Vada Pav

Vada Pav is a tasty street food eaten in India. Its a perfect evening snack.

Ingredients:

For the Vadas:
Potatoes - 4 large
Fresh Ginger - 1 inch
Fresh Garlic - 10 cloves
Green chillies - 6 nos.
Oil - 3 tbsp.
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tbsp.
Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - 10 nos.
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Hamburger buns / Indian pav - 1 packet or more
Oil for frying

For the batter:
Besan / Chickpea flour - 1.5 cups
Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp.
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Water - 1 cup
Salt to taste

Before you start:
1) Boil the potatoes. Allow to cool. Peel and mash evenly.
2) Clean ginger, peel garlic, wash chillies and coriander leaves. Grind finely together.
3) Wash and dry curry leaves.
4) For the batter : Mix besan and water nicely. Add turmeric powder, salt and oil. Mix well. Keep ready.

How to proceed:
1) For the Vadas : Take 3 tbsp. oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds.
2) When the mustard begins to splutter, add hing, curry leaves and turmeric powder. Saute for a few seconds.
3) Add the ground ginger, garlic, chillies and coriander. Allow to cook evenly till it gives a nice aroma and turn slightly brown in color.
4) Add the mashed potatoes. Add salt. Mix well. Saute for 2 minutes. Allow to cool.
5) Once cooled, make small balls in the palms of the hand. Flatten them down to make a diskette. Keep aside. Make diskettes of remaining mixture.
6) For frying the vadas : Take lot of oil in a kadai. Heat it up nicely. Check the temperature of the oil, by putting a tiny drop of batter in the oil, if it comes up immediately, the oil is nice and hot. Once the oil gets hot, lower the heat to medium high. Dip each diskette in the batter, coat completely on both sides and slide into the oil gently with a spoon. Be careful not to splash hot oil. Fry 2 or 3 vadas at a time. Using a spoon is very convenient, easy and lot less messy. 7) Once the vadas become a little darker in shade, turn them over once and fry on the other side.
8) Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and place on tissue to get rid of the extra oil.
9) Place on serving plate. Serve fresh.

How to serve :
1) Open the bun. Sprinkle dry garlic chutney. Place one vada inside the bun on the chutney, close it up and serve. The vada can also be eaten as is (without the bun) with ketchup, dry garlic chutney or green chutney.