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Indian

Vada pav

Vegetarian

वडा पाव · vada pav

A spiced potato fritter fried in gram-flour batter, tucked into a soft bread roll with fiery garlic chutney. Mumbai's most loved street snack.

Vada pav is an Indian street food, ready in about 1 hour 5 minutes and made with potato, chickpea flour and white bread. It serves 8 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Top view of traditional Indian vada pav served with chutneys and spices in a metal platter.
Photo: Aditya Mara / Pexels · Pexels License
Prep
30 min
Cook
35 min
Total
1 h 5 min
Serves
8
Level
Intermediate
Calories
323

Ingredients

8 vada pavs

For the vada

For the batter

For frying

For the dry garlic chutney

To assemble

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    For the chutney, toast the coconut and garlic (opens in a new tab) in a dry pan until golden, then pound with the chilli powder and salt to a coarse, dry powder.

    Spices being ground in a mortar and pestle
    How it looks · Photo: https://kaboompics.com/ on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Heat 1 tbsp oil, pop the mustard seeds (opens in a new tab), add the curry leaves (opens in a new tab), the garlic (opens in a new tab)-ginger-chilli paste, asafoetida (opens in a new tab) and turmeric (opens in a new tab). Add the mashed potato (opens in a new tab), salt, coriander and lemon juice (opens in a new tab), mix well and cool. Shape into 8 balls.

    • 12 min
    • medium heat

  3. Step 3

    Whisk the gram flour (opens in a new tab), turmeric (opens in a new tab), chilli, baking soda (opens in a new tab), salt and water into a thick, smooth batter that coats a spoon.

    • 3 min
    Eggs being whisked in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Heat the frying oil to 180 °C. Dip each potato (opens in a new tab) ball in batter and fry 3–4 at a time until crisp and golden. Drain. Fry the green chillies briefly if using.

    Food safety: Lower the vadas in gently with a spoon and never leave hot oil unattended.

  5. Step 5

    Sprinkle garlic (opens in a new tab) chutney generously inside each pav (add green chutney if you like), tuck in a hot vada, press lightly and serve with a crisp salted chilli on the side.

    • 4 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Mumbai, Maharashtra, Maharashtra, India · Well documentedMore food from India
Dish
Snack · Breakfast · Street food · Sandwiches
Cooking method
Deep-fried, Boiled
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), garlicky, savoury, tangy
Diet
Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food · Budget-friendly · Portable / lunchbox
Cook more with
Potato · Chickpea flour · White bread · Mustard seeds · Curry leaves · Garlic
Techniques
Toasting · Deep-frying · Boiling

Allergens

  • May contain: Milkfrom white bread
  • May contain: Eggsfrom white bread
  • Contains: Wheatfrom asafoetida, white bread
  • Contains: Glutenfrom asafoetida, white bread
  • May contain: Soyfrom white bread
  • May contain: Sesamefrom white bread
  • Contains: Mustardfrom mustard seeds

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

323 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 156 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 10%
  • Carbohydrate 51%
  • Fat 39%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy323 kcal207 kcal
Protein8.5 g5.4 g
Carbohydrate41.7 g26.7 g
Net carbohydrate36.9 g23.6 g
Sugars4.7 g3 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre4.7 g3 g
Fat14.1 g9 g
Saturated fat3.2 g2.1 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
Sodium658 mg421 mg
Salt equivalent1.6 g1.1 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
496 mg
Calcium
86 mg
Iron
3 mg
Magnesium
53 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
9 µg
Vitamin C
21 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
135 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: green chilli.
  • Not counted (tiny amounts or “to taste”): curry leaves, asafoetida.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Let the potato filling cool before shaping, so the balls hold together in the batter.

Common mistakes

  • A thin batter slides off the vada; it should coat the back of a spoon thickly.

Serve with

  • Serve with green coriander chutney, tamarind chutney and cutting chai.

Storage

  • Best eaten immediately. Garlic chutney keeps 2 weeks in a jar.

Variations

  • Batata vada: Serve the fritters alone with chutney, without the bread.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

Structure

For the batter

Used in steps 1, 2, 3

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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