Mumbai is popular for its wide range of street foods, from Sandwiches, Pakoras, Chaats to delicious Kulfis and Faloodas. Batata vada is one such street food that you will find almost everywhere, even in other regions of India. There are also a few different versions of these known as Aloo bonda & veg bonda in Karnataka. Batata vada are easy to make and makes for a great snack. The preparation for this appetizer starts with boiling the potatoes until fork tender. These are mashed and added to a tempering made with spices and herbs. Small portions of this spiced potatoes are shaped to balls. The second part is to make a thick batter with gram flour, known as besan. These spiced potato balls are dipped in the thick batter and deep fried until crisp and golden. Sounds so good right! Batata vada are best served right out of the hot oil. These are good to serve on their own. A cup of Masala chai, or dry garlic chutney, Green chutney, Mint chutney, Red Garlic Chutney or some fried green chilies also go well. For convenience you can also make the spiced potatoes ahead and refrigerate. Make the batter and fry them when you are ready to serve. They can be reheated in the oven or air fryer until crisp. For more Potato recipes, you can checkAloo bread pakoraBread rollsAloo samosaAloo sandwich

How to Make Batata Vada (Stepwise Photos)

Prepare the Filling

  1. Boil potatoes until just cooked and not mushy. You can cook either in a pot or cooker. I cooked them in pressure cooker for 2 whistles with some water.
  2. Make a fine paste of ginger garlic and green chilli paste.
  3. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard and allow to crackle.
  4. Add curry leaves and fry until crisp.
  5. Add ginger garlic and green chilli paste. Saute until a nice aroma comes out. This may get burnt very quickly so regulate flame to medium.
  6. Add turmeric, hing, red chilli powder and salt.
  7. Mix everything well.
  8. Add crumbled potatoes and coriander leaves.
  9. Mix everything well. Turn off the stove.
  10. Cool this and make 7 to 8 balls.

Make batter for Batata Vada

  1. To a mixing bowl, add besan, rice flour or corn flour, salt, hing, turmeric and chilli powder.
  2. Mix up and add water as needed to make a thick batter.
  3. This is the consistency of the batter. If the batter is runny, the covering may turn thin or batata vada may break while frying.
  4. I have added a small pinch of soda to the batter just before dipping the balls in the batter. This is optional. This gives a light texture to the covering. Add it if using and beat the batter for few seconds.

Fry Batata Vada

  1. Heat oil in a kadai on a medium heat. Do not use very less oil. Check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small portion of batter. It has to rise.
  2. When the oil is hot enough, drop a ball in the batter. Coat it well with batter.
  3. Drop in hot oil. I have used a tbsp for this purpsose, you can also use your fingers. 18.Do not disturb them for at least 2 minutes otherwise they may break. Stir them gently and fry on a medium heat. 19.When they are crisp fried and deep golden in color, drain them to a kitchen tissue. Serve batata vada hot with green chutney or flatten it and sandwich in a chutney smeared pav, with some fried green chilies on the side. You can serve these with this Green chutney or coconut chutney.

Pro Tips

Potatoes: Avoid boiling potatoes to a very soft texture. The boiled potatoes should be firm and not mushy. Corn flour or rice flour: Along with besan, corn flour is used to get a crisp texture. If you do not use refined flour, you can substitute corn flour with rice flour. Consistency of batter: The consistency of the batter is the key to making good batata vada. The mixture should not be too thick or too thin. You can check the video to know more on it. Soda-bi-carbonate: A tiny pinch of soda-bi-carbonate is used to make the batter light. But you can also skip it. I find no difference in skipping. Related Recipes

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