As published in OPEN Magazine on October 20, 2013.
Courtesy: chowdersingh.com
The first bite reminds you of sambar. In the second, the sliced
coconuts hit a home run. It is the usual potato stuffing, but with a distinct
South Indian touch. By the time you finish, it’s hard to believe you just ate a
vada pav.
The vada
pav has come a long
way over the last four decades. Today, it is as synonymous with the city of
Mumbai as the sea. A typical vada
pav consists of a potato patty dunked in gram flour, deep fried and
served piping hot, nestled in a bun with some chutney. With time and a growing
breed of entrepreneurs, a new pedigree of the snack has emerged over the years.
The South Indian vada pav in question is the
brainchild of Nilesh Gupta, kitchen manager of a recently-shut shop in
Ghatkopar. “Before I came up with such dishes,” he says, “I went on a tasting
spree. Eventually, I realised that not a lot of innovation has gone into making
a vada pav.” While he
was in business, Gupta also sold a Jain vada pav made to suit that community’s
dietary restrictions. Its patty was made of raw bananas, using a completely
different palette of spices.
Though these flavours are quite unheard of, the concept isn’t. Chains
like Jumbo King Vada Pav and Goli Vada Pav No.1 have been doing it for years.
The vada pav sold at these chains range from the
interesting to the bizarre, with Chinese, Punjabi and Western influences.
There’s Goli Mix Veg Vada Pav with a patty made of green peas, carrots and
beans and coated with crumbs. Corn Palak Jumbo King has a corn and spinach
patty and is served with mayonnaise. The double decker Tandoori Paneer Jumbo
King is served with Thousand Island sauce. The chains offer a mish-mash of other
flavours, even a customised patty. But these innovations come at a price: as
opposed to a roadside vendor who sells a conventional vada pav for no more than Rs 10, Jumbo King’s
Tandoori Paneer vada pav costs Rs 80.
Thankfully, the experiments are unlikely to
drive the classic into retirement. Says Dheeraj Gupta, founder of Jumbo King:
“60 per cent of our business still comes from selling regular vada pav. High-end ones like the
Tandoori Paneer barely account for 1 per cent.”
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