Vada -Pav - My Style

Vada - Pav is a popular Chat food in Maharastra and North India. It is world wide famous these days. I just thought of preparing Vada Pav one evening when it was raining heavily. The weather was chill. It is 100 % natural to crave for some fried item to munch. Anyway, there were some boiled potatoes in the pressure cooker. I felt preparing some thing using them. And some Pav (bread) which I brought the previous day. With these two main ingredients the plan of Vada - Pav started. One more thing to note I do not enjoy eating these things since most of the outlets prepare Vada - Pav using onions, garlic and also Vanaspathi or Dalda, which I am not in favour of using them. So when I crave for these Chat, it's mostly done at home.

Though the process is long you will surely enjoy the process once you start cooking. That is my opinion and that is me. Think of some thing, I would like to start doing it.. This applies to myself. I am not boasting my self. This attitude of mine is letting out my feeling. I will see that my enthu will not disappear until I finish preparing and serving them. Afterwords I sit down, relax and enjoy my food.

This Vada - Pav has no onion or garlic but the lovers of garlic and onion can add these favourites. I have seen people who enjoy eating onion and garlic feel the absence of it in their food. So be happy and try this Vada - Pav recipe and let me know your opinion/comments.

Here is a recipe of Vada -Pav . which is a very good snack or stomach filling chat and will be loved by all the age group and the whole family.

Things needed :

Potatoes : 5 to 6 (medium sized)
Capsicum : 2
Green Chilly : 2 to 3
Ginger : 1 Tea spoon (Grated)
Salt : to taste
Besan (Gram flour ) : 1 Cup
Red chilly powder : 1/2 Tea spoon
Jeera (Cumin seeds) : 1 Tea spoon
Mustard seeds : 1/2 Tea  spoon
Urid Dal : 1/2 Tea spoon
Water : Required water
Oil : 1 Cup
Pav ( any kind of buns) : 2 packs (12 ) or  according to your requirement.
Ghee : 2 Table spoons
Sweet and Spicy Chutney : 3 to 4 Table spoons.

Method :

. Potato Palya ( Dry potato curry ) : Preparation

1. Wash and pressure cook potatoes. Remove potato skin once it is cool. Smash it nicely and keep it aside.
2. Wash and cut capsicum. (Remove the seeds before cutting ). Cut it into small pieces.

3. Wash and remove the outer skin of ginger grate it, cut green chilly and coriander leaves in to small and keep it aside.
4. Now keep a pan on the fire. Heat and put 1 tea spoon of oil and put jeera, mustard seeds and urid dal. Fry for 10 seconds.

5. Add curry leaves, green chilly and cut capsicum and fry till they turn soft. Add turmeric powder ( a pinch ), salt and mix it well.

6. Add smashed potatoes to the capsicum mixture and fry for 2 minutes nicely. Stir slowly and mix it well. Add cut coriander leaves
and remove the ready palya from the pan. Keep it in a bowl.
7. Divide in to small portion and prepare in to small size ball. Keep it aside.

. Vada Preparation : Frying step.

8. Put besan in a big bowl. Add salt, jeera and red chilly powder. Mix with sufficient water and prepare dough. (Let it be bit thick).

9. Keep  a pan on the fire and add oil. Heat it on medium flame.
10. Take a potato mixture (which is a ball size) dip in besan flour dough and put it in hot oil. Fry on both sides till it is cooked. Remove from the pan and place it on kitchen tissue, so that extra oil will be absorbed by the tissue.

 11. Repeat the same and prepare Aloo bonda and keep it aside.

.Vada Pav Preparation:

12. Keep a dosa pan or nonstick pan on the fire.

13. Cut Pav in the middle and place it on the tava and roast. Roast on both sides.

14. Apply ghee to inner side of the bun.

15. Put some more chutney on the bonda.

16. Top up with other slice of a bun and press a little .

17. Now Vada -Pav is ready to serve. You can also serve a cup of curd along with this chat.
18. Repeat the same with remaining buns and Aloo Vada and prepare Vada - Pav.

Sweet and Spicy Chutney :

Things Needed :
Coriander leaves : 1 bundle  ( 2  handful)
Mint Leaves : 1 small bundle ( 1 Handful)
Green chilly : 2 to 3
Dates (Fresh ) : 5 to 6
Jeera : 1/2 Tea spoon
Salt: according to requirement.

Method : 
Wash both leaves, green chilly and grind it with green chilly , dates, jeera  and salt with little water. Remove from the Mixi Jar and put it in a small bowl.  Your Sweet and Spicy Chutney is ready to serve.

Note :

You can make use of onions and garlic  while preparing Aloo Dry curry. ( I did not use )

Using cooking soda in besan (gram flour ) is optional. ( I have not used).
Let the Aloo curry be bit thick. Do not add any water while preparing curry.
Do not over cook potatoes. If they turn very soft you will not be able to make potato balls and while frying it absorbs more oil.
You can use jaggery instead of fresh dates or use both of them .(dates and jaggery) to make the Sweet and Spicy chutney more sweet.
You can also grind  Spicy chutney separately .( Grind only mint, coriander leaves , jeera and green chilly together and add salt to it).
Sweet chutney can be ground separately by using fresh dates, little jaggery with very little water.
I added lemon to the Sweet and Spicy chutney. ( optional : use tamarind : add a small marble size of tamarind or Mango powder).


The whole preparation time : 1 Hour.
Preparation time : 20 minutes
Frying time : 15  minutes.
Vada Pav preparation : 15 minutes.
Sweet and Spice chutney preparation : 10  minutes.
The whole process : 1 Hour ( 60 Minutes).

MOUTH WATERING VADA PAV

Basale - Dil - Palak Leaves Sasive

Basale Soppu ( in Kannada - Karnataka) is a type of spinach and it is known as " Malabar Spinach".  Basale or Basela alba leaves are used in China and it is also called as "Chinese Spinach".   

It is known in different names in different parts of India. Basale soppu (in Kannada) is known as Malabar spinach. It is known as Pui Shak in Bengali, poi ni bhaji in Gujarathi, valchi bhaji or vauchi bhaji in Konkani, vallicheera in Malayalam. Mayalu in Marathi, Poi Saaga in Oriya, Kodipu Pasali  in Tamail, bacchali in Telugu and basale in Tulu.

Lets see some benefits of eating this Basale Soppu.
Basale or Malabar spinach is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin,- C, iron, and calcium. It is low in Calories and high in protein. It is a soluble fiber. They contain minerals like Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus and Zink .

Sasive is nothing but Mustard seeds , and this Basale Curry is prepared using mustard seeds, coconut, red chilly and little bit of tamarind. Sasive is one of the side dish. We South Canara people normally prepare this curry at least once in 15 days using different vegetables. And of course not the same ingredients some time. It is one of the healthy curry which will be normally eaten with plain rice, chapatis, rotis or pooris.
Basale - Dil and Palak all leaves from our garden and I am so happy that I could use the leaves to prepare this curry.
" Basale - Dil - Palak leaves Sasive " has no garlic and no onion. One more thing to note in Dakshina Kannada,  normally onion or garlic is not used  in Vegetarians home (especially Brahmins).

Here is a recipe of " Basale - Dil - Palak Sasive ", and it can be served with plain rice, dosa, idli, chapati , poori or even roti and Akki Rotti ( Rice flour Rotti).

Things Needed :

Basale - Dil - Palak Leaves : 2 bowls
Mustard seeds : 1 Tea spoon
Red Chilly : 4 to 5
Ingh : a pinch
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Tamarind : a small marble size
Coconut : 1 small cup (3 to 4 Table spoons)
Oil : 1 Tea spoon
Curry leaves : 5 to 6
Methi seeds (Fenugrik seeds) 1/4 Tea spoon.
Coriander leaves : 1 Table spoon
Salt : According to taste

Method :

1. Wash and cut all leaves into small and cook with required water. (1/2 Cup of water will do)

2. Grate coconut and remove the seed (if there is ) from the tamarind.

3. Grind  coconut, tamarind, 1/2 tea spoon mustard seeds,  and red chilly using little water.  Grind till paste and remove the mixture from the jar.

4. Keep a pan on the fire. Heat and put oil.
5. Add mustard seeds and methi seeds. Let mustard seeds splutter. Add ingh and curry leaves.

6. Add cooked leaves, turmeric powder and salt. Mix it well. Let it cook for 1 miunte.
7. Add ground coconut - mustard mixture. Add. required water and mix it well.

8. Let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Now shift the Cooked "Basale - Dil - Palak Sasive " to a serving bowl. Serve with the main dish you prepared.

Note : 

1. You can prepare this sasive with any edible leaves.
2. Use minimum water while cooking. Too much liquid curry will not taste better. It should be bit thick.
3 .You can use raw rice to bring thickness in the curry. (Soak 1 Tea spoon of raw rice 1/2 an hour before and grind this soaked rice       while   grinding coconut.
4. You can also use jaggery . Add jaggery when you add coconut mixture and let it boil nicely.
5. You can  use onions and garlic if you wish. ( cook onions along with leaves and add garlic with mustard splutter).

Time : 20 minutes.
Serves : 3 to  4 .