How can Vada Pav be low cal, my elder one asked me ?
Although we are not really fans of this snack, most Mumbaikars I
know swear by this. This and the Mumbai Sandwich & Pav Bhajiwould count for a meal by itself.
When Valli’s BM #46 gave us this as one of the combo meals, I was looking for
ways to make this no-fry snack. Although I did use a little oil, we were
relieved that the deep fry wasn’t really required to make it tasty. Did we like
it ? Yes, and shall be making this version of the snack very often.
As you would have guessed by now, I used my abelskiver pan (paniyaram
pan) to shallow fry the bonda (or batata vada)- it was a tad drier and less
juicier than its deep fried cousin, but we didn’t mind. We had it with store
bought pav / dinner rolls (although thats another thing I want to try at home,
with my newly found frenzy in baking with bread flour).
As I was serving it to kids, I didn’t use the fiery garlic chutney
to spice it up. But you might want to.
So go ahead, give it a shot, and let me know how you liked
them.
Prep time : 15 mins | Cook time : 10 mins | Serves : 2
For the Batata vada : (Makes about 2 medium-large vadas)
- Potato – 1 large
- Onion – 1 medium, chopped fine
- Salt – to taste
- Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
- Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tsp
- Chillies – 1 medium (I used just 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder)
- Oil – about 5-6 TBSP to fry
Batata vada covering:
- Besan / gramflour – 3 TBSP
- Rice flour – 1 TBSP
- Salt – to taste
- Hing / asafoetida – a pinch
- Turmeric – a pinch
- Ajwain / Carrom seeds – a teeny weeny pinch
Method:
Boil Potatoes till mushy, peel and grate them. To this add all
other ingredients except oil under “batat vada” list and make equal
sized roundels and keep aside.
To make the covering : sieve both the flours, add rest of the
ingredients, a TBSP of hot oil and water (little by little) to make a flowing
batter, which is neither thick or too thin.
Grease an ebelskiver pan with 3-4 tbsp oil, dip the batata vadas
in the batter and place them gently on the dimples of the pan, fry on low heat,
turning them occassionally (dont cover as the moisture will make them soggy).
Drain any excess oil on absorbent paper.
To serve:
Slice the dinner rolls / Pav horizontally. Place the batata vada
and serve immediately. If serving for adults, add the spicy garlic chutney / powder
and then sandwich the batata vada and serve with fried whole green chillies.
Cooking vada in an abelskiver pan is a nice idea. As long as it tastes good, I would not mind using it. I would not mind some extra garlic chutney with it.
does it really work , will give it a try, an all time favorite snack at our home
Now this is one of the most tempting treats of Mumbai…it's dinner time and I wish I could grab this one right from the screen.wow.
This combo looks very delicious.. Even one our favorite..
Low carb idea is very nice.. can munch guilt free
I am all for the low cal version!! Though I can't say that about my husband 🙂
wow this is one of my fav street food from mumbai 🙂 It is actually making drool over.. such an tempting vada pav and love the low cal guilt free vada in them !!
I can die for a plate of vada pav, this low cal vada pav rocks, i can grab and have rite now..Very droolworthy.
I can enjoy this if it is a low cal. or with full cal.mouthwatering…
Vada pav is such a tempting and addictive dish.
I love this chat and can have it anytime..low cal sounds good though I would want to go the whole way anytime..lol..
One of my favorite chat..Love the idea of making the vada in paniyaram pan ( can enjoy guilt free 🙂 )
Very tempting snack. It is one of my favorite too.
Low cal sounds so good. Clicks looks very inviting