Vada Pav - Spicy Indian Burger

When it comes to delicious Indian street food, not much can beat the famous tasty delights that make Mumbai famous! Along with famed treats like Pav Bhaji and Pani Puri, Vada Pav is one of the most loved.

With a delicious spicy potato patty (vada) and toasted buns (pav/pao) filled with spices and tangy chutney, this one's for all foodies! 

Here it is, my version of Vada Pav:

Ingredients: Soft buns (I prefer wholemeal wheat buns). 

For the patty - 4 medium Potatoes, 1 tsp mustard seeds, handful curry leaves, 1 tsp turmeric powder, salt, 1/2 cup besan (chickpea) flour for the batter, oil either for deep frying or pan frying.

For the garlic chutney - 3 or 4 garlic cloves of 2 tbsp garlic paste, 1/4 cup descicated coconut,  1 tbsp red chilli powder, salt.

For the green chutney - handful coriander, mint leaves, few green chillies, tamarind paste.

Make: 

1. Boil and mash the potatoes. In a pan, saute the mustard seeds, turmeric powder and curry leaves. Add in mashed potato, salt and mix well. Let it cool.

2. Make the batter for the vada by mixing the besan flour, turmeric powder and salt with water just enough to form a thick batter. 

3. Get the cooled potato mixture and form patties with hands, dip them into the batter to coat completely. Cook either by deep frying or pan frying - either way delivers great results. 

4. To make the garlic chutney, in a pan lightly fry the garlic together with coconut and chilli powder until well mixed.

5. To make the green chutney, put in coriander, mint, chillies and tamraind paste in a blender and grind into a chuntey. 

6. Assemble! Slit the bun half way in the middle (not completely in half). Lightly toast each side with bit of butter. Spread the green chutney on both insides, followed by a generous sprinkle of garlic chutney. Place a warm Vada, top with more green chutney and close. Serve!

Pav Bhaji - Indian Street Food Style

A very popular Indian street food and sure to please even the fussiest of eaters with its beautiful blend of spice, vegetables and bread. Pav Bhaji is so quick and easy to prepare and can be enjoyed as a snack or main meal. With a squeeze of fresh lemon, its sure to make mouths water!

Ingredients: 

Bread rolls of your choice, peas, carrots and potatoes cut into small cubes, tomato paste, chopped onions, chilli, cumin seeds, salt, pav bhaji masala, few tablespoons oil, fresh lemon and butter.

Make: 
1. Pressure cook all of the chopped vegetables or cook in a pan until soft and mashable.

2. In a pan heat oil and add cumin seeds, chilli, onion and lightly fry. Add all of the cooked vegetables and cook for 10 minutes, adding as much tomato paste as needed to make a nice gravy. Also add during this process, the pav bhaji masala, salt and some butter. 'Bhaji' is ready!

3. Spread butter generously on bread rolls and roast on a pan until mildly crisp. 'Pav' is ready! 

BEETROOT PAV BHAJI option! To make this delicious treat healthier, just add some grated Beetroot into the mix of veggies. All else the exact same method.

Serve with chopped red onion and enjoy hot with a dash of lemon :)

Khara Buns/Spicy Buns

When baking your own fresh breads/buns is so easy, it's a load of fun to experiment with different tastes and get creative! I tried creating my version of the very famous "Khara Bun" which every good bakery has people lining up for it in downtown Bangalore! The result - the whole lot of buns I baked were gone very quickly :)

Here it is, my version of KHARA BUN / SPICY BUN:

Ingredients: For the bread dough, 2 cups self-raising flour sifted, 3/4 cup of natural yogurt, 2 tablespoons melted butter, pinch of salt, water and olive oil as required. For the masala, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 tomato chopped (only if desired, I usually omit tomato), 1 onion chopped finely, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon ajwain, 2/3 green chilli chopped finely, chilli flakes as required, handful of coriander and curry leaves finely chopped, salt to taste, sesame seeds.

Make: Mix the flour, butter, ajwain, yogurt with water and olive oil to form a firm bread dough. Kneed well and wrap in glad wrap. Leave it covered for at least two hours. 

Meanwhile to make the masala. In a nonstick pan, saute chill in some oil. Add in the cumin , onion, curry leaves, tomato if using and garam masala, mix well with salt. Let it cool.

When ready to mix the masala with the dough, kneed the dough well again and add in cooled masala plus chilli flakes and chopped coriander.

Portion into small palm sized balls then shape nicely. Brush each bun with melted butter then sprinkle sesame seeds. Bake in a pre-heated fan forced oven at 170 deg for about 30 minutes. They are ready when they look golden brown and well rounded. Enjoy the soft, spicy, hot Khara Buns with a hot cuppa!

 

Masala Buns

Who loves the scent of freshly baking bread? Count me in...add to that the scents of spicy masala and you most certainly have a winner in the oven :) That nostalgic feeling of biting into hot baked masala buns is actually so easy to create as I now know.

Quick, easy and so so delicious! Here it is, my version of MASALA BUNS.

 Ingredients: For the bread dough, 2 cups self-raising flour sifted, 3/4 cup of natural yogurt, 2 tablespoons melted butter, pinch of salt, water and olive oil as required. For the masala filling, 2 potatoes boiled and mashed, handful of peas, 1 onion chopped finely, 1 teaspoon cumin and mustard seeds, chilli flakes as required, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt to taste, sesame seeds.

Make: Mix the flour, butter, yogurt with water and olive oil to form a firm bread dough. Kneed well and wrap in glad wrap. Leave it covered for at least two hours. Meanwhile, make the potato masala. In a nonstick pan, saute chill flakes in some oil, adding cumin and mustard seeds, turmeric powder and chopped onion. Add in the mashed potato, peas, lemon juice and mix well with salt. Let it cool.

When ready to fill the dough, kneed the dough well again and portion into small palm sized balls. Scoop in 1 tablespoon of the potato masala and fold dough over to close completely. Brush each bun with melted butter then sprinkle sesame seeds. Bake in a pre-heated fan forced oven at 160 deg for about 25 minutes. They are ready when they look golden brown and well rounded. Enjoy the soft, spicy, hot Masala Buns!