Recipe for Batata Vada & Kandha Batata Bhajjia
If you live or have lived in Mumbai or anywhere in Maharashtra, it’s just not possible for you to not have enjoyed Garma GaramVada Pavs and Kandha Batata Bhajjias. You will mostly find Vada Pav stalls at almost every corner of the Streets of Mumbai. For some, it is a meal and for some it’s a snack.Being one of the most economical snacks available, it is Mumbai’s specialty and one cannot and should not leave Mumbai without trying out this snack.My Mum prepares these Tea Time snacks at Home very often.But, when you have a cart right next to your building selling these, you’re always tempted to go and purchase it from there. Here in Dubai, with absolutely no street carts available,your best and only option is to make these Hot yummies at Home.. Although in Dubai, we get each and everything available at fancy restaurants, the Street Food emotion is a totally different one. The one thing I miss most about Mumbai is it’s Street Food. The recipes for the Batata Vadas and Bhajjias are my Mum’s and for the Red chutney, I took some tips from my Maharashtrian friend Shweta Kalkar. The only thing different I did was that I added roasted peanuts to the chutney because I used to see my neighbour doing that.
Ingredients
For the Batter
- 1 cup Gram Flour(Besan)
- ½ Cup Water
- ½ Tspn Salt
For the Batata Vada(8 pcs)
- 4 Medium Sized Potatoes(Peeled, Washed, Cut, Boiled until soft and Mashed)
- ½ Tspn Mustard Seeds
- ¼ Tspn Asafoetida(Hing)
- 5 Green Chillies(chopped fine)
- 5-6 Curry leaves
- ½ Tspn Turmeric Powder
- ½ Tspn Salt
- 5-7 Sprigs of Fresh Coriander(chopped fine)
- 2 Tspn Oil
- Oil for Deep Frying
Ingredients for Potato Bhajjia
- 2 Medium Sized Potatoes
- ½ Tspn Salt
Ingredients for the Onion Bhajjia(8 pcs)
- 2 Medium Sized Onions(sliced)
- ½ Tspn Cumin Seeds
- ¼ Cup Gram Flour
- ½ Tspn Salt
Ingredients for the Dry Red Chutney
- ½ Cup Fresh Grated Coconut
- 8 Garlic Cloves
- 1/ 2 Tspn Salt
- 1 Tbspn Roasted Peanuts(skin off)
- 2 Tbspn Kashmiri Chilly Powder
Instructions
For the Batata Vada
- In a Pan or skillet, Heat 2 Tspn oil on medium heat
- Once the Oil turns Hot, add the Mustard Seeds and Asafoetida
- Once the Mustard Seeds begin to sputter, add the Curry leaves and Green chillies and mix for a few seconds
- Then add the Mashed Potatoes, Salt, Turmeric Powder, Fresh Coriander and mix it well and turn off the flame and keep it aside to coolNote: We go ahead and make the Batata Vadas only only this mixture comes down to room temperature or slightly warm
- While waiting for the mixture to come to room temperature,we go ahead and prepare the batter. In a bowl or vessel add 1 Cup Gram Flour and ½ Tspn Salt and add Water little by little and whisk it into a thick, runny smooth batterNote: If you add the water all at once, it will be extremely difficult to break down the gram flour lumps.
- Then you can go ahead and prep your Potato Bhajjias. Peel the Potatoes and slice them either with a slicer or cut fine sliced with a knife.Drop them into a bowl of water and keep asideNote: Once the Potato is peeled/cut & you leave it as it is, it will get oxidized and turn brown. Always keep peeled/cut Potatoes in water
- Now once the Vada mixture comes down to room temperature,make medium sized balls of the mixture
- In a Skillet or a deep frying pan, heat oil for deep frying on medium heat
- Once the oil turns Hot, dip each Potato ball into the batter that we’ve prepared, coat it well with the batter and Fry it n the hot oil
- Fry it until the batter turns very light golden it’s not necessary to wait until the batter turns brown(unless you like it that way).Fry all the vadas the same way
For the Potato Bhajjia
- Drain off all the water from the Sliced Potatoes
- Transfer it into the same batter that we used for the vadas(you will have some batter left)
- Coat the Potato slices with the batter and Individually fry them in the Hot Oil in batches. Fry until they turn light brown
For the Onion Bhajjia
- Slice the Onions really fine and transfer them into a bowl(you can use the same bowl) Add the Cumin seeds, Gram Flour and Salt and mix all this wellNote: we do not add water because when salt is added to Onions, it releases water and when this goes into the hot oil, the bhajjias will not hold together and split. Moral of the story No Water for Kandha Bhajjias😊
- Mix all this well
- Take small portions and drop it into the hot oil
- Fry the onion bhajjias until they turn brown
For the Chutney
- Pan roast the Coconut and Garlic for about 15-20 minutes on low heat and After that add the Chilly Powder and roast it together for another 5 minutes and then keep it aside to coolNote: this is supposed to be done separately but since I was running out of time I’ve done it together
- Now in the same Pan, roast the Peanuts(if you have roasted Peanuts you can use that as well & you can skip this step) for about 20 minutes on medium heat and once cooled, take off the skinNote: Since this was my first attempt I ground it with the skin on but I felt it turned a bit bitter and later got to know that it could be because of the skin
- Once all this has completely turned cool at room temperature, grind this to a dry mixture by using the start and stop methodNote: If you let the mixer go on rotating, the chutney might turn moist with the heat of the motor. So, for the chutney, use the start and stop method until you get a fine coarse mixture and it’s ready to use.
- You can store this chutney in an air tight container in the refrigerator for months since it is pan roasted.But before transferring it into the container or closing it with the lid, ensure the chutney is not Hot. After grinding it in the mixture,it may be slightly Hot or warm. So, Before putting the Jar lid on, air out chutney completely and let it come to room temperature or else the heat may form moisture inside the Jar and there could be a possibility for the chutney to get spoilt.
- Enjoy the Batata Vadas and Bhajjias stuffed inside bread with some Chutney! Yummmm
