
- Pav – 4
- Grated copra or desiccated coconut – 1/2 cup
- Roasted peanuts – 1/2cup
Directions
- Vada Pav – Mash the boiled potatoes. Temper with mustard seeds, green chilies, coriander , add enough salt. Mix and make 4 balls out of it.
- Make a thick batter of besan.
- Heat oil, dip the potato balls in besan and deep fry to get the vada / bonda.
The chutneys and the way it is assembled makes the difference between urulaikizhangu bonda and the vadas.
Green chutney:
sauté the green chilies, add coriander, few garlic pods, salt and grind to make the green chutney.
Red chutney:
roast the red chilies, garlic pods, peanuts using little oil.
add salt and coarse grind into a powder.
Sweet chutney:
Boil together (microwave for 3 mins), the tamarind pulp, gud and date pulp, add a pinch of red chili powder, salt, to make a pulpy sweet chutney. If it is watery you may add a little rice flour while cooking to make it thick.
To serve:
The pav book sliced through the center, (not fully), such that it resembles an open book.
Spread the green chutney on one side, sweet chutney on the other. Press and flatten the vadas slightly. Generously dip in the red chutney powder. sandwich it between the pav and bite into it !
Mostly the pav, the vadas and the chutneys are given separately in the stalls along with some deep fried green chilies, and we need to assemble it according to our taste.
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