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Batata vada is a potato based fritter and is a popular Indian Vegetarian Street food that originated in Maharashtra. If you are looking for an excellent tea time snack or as an appetiser for guests at your place or as a snacks for kids, then this one is for you. In this recipe, the balls of mashed potatoes with spices and various ingredients are dipped in a batter of gram flour and then deep fried.
It can be accompanied by a hot mint chutney and sweet-sour tamarind chutney. As I prepared this one for my kid, I served it with tomato ketchup. I will show batata vadas with different chutneys in my next post sometimes. In this post, have a virtual treat of batata vadas with tomato ketchup.
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INGREDIENTS :
For Besan batter
(1) 250 gms of Gram flour / Besan
(2) 3/4 teaspoon of Red Chilli powder
(3) 1/4 teaspoon of Turmeric powder
(4) 2 pinch of Asafoetida
(5) Salt as per taste required
(6) WaterÂ
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For spiced Potato stuffingÂ
(1) 3 medium sized potatoes
(2) 4 buds of garlic (I took 4 as they were large in size, can take 6-8 if small buds), minced
(3) 1 inch sized ginger, minced
(4) 2 whole green chillies, finely chopped
(5) Handful of finely chopped Coriander leaves
(6) Salt as required
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For tempering the Potato stuffing
(1) 3/4 teaspoon of Cumin seeds / Jeera
(2) 3/4 teaspoon of Mustard seeds / Rai
(3) 10-12 Curry leaves / kadi patta
(4) 2 pinch of Hing / Asafoetida
(5) 3 Â tablespoon of cooking oil
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Other ingredients :
(1) Cooking Oil for deep frying
(2) Coriander Mint Chutney
(3) Dates Tamarind Chutney
(4) Tomato Ketchup
(5) Pav
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METHOD :
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(1) Take gram flour, Turmeric powder, Red Chilli powder, Asafoetida and Salt in a bowl. You may add a pinch of baking soda (Optional).
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 (2) Add Water (approx. 1/3 cup) little by little and stir continuously and make a lump free smooth batter. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. If the batter is thick, then add 1 or 2 tablespoon of water. If the batter is too thin, then add 1-2 teaspoon of gram flour.
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(3) I did not add baking soda and instead kept the batter aside to set for 2 hours. If baking soda is added, then no need to keep the batter aside for 2 hours.
After 2 hours…..
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(4) Peel boiled Potatoes and mash them with backside of a large spoon.
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(5) Heat 3 teaspoon of cooking oil in a tempering ladle over a medium flame. Add Mustard seeds. When they start to crackle, add Cumin seeds. When the Cumin seeds change colour, add 10 – 12 chopped Curry leaves, 2 pinch of Asafoetida. Then immediately add 2 pinch of Turmeric powder and mix well. Saute for 5 seconds and turn off the gas flame.
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(6) Pour this tempering over the mashed potatoes. Add garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves (All four finely chopped). Add Salt to taste.
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(7) Mix everything well.
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Make small to medium sized balls of the mashed potato mixture. Keep aside for a while till we heat the cooking oil in a wok.
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(8) The batter and potato balls are now ready to be deep fried.Â
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Now, take cooking oil in a deep frying pan / wok and heat it till the oil is medium hot.Â
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(9) Dip each potato ball in the besan batter and coat it with batter evenly with a spoon or with hand. Then take them and gently drop them in the hot oil. Do it in batches. Drop 4-5 balls in a single batch and deep fry them until golden brown.
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(10) Using a perforated spoon, take out the vadas from the pan, draining excess oil and transfer the vadas over a paper napkin on a plate. Deep fry all the potato balls.
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(11) Batata Vada is now ready to be served. Serve them with Pav as shown along with Coriander Mint Chutney and Dates Tamarind Chutney / Tomato ketchup. It’s delicious to eat them with a cup of tea.
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Recipe links of Coriander Mint Chutney and Date Tamarind Chutney:
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