 A plate of vada pav with seasoning of red chilli powder and a green chilli. | |
| Alternative names | Vada pao, wada pav, wada pao, pao vada, pav vada, pao wada, pav wada, batata wada pav |
|---|---|
| Type | Snack |
| Place of origin | India |
| Region or state | Mumbai,Maharashtra |
| Associatedcuisine | Indian |
| Created by | Ashok Vaidya and Sudhakar Mhatre |
| Invented | 1966 |
| Main ingredients | Deep-fried fritter made of mashed potato and spices, bread bun |
Vada pav, alternatively speltwada pao,(listenⓘ) is avegetarianfast food dish native to theIndian state ofMaharashtra.[1] The dish consists of adeep-fried potato dumpling placed inside abread bun (pav) sliced almost in half through the middle. It is generally accompanied by one or morechutneys and a greenchili pepper.[2] Although it originated as an affordablestreet food inMumbai, it is now served in food stalls and restaurants acrossIndia. It is also calledBombay burger[3] in keeping with its origins and its resemblance in physical form to aburger.[4]
The most famous snack inMumbai, vada pav is claimed to be a part of the culture ofMumbaikars.[5][6]
Batata vada inMarathi literally means "potato fritter". It is a combination of the word for "potato" (batata) andvada, a type of fried savoury snack.Pav is a derivative of thePortuguese wordpão, which means bread.
The most common theory of the vada pav's origin is that it was invented in the erstwhile mill-heartland of CentralMumbai. Ashok Vaidya ofDadar is often credited with starting the first vada pav stall outsideDadar railway station in 1966.[7][8][9]: 34 Some sources credit Sudhakar Mhatre, who started his business around the same time.[10] One of the earliest kiosks selling vada pav is said to beKhidki Vada Pav, located inKalyan. It was started in the late 1960s by the Vaze family, who used to hand out vada pavs from a window (Khidki) of their house facing the road.[10]
Thecarbohydrate-rich snack catered to thecotton mill workers of what was then known asGirangaon. Thispotato dumpling (batata vada), placed inside apav was quick to make, cheap (~10-15paisa in 1971[10][11]), and more convenient than thebatata bhaji andchapati combination, which could not be eaten in overcrowded local trains.[8][10]
Theclosing of textile mills in central Mumbai led to turmoil in the 1970s.Shiv Sena, the homegrown party formed during this transformative time, based itself as a party with mill workers' interests.[12]The party chief,Balasaheb Thackeray, encouragedMarathi people in the 1960s to become entrepreneurs, i.e., start food stalls in ways similar to theSouth Indians setting upUdupi restaurants.[7][8][13] Shiv Sena attempted to physically and ideologically claim the streets through agitations as well as neighborhood-level events such asvada pav sammelan ("vada pav jamborees").[9]: 28 [12] This theme has continued even in recent years, as with the 2009 introduction of the "Shiv vada pav".[14]
There are over 20,000 stalls selling vada pav in Mumbai.[15] Mumbai alone has many variations of the food based on the locality.[11] Large fast food restaurant chains such as Kunjvihar, Jumbo King inMulund andGoli Vada Pav also primarily serve vada pav.[11][16] Outside of Mumbai, a variant of vada pav ispav vada, which is famous inNashik.
Annually, August 23 is celebrated as World Vada Paav Day.[17]
A boiled potato is mashed and mixed with chopped green chilli andgarlic,mustard seeds, and spices (usuallyasafoetida andturmeric). The mass is then shaped into a ball, dipped intogram flour batter, and deep-fried. The resultingfritter is placed inside a bread bun and served with one or morechutneys, most commonly a spicylasun-khobara (garlic-coconut) chutney, along with fried green chilli.[6]
