Mumbai 's Famous Baked Vada Pav- Non Fried

By Apurvi Bansal

This is a famous Street Snack of Mumbai- Vada Pav, usually the Vada is made by frying then sandwiched between the Soft Pav bread but here, in my Channel I am showing you a method where you can make these favourite delicacy by Baking at home easily,

Our Homemade Pav is soft, melt in the mouth, with a surprise of non- fried Vada, peanut masala for the crunch and to enhance flavour also, a green Chutney coating the Vada which is fresh and along with Coriander it is flavoured with Curry Leaves which are Optional.

I have kneaded my Pav Dough using a stand Mixer you can always knead it by hand but to make the whole process easier I chose an Electric kneader. I have already shared How to knead the Dough by hands in my other video- Pav Bhaji Recipe Video.

Important Points-

• Before kneading the Dough you need to activate your Yeast for that use Warm Milk, by warm I mean that if you put your finger in, in the milk you should not feel any discomfort.
• You can also use Warm water instead of Milk but since, this is an Eggless Recipe adding milk while provide extra Fat and softness to the dough.
• Knead the Dough till you pass the ‘Window pane’ test, take a small portion of the dough and stretch it, when you stretch your dough thin enough it should not tear also light should be able to pass through it.
• Grind your Green Coriander chutney without Water as we want it to be coarse and dry as we are going to spread it on our dough and if it is watery it will make our Pav soggy.

Ingredients:

PAV: 

121gm Warm Milk,

1tsp Caster Sugar

1tsp Instant Yeast 

168gm All purpose Flour

Pinch of Salt (1/8tsp)

10gm Butter, Unsalted 

VADA (Potato Filling)- Non-Fried

2tbsp Oil,

1/4tsp Asafoetida powder (hing)

1/2tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera) 

Then add 1/2tsp Mustard seed (Rai) 

1/4tsp Red Chilli Powder

1tsp Coriander Powder 

1/2tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)

3 Medium size Mashed Boiled Potatoes

Salt to taste

Peanut Masala:

25gm Raw Peanut

Pinch of Salt

1/8 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder

Coriander Chutney:

1 Small bunch of Coriander Leaves

1 Small green chilli

1 inch ginger

8-10 Curry leaves (optional)

Salt to Taste

Egg Replacer Wash

1/2tbsp Honey

Milk

Method:

• First in a bowl take Warm Milk, add Caster Sugar and mix to dissolve it in. Now add Instant Yeast and gently mix it also.
• Now cover it with a cling film and let rest for 10 minutes for yeast to activate and bloom.
• It should look like this once activated if, it isn’t bubbly and frothy discard the mixture and make it again.

• Add All purpose Flour, good pinch of Salt and Unsalted Butter
• Now knead it with stand mixture you can also knead it by hand on a kitchen counter,  knead it for about 10-12 minutes for dough to be ready, 
• Once done transfer it to working station knead it slightly then, tuck its corner and give it a round shape, to smooth out the top, cup the dough between your palms and pull it towards yourself while sliding it on the counter.

• Before proofing sprinkle some Flour in a clean bowl you are using then place your dough and sprinkle some more on top alternatively you can use Oil then, cover with a cling film and let proof for 1 hour in warm place till it doubles in size.

Filling:

• For filling in a pan add Oil, Asafoetida powder (hing), Cumin seeds (Jeera) and let it crackle,
• Then add 1/2tsp Mustard seed (Rai) and let it crackle,
• Now add Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Turmeric Powder (Haldi) and 3 medium size Mashed Boiled Potatoes
• Lastly add Salt to taste and mix everything well together,
• You can adjust the quantity of spices according to your taste,
• Mash the potatoes with the back of the spatula and cook it well.
• Now transfer the filling to a plate and spread it, leave to cool completely.
• Once cooled take a spoonful of it and place it on your palm of one hand gently press to give a round shape then roll it between your palms to make a smooth Potato filling ball.
• Shape all the filling balls like this and keep aside until use.

Peanut Masala:

• Roast raw Peanut in a pan on low heat for 2-3 minute,
• Once, lightly roasted transfer it to a plate to cool it down, before removing their skin
• For that transfer it to a kitchen towel and gently rub it, this way it will be easier to remove their skin.
• Transfer it to a grinder add a pinch of Salt and Kashmiri Red chilli powder. 
• Grind it coarsely, or you can grind it coarsely using a mortar pestle.

Green Chutney

• Take handful of coriander and chop it roughly,
• Add it in a blender, add small green chilli, ginger, Curry leaves (these are optional, add salt to taste and grind it coarsely,
• Grind it without any water since we want it dry and coarse. Keep aside until use.

• Our Dough has proofed nicely it’s double in size,
• Now knock it to de gas it,
• Sprinkle some flour on your working station and transfer your dough.
• Knead it slightly before shaping it like a log.
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• Weigh the dough to be 60gm each, this way you’ll have equal size dough Balls.
• Then using a rolling pin roll it like this to a rough round shape, no need for it to be perfectly round.
• Then, apply the green chutney this is why we made it with out water and coarse, so that our dough does not become soggy,
• Then sprinkle the peanut masala this will give a bite as well as flavour.
• Finally, place the Aloo stuffing Ball ‘the Vada’ in the middle,
• Bring the edges together of the dough and seal it properly. 
• Gently roll it to form a dough ball, Shape all the Vada Pav similarly, 

• Place them in a greased pan, here, I am using a 7 inch square tin which I have greased it with Oil, place all the shaped Vada Pav in it.
• Cover with a kitchen towel or cling film and let proof for 20-30 minutes.
• After second proof see they have increased in size, 
• Now take Honey to this I’ll add Milk and make an egg replacer wash, brush it over my Vada Pav properly, adding honey will give nice gold colour that is often achieved by egg wash though it will not provide sweetness.
• Bake these in a pre heated Oven at 180C for 10-15minutes or till it has nice golden colour on top.
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• While they are Baking, prepare a butter mixture to coat on Vada Pav for as soon as they are out of the Oven.
• In a bowl take some melted butter to this add Chopped coriander leaves, some masala peanut crush and mix.
• Once your Vada Pav have bake with a nice golden colour on top, brush the butter mixture all over it, this will keep the Pav surface soft,
• Sprinkle some more Peanut Crunch.

Serving Suggestion:

1.  You can always have them like this as a whole just dip it in Sweet Imli chutney or Coriander chutney and enjoy.
2. Slice it horizontally from middle,
Spread Sweet Imli sauce and Coriander chutney,
Then add some Sev,
To give it a nice spicy kick I’ll also add a Green chilli which is fried and is often served with Vada Pav.