Vada-Pav- The good old Indian Burger!

I cant say enough about this extremely popular snack in India especially in the state of Maharashtra. Vada paav, Pav Wada, Batata Vada are just different names for the same dish, where the Vada means a Potato Patty in the shape of a ball and Pav means dinner bun or burger bun. 

The minute I land at Mumbai airport, and smell the familiar air, I start craving for a vada pav. And as you would have it, on the drive home if you stop at a diner or a gas station with a fast food joint alongside, you can order a vada pav with some cutting chai (which is basically chai tea served in a small glass) and you are Home!! 

Every morning, thousands of commuters in Mumbai, get off the trains and have a vada pav for breakfast. And yes they do this every-single-day. It is cheap, filling, quick and so tasty, that it has just become the staple breakfast item for all fast paced Mumbaikars.

The reason why people have started calling it an Indian burger, is because of the way its served.  The potato ball  or patty, is squeezed between two dinner buns or burger buns. A lot of variations have occurred over the years, to make it more healthy, more hygienic etc. but to tell you the truth, I don't care about hygiene when it comes to this dish. If you want to taste the real flavors of a vada pav, you have to have it on a road side cart in Mumbai. 

Back in school, when I was old enough to go home on my own, I used to stop at this small little shop, run by an old lady. Her vada pav was to die for plus she was so clean and loving, that Mom didn't mind if I dined on her vada pavs. :) The only problem was you had to be there within two hours of her opening the shop, yes that's how fast she would run out of them. And the dry red chutney, which we would have to pay for if we wanted extra, was out of this world. (I am salivating even as I write this.) Even our cousins and extended family who had tasted her burgers, would without fail give her a visit when they were in town. We would pack these bad boys if we were leaving on a road trip to snack on  or just pack some for dinner on rainy days or during cricket season. 

In the last 8 years, a new franchisee opened up across Maharashtra where they sell the traditional vada pav and many other variations of it. The burger is bigger, a little bit more expensive but made in clean environment where they probably change the oil every day :) 

Like I said before, I have so much to share about these India Burgers, that a blog post is not enough. But before I let you go and make these in your kitchen, my blog post wont be complete with out telling you about the infamously famous Karjat Diwakar Wada Pav. Karjat is a junction on the train route from Mumbai to Pune. The train journey is beautiful and enjoyable during monsoons when you can see the beautiful water falls and greenery of the beautiful Sahyadri mountain ranges. And highlight of the journey is the Diwakar vada pav, that you can purchase from men who carry the shop with them, move from window to window selling hot and delicious burgers to the thousands of commuters, along with some hot green chilies and red dry chutney. 

If you have never traveled by train in India, you should do this journey, as you will never experience such hospitality right to your door step in any other country. 

On that note,I am going to leave you with this simple and may I say fast version of the traditional vada pav. Hope you enjoy it and don't forget to try these on your next visit to India. 

Recipe posted in the next post. 

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All the images have been replicated from the the web