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Batata Vada is amongst the most famous street foods of Mumbai. Golden and crisp from the outside and absolutely flavorful from the inside.
Each city has its own iconic dishes that everyone would recommend you to have if you visit that city. Your trip is not complete without having it. Batata Vada tops that list in Mumbai.
For every Mumbaikar Batata Vada is a humble food. A Mumbaikar has it for any meal of the day, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
It is best when it’s served with dry garlic chutney and fried green chili. Spicy yet delicious.
You will find a Vada vendor on every street corner and each one will be equally flocked with people waiting to get their plate.
Each vendor has its own variation of Vada. Some Vada joints/vendors attract people for their delicious potato filling, some for the thin yet crisp outer coating, while the others for variations in chutneys that go with the Vada.
Also, each city has its own way of making it. Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Nashik, and various other cities in India have their own version of Batata Vada.
My Mother-in-law and my Dad both devour Vada with so much enthusiasm. It’s very appropriate to say that this dish is their weak point. The smell of it being fried automatically draws their feet to the Vada shop. If you ask them, they will be able to name all the best Vada centers across Mumbai.
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As a kid, I had quite a few favorite Vada joints, each for a different reason. One had the yummiest Vada, small compared to others but packed with flavors, the other had a very unique besan chutney to go with it, and then there was one who used to put fried besan crispies in the Vada Pav along with the chutney.
Over the years, with the influx of fusion in Indian cooking, the traditional recipes started getting revamped. Eventually, Batata Vada also caught up with the race to innovate.
Jump to Recipe
Nowadays you get Vada Pav burger, Schezwan Batata Vada, Cheesy Batata Vada, Batata Vada fondue, and many more. Though all these innovations are appealing and tasty I still feel the original flavors surpass any innovations.
So let me share with you my favorite, lip-smacking recipe for Mumbai’s Batata Vada, one of the most scrumptious street food you will ever eat!!
Batata Vada
Equipment
- Big bowl
- medium size bowl
- Saute pan / Frying pan
- Kadhai / Deep pan for frying
- Strainer / Zara
- Grinder / Mortar and pestle
- Measuring spoons
- measuring cups
Ingredients
For Vada Stuffing
- 5 Potatoes medium size
- 10-12 Garlic Cloves
- 1 inch Ginger
- 7-8 Green Chilis This is for medium spicy
- 20-25 Curry Leaves This gives the Vada a beautiful flavor
- 3 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida / Hing
- ¼ cup Coriander Finely chopped
- Salt To taste
Batter for coating
- 1.5 cup Besan / Graham Flour
- 4 tablespoon Cooked Toor / Arhar Dal Cook it in pressure cooker like for regular dal. (for texture)
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- 2 tablespoon Hot oil For crisp texture
- Salt To taste
- ½ cup Water Approximately ½ cup. But adjust it as per requirement
Instructions
- Ingredients
- Grind the Green chilis, garlic and ginger into a coarse paste.
- Boil or steam potatoes until soft. Peel and mash them coarsely. (do not grate)
- For tempering take a pan, heat the oil and add mustard seeds. Once they crackle add curry leaves followed by Asafoetida and ginger garlic chili paste. Fry it till the raw smell goes away. Cook it on low flame so that it doesnt burn. Then add turmeric and salt.
- To this mix add the boiled mashed potatoes and mix them till well combined.
- Switch off the flame and add chopped coriander and lemon juice.
- Divide the potatoes mix into equal portions approximately the size of lemon and roll it into balls.
- In a deep pan / Kadhai heat oil for deep frying. (Ideal temperature for frying is 350 - 375 F / 176 - 190 C. Too low and you'll get greasy food, too high and it'll burn)
- In a medium size bowl make a thick batter with Besan / Chickpea / Graham flour, turmeric, chili powder, cooked dal and salt. Mix it well, break lumps if any. Add 2 tablespoon of hot oil to the batter from the kadhai and mix well. (Toor dal and hot oil gives the Vada a nice texture)
- When the oil is hot, dip the potato balls in the batter and fry them until golden brown in color on a medium high flame.
- Serve them hot with Dry garlic chutney.
Notes
- Fry them at even temperature on a medium high heat as this would make Vada's crisp and not oily.
- Do not grate the potatoes, always use a potato masher or use your hands.
- If you don't like to eat curry leaves you can take it out before making the balls.
- For extra spicy either add more chilis to the mixture or if you want spice to be optional, in the end after frying Vada's, Take few green chilis, cut them from center and fry them. Transfer them on to a paper towel and sprinkle some salt on it. You can serve this with Vada for extra spice.
- Adding mashed Toor dal works like magic. Makes the Vada light and crispy.
- Never add Baking soda as it fluffs up the outer coating. A batata Vada should have light / thin coating.
- Don't over crowd the frying pan with too many Vada's, as it will drop the cooking temperature and result in oily Vada's.
- Always drain the Vada's on paper towel when you get them out of oil. If you do not drain your fried foods on paper towels immediately the excess oils will not only cling to your food but will also be absorbed by the food.
- Adding lemon juice in the end enhances the flavors.
Pradeep Chitre
Very neatly explained.
Mouth watering nicely photographed
prajakta.palkar
Thank you
Surabhi
Looks so yummy! I'm craving for street food now. Will definitely try this
prajakta.palkar
Thank you. Do try them.
Pallavi chitre
Photos are very tempting, nicely explained
prajakta.palkar
Thank you
Sudan Palkar
Lovely
prajakta.palkar
Thank you
Mangal Palkar
Wow My weak point Batatawada.Its Very temting
prajakta.palkar
Thank you
Neelima Palkar
yummy batata Wada , my favourite 😋
prajakta.palkar
Thank you
Manasi Bhor
Very very well presented writer up. I never thought batata wada world be so glamorous
prajakta.palkar
Thank you very much.
Ivan Majhen
Nice explained. It seems so easy to prepare. I will give it a go later as I noticed I have all ingredients at home.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Ivan.
Smita
Nice. Will surely try this recipe.
prajakta.palkar
Thanks
Thehappymommie
Inlove to eat Batata Vada and bada pav ! I will surely try these out
prajakta.palkar
Thank you. Let me know how it turned out.
Ashli Ferguson
YUM this looks really delicious!! Great recipe I need to try
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Ashli, it's a very famous dish from India. Hope you like it.
Rachel Peterson
This dish looks amazing. You had me at garlic and I love anything with ginger as well. I am going to save this to make later.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Rachel, this is one of my favorite dishes that I grew up eating. Do let me know if you like it.
Mary
They look so yummy and I think trying to make these won't be a bad idea. Thanks for sharing the recipe
prajakta.palkar
Thanks Mary, do try it.
Renee
These look delicious! I think my kids would love something like this for dinner!
prajakta.palkar
Thank you. I hope your kids like it.
Kimberley
Great recipe, this sounds like a delicious accompaniment to any meal!
prajakta.palkar
Thank you
prajakta.palkar
Thank you.
Denisa
It looks delicious! And I like the presentation too.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you very much Denisa.
Renata
This looks fantastic and I can actually taste the flavors on my tongue just reading the recipe. Will try this next weekend.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you very much. Please let me know if you like it.
Franze Garcia
This is definitely a must-try. I’m so curios about its texture and the feeling once bitten.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Franze. It's an absolutely delicious dish that everyone in my family loves.Do try it.
Amy
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I just pinned it and can’t wait to try to make it in the near future. I love trying new foods from different cultures and areas in the world.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Amy. Do share with me how it turned out.
Live2byouJFM
That's sounds delicious! I will definitely try it!
prajakta.palkar
Thanks, do let me know how they turn out
siennylovesdrawing
ohhh my…am now hungry craving for some 😀 A detailed recipe shared, thanks!
cheers
siennylovesdrawing
prajakta.palkar
Thank you
Polly
I had Batata Vada before the lockdown and I've been craving since then. But the one I had - it has lots of cheese, and very flavorful. I can't wait to try this at home! Thanks for sharing with us this recipe.
Akriti
These vadas look so yummy! I would love to try the recipe.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Akriti, do try and let me know how they turned out.
Lauren
I’ve never tried anything like these but they look so good!
prajakta.palkar
Do try them, they are very delicious
Christiana Acha
Thank you so much for sharing this with me recipie. It looks so yummy and easy to make. I will definitely be trying it out sometime.
prajakta.palkar
Thank you Christiana. It is easy to make do try and let me know how it turned out.
Michael
It looks like kwek-kwek in our country! Lol. But this one is presented better in a lot of aspects. Looks delish!
Aimee AMALA
I loved eating these when travelling around India. Very spicy though! Haha
Vidya
So very beautifully presented and so very tempting! This is making me realize it has been too long since I made batata vada so will have to soon; and the rainy weather here is perfect for it
Prajakta
thank you. Yes, of course, rainy weather and batata vada is the best combination.
Fransic verso
We have tried a similar recipe and this would be an interesting new idea to try it. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Ramil Hinolan
Wow, another way of scooking boiled potatoes. Its so yummy.
Prajakta
thank you.