Vada paav - Indian burger

Mumbai is famous for its street food which is affordable to one and all and also finger licking good!My favourite among them has to the Indian version of the world famous burgers - Vada paav.Vada paav is a potato fritter(vada/bonda) served in between dinner rolls (paavs) :) Even now there are food chains in Mumbai making more cleaner and better vada paavs the ones on the road side have to the best!

When we used to travel by trains from native place to Mumbai during our college days my sister and me used to wait to get to Pune where the vendors used to sell vada paavs and chikkis on the trains.They used to be fantastic!What fun train rides used to be.Watching the distant water falls on the valleys and the fog covered mountains.Trains passing through the tunnels in the mountains and going completely dark :) so much fun!

The potato/batata vada/bonda can be served as it is with any condiments of your liking like a spicy green chutney or a tangy tamarind chutney.But it tastes best with the paav!Whenever i pass by a shop serving chaats, my eyes wander the menu chart for vada paav-- my favourite!Even LM loved them!so its a family favourite now!

You need

Paav 4

Dry coconut garlic chutney 

Batata vada 4

To make the batata vada

Boiled and mashed potatoes 2

Oil 2 tsp

Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp

Green chillies 1 chopped finely

Curry leaves 1 sprig

Asoefetida powder/hing a pinch

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

• Mash the potatoes with a fork or hands and leave aside.
• Heat a pan, heat oil add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies and hing powder to the oil.Once the curry leaves are crispy turn off the flame.
• Add this seasoning to mashed potatoes and mix well with hands.
• Make small flat cutlet like balls of potato for the vada and mix each of them in the batter below.

The batter to dip the vada

Besan/chick pea flour/kadala maav 2 tablespoons

Baking soda a pinch

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder a pinch

Water to make a thick paste

Oil to deep fry vadas.

• Mix all the above into a thick paste with a dropping consistency and dip each of the potato vadas in it and drop in to hot oil and fry until golden brown.

Dry coconut garlic chutney

• Grind dry coconut,garlic,chilli powder, half an onion/few baby onions, salt to taste and leave it aside.( i have used fresh coconut dry roasted on a pan)

To serve the vada paav, 

• Slit open the paav in half and apply the dry coconut garlic chutney and place the vada in between the paav and serve hot!

Enjoy yummy vada paavs with green chutney or tamarind chutney too.Just the plain vada paav tastes heavenly too!

Serve them hot with tea or as a mini meal!Enjoy the taste of Mumbai on a plate :)

Sending this to JCO- Monsoon of India, Fun fair food

Vada paav - Indian burger

Mumbai is famous for its street food which is affordable to one and all and also finger licking good!My favourite among them has to the Indian version of the world famous burgers - Vada paav.Vada paav is a potato fritter(vada/bonda) served in between dinner rolls (paavs) :) Even now there are food chains in Mumbai making more cleaner and better vada paavs the ones on the road side have to the best!

Vermicelli and Vegetable baked Spring Roll

Spring rolls - such a yummy snack/appetizer.I remember i used to always sit and wait for it to come at any restaurants.It used to take the longest to prepare i guess...so even after everyone got their orders i used to be waiting...How glad am i, to be able to make it at home and that too a baked version...double plus!

I've looked enough in local stores for puff pastry sheets so i can try my hand at some baked good..but in vain.Can't find them anywhere close to me.So I decided to use the same outer cover recipe i used to make my irani samosas for this one too.The verdict....the spring rolls were crispy but a bit chewy.I will definitely try to improvise on the wrapper recipe.

The filling was wonderful....i wanted to have it as it is :)) You can get as innovative on the filling i needn't tell you all.I have used vermicelli and vegetables.I even thought of other fillings but i was out of stock of them.
   

 You need

For the wrapper:
Equal parts of wheat flour and all purpose flour i used half cup each
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil 1 tsp
Baking soda 1 generous pinch
Water as per need

• Mix all of the above to make a nice soft dough and leave it aside for about 1 hour.

For the filling: 

Vegetables - carrots, cabbage, beans, capsicum 1 cup 

Vermicelli quarter cup (cook it according to directions)

Salt to taste

Soya sauce 1 tsp

Oil 1 tablespoon

• Heat the oil is a pan, add the beans,cabbage,carrots and capsicum in that order and saute them until soft with salt to taste.
• Add the cooked vermicelli and soya sauce and stir in with all the vegetables.
• Leave this filling to cool.

• Preheat the oven to 200C and grease a baking tray.
• Pinch a small ball of dough and roll it as thin as you can (as for a chapati) you should be able to see the surface beneath (well, almost!) , keep as much filling as you need and seal the ends with a paste of flour and water mix - this acts as a glue.Place the prepared spring rolls on a greased tray.Smear oil on the spring rolls before baking them.
•  Bake the spring rolls at 200C for about 20 minutes on each side or until the outer layer is brown and hard when tapped.

• Serve hot with tomato sauce or have it as it is!! 

Notes:

1. Roll out the dough as thin as you can, i left it round in shape itself.Placed a tablespoon full or more of filling towards one end of the round wrapper, applied the glue paste on the edge and folded the bottom edge first then the sides applying the glue mix to all folding sides.
2. Non vegetarians can add cooked chicken or meat to the filling too.

Sending this to From fried to Favorite @ Uk-Rasoi , Bake fest, let's party- go bake it, Kids delight, I love baking #6

Vermicelli and Vegetable baked Spring Roll

Spring rolls - such a yummy snack/appetizer.I remember i used to always sit and wait for it to come at any restaurants.It used to take the longest to prepare i guess...so even after everyone got their orders i used to be waiting...How glad am i, to be able to make it at home and that too a baked version...double plus!

Ragda Patties - Potato patties dunked in white pea gravy

Street food in Mumbai is quite unique.My dad used to tell me anyone who earns even a meagre amount can survive on these street food especially vada paav used to priced quite less but now with the sky high prices even vada paavs are pricey.

I had'nt heard of ragda patties or any of the other street food until I went to Mumbai for my further education.I used to be quite amused at these names-usal/misal paav, ragda patties, dhabeli, paani puri, bhel puri, sev puri, etc are some famous chaat foods available on the Indian streets.I can't vouch for the cleanliness though but like they say it tastes best on the streets :)

For this month's blog hop, I had to just view Deeksha's blog and her ragda patties once to be tempted to try it immediately.I made it 3 weeks before time and now i'm waiting to post it!We enjoyed it and was one really filling snack!I made the ragda-peas gravy ahead of time (for lunch) so that i wouldn;t have to be juggling with everything at the same time.The dried white peas came as a surprise because i used to do all sorts of things to mask the pungent smell from the dried green peas.Now the dried white peas are a regular on the shopping list!

Like the name suggests, this dish has to be made in parts and then assembled :part 1: ragda and part 2: the patties- potato patties/cutlets.

For the ragda :

you need

Dried white peas soaked overnight and pressure cooked 1 cup
Onion 1 medium
Tomato 1 large
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Salt to taste
cumin seeds 1 tsp
Oil 2 tsp
Water as per your need
Coriander leaves/cilantro a handfull

- Pressure cook the peas and once its cooked the peels will float on top, you can remove the peels.Retain the water and drain the cooked peas.
- heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and let it pop, add the onions let them fry until soft.
- Add the ginger garlic paste and tomatoes and allow to mash until soft.Add the dried powders and fry well until the raw smell goes away.
- Add the cooked peas and let it cook.Add the water used for boiling the peas to make the gravy as watery as you need.
- Simmer for about 5-7 mins and turn off the heat.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with indian flat breads or steamed rice.

For the patties -  check here - my aloo tikki post.I followed the same procedure except that i shallow fried the patties unlike the tikkis which are deep fried.

Serving the ragda patties:

- In a plate/dish, place the patties/tikkis with the peas gravy on the side or pour it over the tikkies.

- sprinkle onions,tomatoes,cucumber,cilantro and sev.Serve with a sprinkling of green and tamarind chutneys and lime.

- Enjoy the deliciousness of Mumbai Street Food.

Note: I have skipped using green and sweet chutneys you are welcome to add them if you feel so.

Sending this to Blog hop wednesday@Tickling palates, Bon Vivant moments:Savory items@Sumee's culinary bites, Comfort food @Daily cuppa,Anyone can cook





 

Ragda Patties - Potato patties dunked in white pea gravy

Street food in Mumbai is quite unique.My dad used to tell me anyone who earns even a meagre amount can survive on these street food especially vada paav used to priced quite less but now with the sky high prices even vada paavs are pricey.

Pav Bhaaji

What an accomplishment, I made pav bhaaji from scratch!I had the craving to have pav bhaaji and wanted to run to a hotel and have a mouth full, because of the fowl weather we weren;t able to go out later in the evenings.So I somehow managed to mellow down my cravings for a few days.And meanwhile kept hunting for recipes.

Pav Bhaaji is a very popular street food in Mumbai.I first tasted it when i moved to Mumbai for further studies and fell in love with the street food...vada paav, ragda patties,pav bhaaji to name a few.At home in Mumbai, we buy fresh pavs from the local baker,I would have never thought of baking it at home until my recent obsession with bread making.Pav/laadi paav means a slab of bread rolls, and bhaaji means a vegetarian side dish.So pav bhaaji is one great finger licking combination of bread and tangy vegetable gravy.

To make the pav:
Flour 2 cups(1 cup all purpose flour + 1 cup wheat flour)
Sugar 2 tsp
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Yeast 1 tsp
Warm water 1 -1.5 cups
Butter/Oil 3 tablespoons(or lesser)
For brushing: Warm Milk 2 tablespoons and Melted Butter 1 tablespoon

• In a mixing bowl, add the flours, sugar,salt and yeast and baking soda.Add the warm water and knead into a smooth dough.
• Add the oil little by little and knead until the oil disappears into the dough.
• You can stop kneading when the dough springs back when you push it with your finger.Apply oil generously on the dough and cover with cling film and set it aside in a oven.The dough will take about 1 hour to double in size.
• Once the dough has risen well(doubled), dust a counter top, put the dough on the counter and roll into a rectangle, now cut into rectangular buns and place in a buttered baking tray.Again cover these cut buns and allow to raise again for an hour or so.(since i used wheat flour it didn't raise much after this point, but the pavs were soft).
• Preheat the oven to 250C and just before pushing the tray to bake, brush milk on the bun tops.
• Bake for 25 minutes until the tops are crusty and bottoms are lightly beginning to brown or tap to see if hollow.At this point take the pavs out and brush melted butter and keep it in the hot oven turning off the power.
• Hot pavs are ready to be eaten with bhaaji or just tea.

To make the Bhaaji
Onions 1 large/2medium size chopped finely
Tomatoes 1 large/ 2 medium chopped finely
Ginger garlic paste 1 tablespoon
Boiled Vegetables 2 cups(Potatoes 2 large,Cauliflower florets 1/2 cup,Beans 5-6,Carrots 1 small-chopped,Capsicum 1 small-diced,Peas a handfull)
Pav Bhaaji Masala 2 tablespoons(Everest brand)
Lime juice 1 tablespoon or more
Chopped Cilantro a handful
Oil/Butter 2 tablespoons

• Heat oil in a pan, add onions fry until soft and transparent.Add the ginger garlic paste next, now add the tomatoes.
• Add the mashed vegetables into the onion tomato gravy.
• Add the pav bhaji masala and salt to taste.
• Once the vegetables cook well in the masalas, turn off the stove and add chopped cilantro and lime juice.

• To serve, cut the pav in half lengthwise apply butter or ghee and roast the inner sides on a pan, and serve hot with the bhaaji.Top the bhaaji with chopped onions and lime wedges, a dollop of butter (indulgence!)

Linking this to Winter Carnival @ Tickling tastebuds, Bake Fest @ Zesty Palette and Christmas Delicacy @ Erivum Puliyum

Pav Bhaaji

What an accomplishment, I made pav bhaaji from scratch!I had the craving to have pav bhaaji and wanted to run to a hotel and have a mouth full, because of the fowl weather we weren;t able to go out later in the evenings.So I somehow managed to mellow down my cravings for a few days.And meanwhile kept hunting for recipes.