Batata Vada Recipe | Maharashtrian Style Aloo Vada

Pressure cooking potatoes

1. Rinse and then add 250 grams potatoes or 4 medium potatoes in a 2 litre pressure cooker. Also add 2 cups water.
2. Pressure cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium flame or for 5 to 6 whistles.
3. When the pressure falls down on its own, remove the lid. The potatoes have to be cooked well. Remove the potatoes and let them become warm.
4. When the potatoes become warm, peel and mash potatoes with a fork or potato masher. Don’t mash too much.
5. Add 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves and salt as required to the mashed potatoes.

Making green chili+garlic+ginger paste

1. In a small grinder take 1 to 2 green chilies (chopped), 1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 1.5 teaspoon chopped garlic. Adding more green chilies will give a spicy taste.
2. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water and grind to a smooth paste. 
3. You can also use a mortar-pestle to crush ginger, garlic and green chilies. No need to add water if crushing in mortar-pestle. Keep aside.

For tempering potato filling

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan. Keep the flame to a low. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and let them crackle and pop. Use any neutral flavored oil.
2. When the mustard seeds crackle, then add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.
3. Fry for a few seconds till the cumin seeds change color and also crackle.
4. Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 pinch asafoetida. quickly give a stir.
5. Now add the ginger+garlic+green chili paste. The paste will splutter, so be careful. Mix and stir.
6. Then add 6 to 7 curry leaves that have been chopped.
7. Sauté the paste for some seconds on a low flame till the raw aroma of both ginger and garlic goes away.
8. Now add the entire sautéed mixture to the mashed potatoes. mix very well.

Making potato filling

1. Add ¼ teaspoon lemon juice and ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar. 
2. Adding sugar is optional and can be skipped.
3. Mix very well. Check the taste and add more salt if required.
4. Then make medium sized balls from the potato mixture. Slightly flatten the potato balls as it helps to fry the vadas easily. Keep aside.

Making gram flour batter

1. In another bowl, take 1 cup besan (gram flour), ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder, 1 pinch baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt or add as per taste.
2. Instead of gram flour you can chickpea flour to make the batter.
3. Add ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon water in parts. begin to whisk.
4. Adding water in parts whisk to a smooth batter. Make a medium thick batter. Keep aside. 

Frying batata vada

1. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or wok. Keep the flame to medium. Use your preferred neutral flavored oil with a high smoking point.
2. When the oil becomes hot in the pan, then carefully remove ¼ to ½ teaspoon of the hot oil with a long spoon and add it to the batter. Mix very well.
3. Check a small portion of batter in the oil and it should come up gradually and steadily on top. Now the oil is ready for frying batata vada. Keep the flame to medium-low or medium.
4. Take a potato vada and dip it in the besan batter.
5. Gently coat it with the batter evenly all over. 
6. Then gently place the batter coated potato vada in hot oil.
7. Do not over crowd the kadai. Add them depending on the size of the kadai. Fry on medium flame. 
8. When one side becomes opaque, firms up, lightly crisp and light golden, turn each batata vada with a slotted spoon. Continue to fry the second side.
9. When the second side is light golden, turn them again.
10. This way turn them a couple of times till they are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon draining as much oil as possible.
11. Place them on kitchen paper towels. This way fry the remaining batches of batata vada.

Frying green chilies

1. In the same oil, fry 2 to 3 green chilies. Do slit each green chili before frying so that they don't burst in the hot oil.
2. Fry till the green chilies become lightly crisp. 
3. Remove on kitchen paper towels.
4. Once the green chilies become warm, then sprinkle some salt on them. Mix salt with the green chilies.
5. Serve batata vada hot or warm with the fried salted green chilies, sweet tamarind chutney, coconut chutney and coriander chutney. You can also serve them with pav (dinner rolls) or bread or burger buns.