Batata Vada

If Maharashtra could be summed up in one dish, it would probably be the ever-so-popular street snack Batata Vada (Potato Dumplings). A Mumbaikar version of the ubiquitous French Fries, Batata Vadas are crunchy potato patties that are crumb coated in chickpea flour batter and deep fried.

The filling consists of boiled potatoes spruced up with a melange of spices like mustard seeds, hing (asafoetida), onions, chilli and curry leaves. The batter is crispy and airy, made by adding a sprinkling of baking soda to chickpea flour.

That Maharashtrians have a high spice tolerance is evident from even their street snacks, which are made to cater to the masses. Both the batter and the filling have chillies, and Batata Vada is served with one uncut green chilli and a variety of spicy chutneys like green chutney and garlic coconut chutney. To transform Batata Vada from a snack to a proper mid-morning meal, the Vadas are sandwiched in between Pav bread and made into the regional pride of Maharashtra, Vada Pav.

While there’s no doubt about its superior taste, the food item has gained a bit of negative press with the health conscious crowd in recent years. Yet, food authors vouch for Batata Vada’s health benefits. Writer Sujata Naik writes in her book, The Wellness Shots, that Batata Vada is in fact, a nutritional fare. Potatoes, she notes, are rich in complex carbohydrates, that keep you full for a longer period of time, thus eliminating the need for continuous snacking. It also has magnesium, which protects the nervous system from wear and tear. Further, because the Vadas are deep-fried, they absorb much less oil as compared to when food is shallow-fried in a pan. This is because the high heat from the oil evaporates the water and prevents oil from sticking to the surface.

Batata Vadas may have originated on the western coast of India, but are now consumed across the country, especially in Karnataka as a tea-time snack. In Karnataka, these potato fries are called Aloo Bonda or Aloo Vada.

Since Jains do not consume potatoes, their version of Aloo Bondi replaces potatoes with raw bananas to make the filling.