Tough to neglect, street food of Mumbai, one of the most desirous evening
snack I have always died for. Potato balls may sound something dull and simple
vegetarian snack to you, but the one which is sold on the busy and lively streets
of Mumbai is the scrumptious version of potato balls you might have never
tasted. Being a mumbaikar, we just love this snack and I can eat as many of
them at a time. I have never seen such a weakness for fast food when compared
to wraps, burgers, hot dogs or subway sandwiches.
Every busy vendor of this particular ready-to-eat snack has its different
forte, some have a specialty in serving a rich quality of delicious sauce while
others just focus on the piquancy of potato balls. Well, I like this snack just
because of the spicy dry chutney or sauce, it is amazingly prepared in
Maharashtrain families by roasting peanuts and sesame seeds to form a paste
together with garlic, tamarind and a few spices like red chili powder and
coriander powder. The craze and craving of potato balls have built up in every corner of India and notably in Mumbai, hence now this yummy street food is offered
everywhere in stalls, cafe and restaurants in India. To meet those taste buds
the vendors have come up with an idea of jumbo wada pav where the size of wada
pav is same as the size of a hamburger. I find jumbo wada pav as the most hygienic
and safe snack compared to the stall wada pav.
Batata wada, wada pav, potato fritters or potato balls is a deep fried
snack assembled by mashing boiled potatoes and spices available in your kitchen
pantry, lastly mingled with spicy and tangy chutney or sauce. It is preferable
served in a bread bun or pav by spreading sauce all over the buns. It's kind of
an Indian version of vegetarian burger loved and welcomed by many and I hope that
this yummy eatable becomes a part of your evening snack too!
The recipe is simple, easy and quick resulting in delicious, mouth watering
and flavorful results.
Potato Balls/ Wada Pav Recipe
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2-3 persons
Ingredients:
3-4 boiled, peeled and mashed potatoes
1 cup cooking oil, for frying
2 cup gram flour or besan
1 stem of curry leaves
1 teaspoon mustard seeds or rai
1/2 teaspoon white urad dal
1 teaspoon turmeric or haldi
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon green chili paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
2 tablespoons cilantro or coriander leaves
A pinch of baking soda
1 cup of water, for batter
Salt to taste
- Firstly, wash 3 potatoes and cut them into half. Boil them until they are evenly cooked, peel the skin off, transfer them into a big bowl and gently mash the boiled potatoes with the help of a potato masher or simply with a fork. Leave it aside.
- In a pan, heat few drops of cooking oil and add half teaspoon of urad dal let it sputter until the dal turns little brown in color. Immediately add mustard seeds and let them pop for a few seconds.
- Now add curry leaves, ginger paste, garlic paste and green chili paste. Let them saute for a min or two until fragrant. Add turmeric powder and keep stirring until the raw smell of the mixture flies away.
- Now add mashed potatoes and mix everything properly. Allow the mixture to cool down.
- Meanwhile, In another deep bowl, add gram flour or besan, 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder or haldi, a pinch of baking soda and salt to taste. Mix everything gently with the help of water. Keep adding water little by little to avoid lumps. The consistency of this batter should be medium, that is, not so thick and not so thin. If the batter turn thin, then do not panic. Simply add 1-2 tablespoon of gram flour or besan and mix well. Adjust the taste if needed.
- Now, make medium size balls out of mashed potatoes mixture, you can even flatten these balls like the shape of cutlets if you're planning to shallow fry them.
- In a frying pan, heat half cup of cooking oil on a medium flame, one by one coat the potato ball into the gram flour batter and release each of them into the frying pan.
- Let the balls deep fry until they turn a little crispy and golden brown in color.
- Remove them on a plate and serve hot with any spicy and tangy sauce. You an even slice the pav or buns and spread the green chutney on the half sliced buns, sprinkle dry garlic chutney and put the hot potato balls or batata wada in between the sliced buns.
- Serve them immediately with fried green chilies if you too are a spice lover.
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