Vada pav

{{Infobox food

| name = Vada pav

|name_lang =

|name_italics = true

| image = Vada Pav-Indian street food.JPG

| image_size = 250px

| image_alt = A plate of vada pav with seasoning of red chilli powder and a green chilli.

| caption = A plate of vada pav with seasoning of red chilli powder and a green chilli.

| alternate_name = Vada pao, wada pav, wada pao, pao vada, pav vada, pao wada, pav wada, batata wada pav

| type = Snack

| course =

| country = India

| region = Mumbai, Maharashtra

| national_cuisine = Indian

| creator = Ashok Vaidya and Sudhakar Mhatre

| year = 1966

| mintime =

| maxtime =

| served =

| main_ingredient = Deep-fried fritter made of mashed potato and spices, bread bun

| minor_ingredient =

| variations =

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}}

Vada pav, alternatively spelt wada pao, {{pronunciation|Indian-vada-pav-pronunciation.ogg|listen|(|help=no}} is a vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/ja/article/in-search-of-indias-football-culture-with-mumbai-fcs-yellow-brigade-3/|title=クリケットの街から眺めるインドサッカー界の未来|trans-title=The future of Indian football seen from the city of cricket|language=ja|website=vice.com|publisher=Vice Japan|first=Kit|last=Caless|date=19 February 2017|access-date=28 February 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128164820/https://www.vice.com/ja/article/ywqwyj/in-search-of-indias-football-culture-with-mumbai-fcs-yellow-brigade|archive-date=28 January 2022}} The dish consists of a deep-fried potato dumpling placed inside a bread bun (pav) sliced almost in half through the middle. It is generally accompanied with one or more chutneys and a green chili pepper.{{cite news|title=Famous Vada Pav places in Mumbai|url=http://www.freepressjournal.in/famous-vada-pav-places-in-mumbai/|access-date=10 August 2015|newspaper=The Free Press Journal|date=30 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150817100436/http://www.freepressjournal.in/famous-vada-pav-places-in-mumbai/|archive-date=17 August 2015}} Although it originated as an affordable street food in Mumbai, it is now served in food stalls and restaurants across India. It is also called Bombay burger{{cite web|last1=Bhattacharya|first1=Suryatapa|title=The world's best fast food|url=https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/the-world-s-best-fast-food-1.521775|website=The National|access-date=27 September 2017|date=12 January 2010}} in keeping with its origins and its resemblance in physical form to a burger.{{cite news |last1=Sankari |first1=Rathina |title=Meet Mumbai's Iconic Veggie Burger |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/11/04/500539626/meet-mumbais-iconic-veggie-burger |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=NPR |date=November 4, 2016 |language=en}}

The most famous snack in Mumbai, vada pav is claimed to be a part of the culture of Mumbaikars.{{cite web|last1=Sarma|first1=Ramya|title=In Search of Mumbai Vada Pav|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/article3657300.ece|work=The Hindu|access-date=27 January 2015}}

Etymology

Batata vada in Marathi literally means "potato fritter". It is a combination of the word for "potato" (batata) and vada, a type of fried savoury snack. Pav is a derivative of the Portuguese word pão, which means bread.

History

The most common theory of the vada pav's origin is that it was invented in the erstwhile mill-heartland of Central Mumbai.

Ashok Vaidya of Dadar is often credited with starting the first vada pav stall outside Dadar railway station in 1966.{{cite news |last1=Mahadevan |first1=Asha |title=Nearly 50 years since its invention, the story of the vada pav hits the big screen at Jio MAMI |url=https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/nearly-50-years-since-its-invention-the-story-of-the-vada-pav-hits-the-big-screen-at-jio-mami-2487580.html |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=Firstpost |date=30 October 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Shankar |first1=Kartikeya |title=Vada Pav: History of the Popular Mumbai Snack |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/vada-pav-history-of-the-popular-mumbai-snack/articleshow/76973714.cms |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=The Times of India |date=Jul 15, 2020 |language=en}}{{rp|34}} Some sources credit Sudhakar Mhatre who started his business around the same time.{{cite news |last=Ghangale |first=Swapnil |title=World Vadapav Day: जन्मापासून लंडनपर्यंत मजल मारण्यापर्यंतची वडापावची कहाणी |url=https://www.loksatta.com/do-you-know-news/world-vada-pav-day-journey-from-mumbai-popular-street-food-to-london-scsg-91-2253519/ |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=Loksatta |date=23 August 2020 |language=mr-IN}} One of the earliest kiosks selling vada pav is said to be Khidki Vada Pav, located in Kalyan. It was started in the late 1960s by the Vaze family, who used to hand out vada pavs from a window (Khidki) of their house facing the road.

The carbohydrate-rich snack catered to the cotton mill workers of what was then known as Girangaon. This potato dumpling (batata vada) placed inside a pav was quick to make, cheap (~10-15 paisa in 1971), and much convenient over the batata bhaji and chapati combination, which couldn't be eaten in overcrowded local trains.

=Cultural importance=

The closing of textile mills in central Mumbai led to turmoil in the 1970s. Shiv Sena, the homegrown party formed during this transformative time, based itself as a party with Mill workers' interests.{{cite journal |last1=Solomon |first1=Harris Scott |title="THE TASTE NO CHEF CAN GIVE": Processing Street Food in Mumbai |journal=Cultural Anthropology |date=May 4, 2015 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=65–90 |doi=10.14506/ca30.1.05 |url=https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.14506/ca30.1.05 |access-date=5 November 2020 |language=en |issn=1548-1360|doi-access=free |hdl=10161/10126 |hdl-access=free }}

The party chief, Balasaheb Thackeray encouraged Marathi people in the 1960s to become entrepreneurs, i.e. start food stalls in ways similar to the South Indians setting up Udupi restaurants.{{cite news |last1=Doctor |first1=Vikram |title=An attitude to serve: Why Marathi food lost out |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/the-leisure-lounge/an-attitude-to-serve-why-marathi-food-lost-out/articleshow/3047664.cms |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=The Economic Times |date=May 17, 2008}} Shiv Sena attempted to physically and ideologically claim the streets through agitations as well as neighborhood-level events such as Vada pav sammelan (Vada pav jamboree).{{cite thesis |last1=Solomon |first1=Harris Scott |title=Life-Sized: Food and the Pathologies of Plenty in Mumbai |chapter= Chapter 1. Fast Food Nationalism: Cleaning Mumbai’s streets with the vada pav |type=PhD |location=Providence, Rhode Island |date=May 2011 |institution=Brown University |doi=10.7301/Z0Q23XH9 |oclc=934517131 |chapter-url=https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:11264/ |access-date=5 November 2020 |language=en}}{{rp|28}} This theme has continued even in the recent years, e.g. the 2009 introduction of Shiv vada pav.{{cite news |last1=Pawar |first1=Yogesh |title=Shiv Sena's vada pav strategy |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/shiv-senas-vada-pav-strategy-396415 |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=NDTV.com |date=June 19, 2009}}

Variations and commercialization

There are over 20,000 stalls selling vada pav in Mumbai.{{cite news |title=वडापाव... बस्स..! |url=https://www.lokmat.com/manthan/story-about-vadapav-mumbai-a653/ |access-date=9 February 2022 |work=Lokmat |date=6 February 2022 |language=mr-IN}} Mumbai alone has many variations of the food based on the locality. Large fast food restaurant chains such as Kunjvihar Jumbo King in Mulund and Goli Vada Pav also primarily serve vada pav.{{cite news |last1=Thirani |first1=Neha |title=Searching For the World's Best Vada Pav |url=https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/searching-for-the-worlds-best-vada-pav/ |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=India Ink |publisher=The New York Times |date=5 October 2011}}{{cite news |last1=Narasimhan |first1=Anand |last2=Dogra |first2=Aparna Mohan |title=Goli Vada Pav story |publisher=IMD business school |work=The Financial Times |date=September 4, 2012 |url=https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/articles/goli-vada-pav-story/ |access-date=5 November 2020 |language=en}} Outside of Mumbai, a variant of vada pav is pav vada which is famous in Nashik.

Annually, August 23 is celebrated as World Vada Paav Day.{{cite news |title=World Vada Pav Day 2020: Mumbai's 'fastest fast food' is eaten by many, remembered by a few |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/world-vada-pav-day-eaten-by-many-remembered-by-a-few |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=Free Press Journal |date=23 August 2020 |language=en}}

Preparation

A boiled potato is mashed and mixed with chopped green chilli and garlic, mustard seeds, and spices (usually asafoetida and turmeric). The mass is then shaped into a ball, dipped into gram flour batter and deep fried. The resultant fritter is served by placing inside a bread bun, accompanied with one or more chutneys and fried green chilli.{{cite news|last1=Graves|first1=Helen|title=Vada pav sandwich recipe|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/oct/03/vada-pav-sandwich-recipe-potato-chutney|website=The Guardian|date=3 October 2013 |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=27 January 2015}}