Batata Vada

Batata vada, a Maharashtrian recipe, is a fried potato stuffed fritter.  It is the one street food that I absolutely love. With the lockdown in the country, we are stuck at home.  I miss travelling and missing the holiday I would have been on this time of the year and missing my partner in crime. This one is for you, Doc. Thank you for introducing me to these beauties.

Author: Dassana Amit

Collect it:

for pressure cooking potatoes

·           250 grams potatoes or 4 medium potatoes

·           2 cups water

for ginger-garlic-green chillie  paste

·           1 to 2 green chilies

·           1 tsp chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger

·           1.5 tsp chopped garlic or 4 medium garlic cloves

·           1 to 2 tbsps water for grinding

for potato filling

·           2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)

·           salt as required

·           ¼ tsp lemon juice

·           ¼ to ½ tsp sugar - optional

for tempering potato filling

·           1 tbsp oil

·           ½ tsp mustard seeds

·           ½ tsp cumin seeds

·           ¼ tsp turmeric powder

·           1 pinch asafoetida (hing)

·           6 to 7 curry leaves - chopped

for batata vada batter

·           1 cup besan (gram flour)

·           ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp water or add as required

·           ¼ tsp turmeric powder

·           ¼ tsp red chilli powder

·           ½ tsp salt or add as required

·           1 pinch baking soda

·           oil for deep frying, as required

for frying green chilies

·           2 to 3 green chillies

·           1 to 2 pinches salt

Make it:

Cook the potatoes

Rinse and then add 250 grams potatoes or 4 medium potatoes in a 2 liter pressure cooker. Also add 2 cups water.

Pressure cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium flame or for 5 to 6 whistles.

When the cooker depressurizes, remove the lid. The potatoes have to be cooked well. Remove the potatoes and let them become warm.

When the potatoes become warm, peel and mash potatoes with a fork or potato masher. Don’t mash too much.

Add 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves and salt as required to the mashed potatoes.

Make the green chillie+garlic+ginger paste

In a small grinder take 1 to 2 green chillies (chopped), 1 tsp chopped ginger and 1.5 tsp chopped garlic. Adding more green chillies will give a spicy taste.

Add 1 to 2 tbsps water and grind to a smooth paste. 

You can also use a mortar-pestle to crush ginger, garlic and green chillies. No need to add water if crushing in mortar-pestle. Keep aside.

Tempering for the potato filling

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a small pan. Keep the flame to a low. Add ½ tsp mustard seeds and let them crackle and pop.

When the mustard seeds crackle, add ½ tsp cumin seeds.

Fry for a few seconds till the cumin seeds change color and also crackle.

Add ¼ tsp turmeric powder and 1 pinch asafoetida. Give it a quick stir.

Now add the ginger+garlic+green chillie paste. The paste will splutter, so be careful. Mix and stir.

Then add 6 to 7 curry leaves (chopped).

Sauté the paste for some seconds on a low flame till the raw aroma of both ginger and garlic goes away.

Now add the entire sautéed mixture to the mashed potatoes. Mix well.

Make the potato filling for batata vada

Add ¼ tsp lemon juice and ¼ to ½ tsp sugar (Adding sugar is optional and can be skipped).

Mix very well. Check the taste and add more salt if required.

Then make medium sized balls from the potato mixture. Slightly flatten the potato balls as it helps to fry the vadas easily. Keep aside.

Batter for the batata vada

In another bowl, take 1 cup besan (gram flour), ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp red chillie powder, 1 pinch baking soda and ½ tsp salt or add as per taste.

Add ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp water in parts and whisk.

Adding water in parts whisk to a smooth batter. Make a medium thick batter. Keep aside. 

Fry the batata vada

Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or wok. Keep the flame to medium.

When the oil becomes hot, add ¼ to ½ tsp hot oil in the batter. Mix well.

Check a small portion of batter in the oil and it should come up gradually and steadily on top. Now the oil is ready for frying batata vada. Keep the flame to medium-low or medium.

Take a potato vada and dip it in the besan batter.

Gently coat it with the batter evenly all over. 

Then gently place the vadas in hot oil.

Do not over crowd the kadai. Add vadas depending on the size of the kadai. Fry on medium flame. 

When one side becomes opaque, lightly crisp and light golden, turn each batata vada with a slotted spoon. Continue to fry the second side.

When the second side is light golden, turn the vada again. Turn the vadas a couple of times till they are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon. Place them on kitchen paper towels. Fry the remaining batches of batata vada.

Fry the green chilies

In the same oil, fry 2 to 3 green chilies. Do slit each green chili before frying.

Fry till the green chillies become lightly crisp. 

Remove on kitchen paper towels.

Once the green chillies become warm, sprinkle some salt on them. Mix salt with the green chilies.

Serve the batata vada

Serve batata vada hot or warm with the fried salted green chilies, sweet tamarind chutney, coconut chutney and coriander chutney. You can also serve them with pav.