Click here for Laadi Pav recipe

Vada Pav is considered as the quintessential Indian Burger, made famous on the streets of Mumbai and in recent times Vada Pav chains have been launched under the brand Jumboking, Goli Vada Pav, etc. as the vegetarian equivalent to the likes of Burger King, McDonalds, etc.

This simple burger serves as a breakfast & snack to millions of people each day and being reasonably priced, even lunch and dinner to the thousands of poor people and immigrant labor that make Mumbai their home in search of economic sustenance.

However, for us it is always the street Vada Pav that is our go to breakfast the morning we land in Mumbai. Our red-eye flight to Mumbai usually arrives in the wee hours of the morning and after the airport formalities, as we make our way to Malad, in the cool morning breeze and deserted streets at the crack of dawn, when Mumbaites are barely waking up from their slumber, only a very few vada pav vendors would be open to serve those hurriedly heading to catch their train/bus for their morning shift and grab a quick ‘vada pav breakfast’ and chai! We stop at one of these stalls to pick-up a couple of vada pavs each (because one is never enough!), bottled water and milk for our first breakfast upon arrival.

The contentment of sinking our teeth into the warm vada pav, our first in months, satisfies our craving and annuls the ordeal of the preceding travel bringing pleasure, gratification and warmth to our hungry bellys.

With the ongoing COVID-19 Lockdown as our travel to Mumbai seems uncertain and distant, thought why not create our nostalgic experience right where we are!

So you too, go ahead try it and why not make it as your next Sunday brunch rounding it off with some Kulfi or Falooda for a satisfying meal. Making the Vada Pav from scratch including making the green and garlic chutney, baking the Pav (the dough was made the previous day and the pav kept for proving) took me two hours. But, you can plan and prepare the previous day. Gather all your ingredients on the Saturday, make the pav and keep for proving, make the green chutney, garlic chutney, and the potato balls, and refrigerate. Next morning bake the pavs, heat the oil in the kadhai, make the besan batter, fry the batata vadas, assemble and enjoy this delicious treat. Trust me, you will give your favorite Vadapavwalla down the street a run for his money!

To assemble:

Take a pav and slit horizontally keeping the end intact.  Apply the green chutney on the base of the pav, top with garlic chutney, place the vada in the centre of the pav and serve hot.

Click here for Laadi Pav recipe