Recipe: Vada Pav, a Favourite Street Food

Masalamommas is so honoured to share a series of three recipes from the newly released ‘Afternoon Tea’, by the team at Devnaa! Roopa and Jay, a brother sister team are renowned for their amazing desserts over at Devnaa, and their latest book explores the an Indian-inspired afternoon tea.

For the Filling

500 g potatoes

2 tbsp oil

2 ½ tsp grated ginger

2 green chillies, finely chopped

2 tsp salt

1 tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric

Juice of half a lemon

1 tbsp sugar

Small handful of fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

1. To make the filling, start by peeling and finely dicing the potatoes.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat and when it becomes hot, add the ginger and green chillies and sauté for a few moments until they become really fragrant.
3. Carefully tip the potatoes into the pan and give them a good stir to coat them in the oil and spices before sprinkling in the salt, chilli flakes, chilli powder, and turmeric.
4. Mix well, cover and allow the potatoes to cook until almost tender be sure to stir them occasionally so that they don’t stick to the pan or burn.
5. When the potatoes are almost cooked through, mix in the lemon juice and sugar then cover and leave to cook until completely tender.
6. As soon as the potatoes are soft enough to mash, turn off the heat and sprinkle in the coriander leaves. Cover the pan again and leave aside to cool.
7. To prepare the batter for the dumplings begin by sifting the gram flour, salt, and paprika into a mixing bowl.
8. Add a little of the water and whisk the flour into a smooth paste.
9. When the paste is completely smooth, whisk in the yoghurt and just enough water to make a thick, pancake-like batter.
10. Returning to your cooled potato mixture, mash the potatoes into smooth dough and then form the centre of the dumplings by taking one or two tbsp of the dough at a time (depending on what size you would like your dumplings to be) and rolling into smooth balls.
11. Heat up your oil for deep frying in a karahi or wok and test to see if it is hot enough for frying by dropping on a little batter. If the batter immediately rises back up, the oil is ready.
12. Carefully dip a potato ball into the batter and making sure it is evenly coated, transfer to the hot oil (you can use a spoon to assist, and only fry as many dumplings as you feel comfortable with at any one time).
13. Fry until the batter turns a deep golden shade and is firm on the outside.
14. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried dumplings to a dish lined with kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil, and then repeat the process until all the dumplings are fried.
15. Taking your bread rolls, you can choose to either toast them or leave them as they are, spread one half with your coriander and mint chutney, the other half with your date and tamarind chutney, and squash a dumpling or two between the halves.
16. Enjoy hot or cold with a refreshing glass of Indian lemonade or ‘sherbet’.
    Note:
    If you have extra dumplings after filling the rolls, stick toothpicks in them and serve alongside your afternoon tea spread and some extra chutney for dipping, they will surely vanish in no time.

• This recipe and more are available in the new cookbook from Devnaa, called: Devnaa’s Afternoon Tea.  You can download it here: devnaas-afternoon-tea-digital-download

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