Neena Gupta's Special Breakfast For Masaba Makes Us Hungry

It's generally agreed that homemade food is superior: it's delicious, healthy (comparatively!), free of preservatives, and guilt-free. Who would object to a homemade meal, particularly if it's vada pav? Certainly not celebrity designer and actor Masaba Gupta, who recently shared a glimpse of her drool-worthy, home-cooked breakfast of the Mumbai staple on Instagram.

Masaba, who recently tied the knot with actor Satyadeep Misra on January 27 of this year, is a big foodie and is often seen sharing snippets from her foodie adventures on Instagram. In her latest update, Masaba was seen enjoying a plateful of mouth-watering vada pav, prepared at home by none other than her mother and ace actor Neena Gupta. Now that is one iconic breakfast, we would love to be a part of, don’t you think?

For the unfamiliar, vada pav is a potato fritter stuffed between two buns and served with chutney and fried green chillies. While Masaba seems to have thoroughly enjoyed her breakfast, we are pretty sure you would be craving it too. 

The street-style snack, which originated in 1966 in Central Mumbai, in the erstwhile mill areas of Dadar, can also be made at home easily. With a spiced potato patty and a soft bread bun, this snack is perfect for sorting out your hunger pangs. Here’s a full recipe for you to try.

How to make Vada Pav at home:

Ingredients 

• 1 pack of soft pav buns

For The Aloo Masala:

• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1/4 teaspoon hing 
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 
• 2 teaspoons of saunf 
• 1 onion  
• 2 teaspoons green chilli and garlic paste
• 2 boiled potatoes
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder and salt
• 2 teaspoons each of red chilli powder, coriander leaves, and lemon juice

For Garlic Masala Paste:

• 9 garlic cloves
• 5 whole red chilies
• 2 teaspoons of white sesame seeds
• 1 cup dessicated coconut
• 2 teaspoons peanuts, roasted  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, tamarind, and red chilli powder

For Vada Batter:

• 1 cup of besan
• 1/4 cup soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon red chilli powder
• 4 green chillies

Method:

Preparation Of The Aloo Vada:

• In a pan, heat the oil and add the hing, mustard seeds, and saunf to roast together.
• Fry chopped onions and green chilli-garlic paste, and sauté well.
• Now add boiled potatoes, turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder, and coriander leaves.
• Make a thick mash by sautéing the ingredients while mixing them well over medium heat.
• Take it off the heat when done, add lemon juice, and give it a final mix before setting it aside to cool.
• In a large bowl, add besan flour, soda, salt, red chilli powder, and water. Combine them all together to form a thick batter.
• Take a portion of the aloo masala and shape them into circular balls with the help of your palms.
• Prepare a pan with oil for deep-frying. Dip the aloo masala balls in the besan batter and deep-fry them in the pan.
• Cook until golden brown, then set aside to cool and drain excess oil.
• Fry some green chillies separately to use later as well.

To Make The Garlic Masala Paste:

• Heat oil in a pan and add garlic along with whole red chillies, white sesame seeds, and desiccated coconut.
• Add roasted peanuts, salt, tamarind, and red chilli powder. Combine them all well. 
• Grind all the ingredients to a paste in a mixer grinder. Transfer the chutney to a bowl.

Assemble The Vada Pav:

• Take the pav buns and slit them in half. Smear a dollop of green chutney and garlic masala paste.