Vada Pav Recipe – Street Style | Mumbai Vada Pav|Air-Fried Vada Pav |Cauliflower Vada

Vada Pav is Mumbai's or so Maharashtras most popular street food! Spicy potato filling is sandwiched between burger buns and layered with a spicy garlic dry and green chutney!

So what is a Vada Pav? 

Vada = deep fried patties + pav = burger buns. 

So it's basically a patty sandwiched. 

What makes it special is the chutneys and the fried Chillies. 

My memory of vada pav goes back to my time spent in Pune where literally once in  every week we use to buy and feast on the vada pav from  the street shop called Garden vada Pav and those small crispies, my mouth waters till date when I think about it  so I wil stop the intricate description. 

Anyway coming back to the non-traditional Vada Pav that has the same  4 ingredients namely the- 

1. vada 2. Chutneys( green and garlic) 3. Fried Chili and 4. Buns or the Pav 

So my twist or take on the vada is basically substituting the traditional potato vada with cauliflower vada. Trust me it tastes as good as the potato vada and  what's more the vada is not fried but made in the airfryer. 

So let's see how its done - 

Ingredients 

For The Vada 

400-450 g of cauliflower florets

1 tbsp green chillies, chopped( can increase based on the spice level) 

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste 

1 tsp mustard seeds 

1 tsp cumin seeds

9-12 curry leaves 

1/4 to 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 to 3 Tbsp coriander leaves and stems/ cilantro, finely chopped

1 tbsp oil 

Salt to Taste 

For The Outer Covering 

1/2 cup besan ( gram flour)

Pinch of turmeric powder (haldi) 

1/2 tsp of carom seeds 

1/2 tsp oil 

 salt to taste 

Water (to make a thick batter) 

Other Ingredients

 Olive oil 

Green chutney *

Fried chilli ( with salt) 

Dry Red chutney *

Pav/Dinner rolls /Low-Carb buns

*Roecipe at the end 

For the Air-Fryer Buns - Homemade Airfryer Buns. The recipe in detail explains how to make it in oven, OTG, microwave and Air-Fryer 

Method 

1. Steam or boil the cauliflower florets for 20 minutes on high. Drain and set aside. 

Mash the cauliflower using a potato masher* or blend in a mixer(note 1)Just a word of caution it can get completely out of form if blended for longer periods  hence blend at 5 second intervals and check. 

2. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, chili and sauté for a few seconds. Add the ginger garlic paste  and sauté again for a few seconds. 

3. Add the turmeric powder and salt and mix. 

4. Add the mashed cauliflower  and  coriander and mix well. 

( I had around 1&1/4 cup of mashed cauliflower) 

After couple of minutes on the heat remove the mixture and keep aside. 

5. Divide into 6 large portions or 7 medium portions. Shape into rounds. 

Refrigerate for 30 min to 1 hour. 

 

For the outer covering 

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and make a thick batter by adding water slowly. 

2. Dip each cauliflower ball into the batter and using a spoon allow it to coat the mixture well. 

3a. If using airfryer for the frying then do keep the coated vada into the refrigerator for another 30-45 min so that it doesn't drip into the basket. Brush with a little oil and air- fry it at 180 C for 8-10 minutes. Brush it with oil, flip the vada and put it  in for another 4-5 minute. 

TIP- PLACE A AIR-FRYER SILICON MAT

3b. If frying  then deep fry in hot oil, till golden brown (gently turn the vadas around for frying as unlike the potato vadas these are slightly softer) 

                               

 

Assembling vada pav 

1. To make vada pav, slice each pav into half and spread some green chutney and dry red chutney inside.

 2. Place one vada in each pav and serve with dry red chutney and fried Chilli

Note-

1. Incase it is not mashed completely after the steaming or boiling then one can try to mash it again using a potato masher after it's cooked. 

                               Or 

One can even add the cooked cauliflower mixture into the blender for a finer mash. Just a word of caution it can get completely out of form if blended for longer period  hence blend at 5 second intervals and check. 

               Recipes for the chutneys 

Green chutney 

1 cup chopped coriander leaves

1 to 2 garlic cloves – medium-sized

2 to 3 drops lemon juice

2 to 3 green chillies – chopped

salt as required

Method

Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend till it forms a thick green chutney. Remove the chutney and put it into a glass bottle. 

Dry Garlic Chutney 

1 tbsp oil

¼ cup garlic 

3 tbsp roasted peanut

1 tbsp sesame seeds(white til)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

¼ cup dry coconut

1 tbsp kashmiri red chilli powder

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp aamchur / dry mango powder

salt

Method 

1.Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add ¼ cup garlic and saute on low flame until it turns golden brown. 

2.Now add 1 tbsp sesame, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander seeds and saute on low flame until the spices turn aromatic.

3. Add ¼ cup dry coconut and saute well.

4. Let the mixture cool completely and transfer to the blender along with roasted peanuts  1 tbsp chilli powder, ¼ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp aamchur and salt.

5. Now blend  to coarse powder and store in an airtight container in the fridge.