Batata vada is a fried snack of batter-coated potato stuffed fritter dumplings. Making these take some time but absolutely worth it. I share this lip smacking delicious recipe of Maharashtrian style batata vada with step by step photos. I am sure you will love Indian street food snack.
About Batata Vada
It is a popular Mumbai street food snack. In Marathi language ‘potatoes’ are called as ‘batata’ and ‘vada’ means a ‘fried snack’. Hence the name.
In South India, Batata Vada is known as Potato Bonda. in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra this snack is called batata vada.
There are a lot of variations in the way the potato stuffing is made. Even in Maharashtra batata vada tastes different in different regions like Pune, nashik, kolhapur etc.
In fact in Mumbai itself it tastes different amongst the different vendors. The taste is different due to the inclusion of different spices in the potato filling. This is the same batata vada that we use in the Vada Pav.
These aloo vada are best enjoyed when they are served hot with a spicy green chutney and dry garlic chutney. We also love to have them with masala chai as an evening snack.
We always have Batata Vada with some fried salted green chilies. This combo of the batata vada and green chilies is a spicy combination and you will like it if you like spicy food.
You can also serve them with some coriander mint chutney or tamarind chutney or even tomato ketchup.
These Potato Vada can be also stuffed between buns, bread rolls (pav) or bread and had with some onion or tomato slices or with a combination of Indian chutneys.
How to make Batata Vada
Pressure Cook Potatoes
1. Rinse and then add 250 grams potatoes or 4 medium potatoes in a 2 litre pressure cooker. Also add 2 cups water.
You can opt to cook the potatoes in a pan on stove top or in an Instant pot. While cooking add enough water just so that it covers them.
If cooking in a pan, I recommend to peel and chop them in quarter for faster cooking.
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 and fork tender.
To check if the potatoes have cooked well, slid a knife or fork through the center of the potatoes and it should slid smoothly without any resistance.
Remove the potatoes and let them become warm.
4. When the potatoes become warm, peel and then mash them 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. Keep aside.
More Prep
6. In a small grinder take 1 to 2 green chilies (chopped), 1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 1.5 teaspoons chopped garlic. Adding more green chilies will give a spicy taste to the vadas.
7. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water and grind to a smooth paste. 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.
Make Potato Filling
8. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan. Use any neutral flavored oil like sunflower oil.
Keep the flame to a low. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and let them crackle and pop.
9. When the mustard seeds crackle, then add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds. Cumin seeds can be skipped too.
10. Fry for a few seconds till the cumin seeds change color and also crackle.
After the cumin seeds crackle, optionally, you can also add 1 medium sized onion (finely chopped) and sauté the onions till translucent.
I have not added onions.
11. Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 pinch asafoetida (hing).
12. Quickly give a stir.
13. Now add the ginger+garlic+green chili paste. The paste will splutter, so be careful. Mix and stir.
14. Then add 6 to 7 curry leaves (chopped).
15. Sauté the paste for some seconds on a low flame.
16. Sauté for some seconds till the raw aroma of both ginger and garlic goes away.
17. Now add the entire sautéed mixture to the mashed potatoes.
18. Mix very well.
19. Add ¼ teaspoon lemon juice to add some tang to the stuffing.
20. Sprinkle ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar. Sugar is optional and can be skipped. Mix very well. Check the taste and add more salt if required.
21. Then make medium sized balls from the potato mixture. Slightly flatten the potato balls as it helps to fry the vadas easily. Keep aside.
Make Batter
22. In another bowl, take 1 cup besan (gram flour), ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder.
Tip 1: In place of besan you can use chickpea flour.
Tip 2: In place of red chilli powder you can use cayenne pepper or paprika.
23. Then add 1 pinch baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt or add as per taste.
24. Add ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon water in parts.
25. Begin to whisk.
26. Adding water in parts whisk to a smooth batter. Make a medium thick batter. If the batter looks thin, then you can add some more besan.
Check the taste of the batter and add more salt if needed.
Fry Batata Vada
27. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or wok. Keep the flame to medium. Use your preferred oil with a high smoking point and neutral flavor.
28. When the oil becomes hot in the pan, then take ¼ to ½ teaspoon hot oil from the pan and add it to the batter. Mix very well.
Note: Be careful as the oil will be hot and use a long spoon.
29. 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 aloo vada. Keep the flame to medium-low or medium.
30. Take a potato vada and dip it in the besan batter.
31. Gently coat it with the batter evenly all over.
32. Then gently place the batter coated vada in hot oil.
33. Do not overcrowd the kadai. Add vadas depending on the size of the kadai. Fry on medium flame.
34. When one side becomes opaque, firms up, lightly crisp and light golden, turn each vada with a slotted spoon. Continue to fry the second side.
35. When the second side is light golden, turn the batata vadas again.
36. This way turn them a couple of times till they are golden.
37. Remove fried potato vada with a slotted spoon.
38. Place them on kitchen paper towels. This way fry the remaining batches of vadas.
Frying Green Chilies
39. 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 oil while frying.
40. Fry till the green chilies become lightly crisp and faintly golden.
41. Remove on kitchen paper towels.
42. Once the green chilies become warm, then sprinkle some salt on them. Mix salt with the green chilies.
Serve batata vada hot or warm with the fried salted green chilies, sweet tamarind chutney, coconut chutney and coriander chutney.
You can also serve these delicious batata vadas with pav (dinner rolls) or burger buns or bread. You can also stuff them inside the burger buns or bread slices.
More snacks recipes
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Batata Vada Recipe | Maharashtrian Style Aloo Vada
Ingredients
for pressure cooking potatoes
- 250 grams potatoes or 4 medium potatoes
- 2 cups water
for ginger-garlic-green chilli paste
- 1 to 2 green chilies
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger
- 1.5 teaspoon chopped garlic or 4 medium garlic cloves
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water for grinding
for potato filling
- 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
- salt as required
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar – optional
for tempering potato filling
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- 6 to 7 curry leaves – chopped
for batata vada batter
- 1 cup besan (gram flour)
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon water or add as required
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon salt or add as required
- 1 pinch baking soda
- oil for deep frying, as required
for frying green chilies
- 2 to 3 green chilies
- 1 to 2 pinches salt
Instructions
Pressure cooking potatoes
- Rinse and then add 250 grams potatoes or 4 medium potatoes in a 2 litre pressure cooker. Also add 2 cups water.
- Pressure cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium flame or for 5 to 6 whistles.
- 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.
- When the potatoes become warm, peel and mash potatoes with a fork or potato masher. Don’t mash too much.
- Add 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves and salt as required to the mashed potatoes.
Making green chili+garlic+ginger paste
- 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.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water and grind to a smooth paste.
- 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
- 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.
- When the mustard seeds crackle, then add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.
- Fry for a few seconds till the cumin seeds change color and also crackle.
- Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 pinch asafoetida. quickly give a stir.
- Now add the ginger+garlic+green chili paste. The paste will splutter, so be careful. Mix and stir.
- Then add 6 to 7 curry leaves that have been chopped.
- Sauté the paste for some seconds on a low flame till the raw aroma of both ginger and garlic goes away.
- Now add the entire sautéed mixture to the mashed potatoes. mix very well.
Making potato filling
- Add ¼ teaspoon lemon juice and ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar.
- Adding sugar is optional and can be skipped.
- Mix very well. Check the taste and add more salt if required.
- 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
- 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.
- Instead of gram flour you can chickpea flour to make the batter.
- Add ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon water in parts. begin to whisk.
- Adding water in parts whisk to a smooth batter. Make a medium thick batter. Keep aside.
Frying batata vada
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Take a potato vada and dip it in the besan batter.
- Gently coat it with the batter evenly all over.
- Then gently place the batter coated potato vada in hot oil.
- Do not over crowd the kadai. Add them depending on the size of the kadai. Fry on medium flame.
- 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.
- When the second side is light golden, turn them again.
- This way turn them a couple of times till they are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon draining as much oil as possible.
- Place them on kitchen paper towels. This way fry the remaining batches of batata vada.
Frying green chilies
- 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.
- Fry till the green chilies become lightly crisp.
- Remove on kitchen paper towels.
- Once the green chilies become warm, then sprinkle some salt on them. Mix salt with the green chilies.
- 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.
Notes
- Approximate nutrition info is for 1 batata vada.
- The recipe can be doubled and tripled.
- You can alter the spices as per your taste preferences.
- The batter consistency is medium thick and flowing. Don’t make the batter thick as the texture becomes doughy. And also don’t make the batter thin or runny as then it does not coat the potata vada and the filling comes out while frying. Moreover the batata vada absorbs a lot of oil making them soggy.
- Fry them on medium heat. If they are fried in warm oil they will soak a lot of oil. If they are fried in very hot oil then the outer layer of the batter gets browned or burnt leaving the inside layer of the batter uncooked.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Batata Vada Recipe from the blog archives was first published on Aug 2009. It has been updated on December 2024.
Thank you for sharing your delicious and amazing recipe.
Hi Dassana, thanks for the wonderful recipe.. i tried out Batata vada recipe and it turned out very well indeed..my wife,son and mom just loved it.
I have tried some of your other recipes too like Masale bhat and Gujarathi Kadhi and these have become my family’s favorites. You rock..keep it up..
Thanks a lot Amit. Glad to read your feedback on the recipes you have made. Nice to know.
Tried your batata vada recipe Dassana. Was really yummy. Thank you so much for sharing.
Will try some of your other recipes.
thanks marlene for the review and rating on the batata vada recipe. glad to know you liked the recipe. yes, do try some other recipes too. welcome and happy cooking.
Thank u so much for this recipe. It came out very well. With paav is tested more better. Please keep sharing more recipes.
Perfect recipe for some lip smacking Batata wada.
thank you for the feedback and the rating.
wow. It’s mouth watering & Healthy
It indeed turned out very tasty….did it exactly as instructed….Vegrecipesoindia always turn out to be good????????
thanks archana for the feedback. glad to know. happy cooking.
Awesome!
Can I half fry the car as nd carry on US flight ? Will it get spilt.
i am afraid, i did not get what you are asking. could be due to spell check errors. let me know.
thanks for reply Dassana,,,,
I will try again…but everytime myy vadas become sticky and heavy.
welcome arusha. do try. if you use the right type of potatoes, the vadas won’t become sticky and heavy.
hello Dassana,
I alaways follow your recipe…..
My batata filling becomes very sticky after mashing them… what could be the reason?? Is there any special type of potaotes that wehave to select?
should I mesh them after they r cold or room temperature or mesh them when they are really hot??
once I tried with sieve but became very sticky…
I o not know why my vadas become heavy……please let me know where I go wrong..
its due the quality of potatoes. if you live in india, then the usual indian potatoes will work. don’t use new potatoes. if you live in US, you can try red potatoes. they should work well. you can mash them when they are warm or once they cool down. its easier to mash potatoes when they are hot or warm. don’t use seive. just mash them and they should be fine. its due to the stickiness of the potatoes, the vadas are becoming heavy.
Please do share Maharashtrian Dry Chutney recipe.Thank you so much.
Welcome Beena. I will try to add.
Loved the recipe. Tastes really good . I have tried this recipe times now . Today sadly my potato filling was too mushy and broke while frying. Luckily I had two different batches of fillings made one turned out brilliant but the other was way too soft .
What can I do to avoid this ? Could it be because I had boiled the potatoes early in the morning but actually made the vada’s in the evening?
could be. after boling potatoes, avoid keeping them in the same water for a long time. drain all the water and let the potatoes become warm. once they become warm, then mash them or chop them. keep them in a steel box covered with a lid and refrigerate. then you can use it the same day or next day. water should not be there while mashing the potatoes. even a bit of water can make the potatoes mixture soft.