Vada pav, alternatively spelt wada pao, is a vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. The dish consists of a deep-fried potato dumpling placed inside a bread bun (pav) sliced almost in half through the middle. It is generally accompanied by one or more chutneys and a green chili pepper. Although it originated as an affordable street food in Mumbai, it is now served in food stalls and restaurants across India. It is also called Bombay burger in keeping with its origins and its resemblance in physical form to a burger.

The most famous snack in Mumbai, vada pav is claimed to be a part of the culture of Mumbaikars. One of the earliest kiosks selling vada pav is said to be Khidki Vada Pav, located in Kalyan. It was started in the late 1960s by the Vaze family, who used to hand out vada pavs from a window (Khidki) of their house facing the road.

The party chief, Balasaheb Thackeray, encouraged Marathi people in the 1960s to become entrepreneurs, i.e., start food stalls in ways similar to the South Indians setting up Udupi restaurants. Shiv Sena attempted to physically and ideologically claim the streets through agitations as well as neighborhood-level events such as vada pav sammelan ("vada pav jamborees").

Variations and commercialization

There are over 20,000 stalls selling vada pav in Mumbai. Mumbai alone has many variations of the food based on the locality. Outside of Mumbai, a variant of vada pav is pav vada, which is famous in Nashik.

Annually, August 23 is celebrated as World Vada Paav Day.

Preparation

A boiled potato is mashed and mixed with chopped green chilli and garlic, mustard seeds, and spices (usually asafoetida and turmeric). The mass is then shaped into a ball, dipped into gram flour batter, and deep-fried. The resulting fritter is placed inside a bread bun and served with one or more chutneys, most commonly a spicy lasun-khobara (garlic-coconut) chutney, along with fried green chilli.

See also

  • Aloo tikki
  • Chinese bhel
  • List of sandwiches
  • Veggie burger
  • Misal pav
  • Pav bhaji
  • Bun kebab
  • Dabeli

References