A potato dumpling in gram-flour batter, deep fried, pushed into a pav with dry garlic chutney and a fried green chilli. It was put together outside Dadar station in the 1960s, for mill workers who needed something they could eat in one hand while walking, and it is now the single most eaten thing in the city.
The differences between stalls are small and people argue about them seriously: the coarseness of the chura, whether the chutney is dry or wet, whether there is turmeric in the batter, and how long the vada has been sitting. The rule is simple — eat it where there is a queue, because the queue means the oil is fresh.
Where to eat it
Named places, with what each one is known for| Name | Where | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|
| Ashok Vada Pav1970s | Kirti College Lane, Kashinath Dhuru Marg, Dadar West | The most famous stall in the city. Known for chura pav — the crisp besan chura mixed with chutney and stuffed into the pav. Expect a twenty-minute queue; it moves. |
| Aaram Vada Pav1939 | Capital Cinema Building, Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road, opposite CSMT, Fort | One of the oldest vada pav shops in Mumbai. Large vadas, no turmeric in the batter, so the bhaji is pale rather than yellow. |
| Shankar Vada Pav1975 | Dadar | Started from a handcart and still sells the same three things: masala vada pav, moong dal bhajia, mirchi bhajia. |
| Samrat Vada Pav | Dadar and Thane | Coconut in the mixture, which is unusual; also does a grilled and a butter version. |
| Graduate Vada Pav | near Ruia and Podar colleges, Matunga | A college-gate stall, which is the natural habitat of this food. |
| Anand Stall | opposite Mithibai College, Vile Parle West | The Vile Parle college stall; sandwich and vada pav, busy from noon. |
| Jumbo King2001 | Malad and city-wide | The first company to take vada pav into a branded fast-food format. |
| Goli Vada Pav2004 | city-wide | The other chain; useful when you are nowhere near a good stall. |
| Station stalls | Dadar, Kurla, Andheri, Borivali, Ghatkopar | Every station has two or three. The one with the queue at six in the evening is the one to use. |
Worth knowing
- Eat it hot. A vada that has been sitting is a different and worse thing.
- Ask for the fried green chilli on the side; it is part of the dish, not a garnish.
- Chura pav — the crisp batter droppings, mixed with chutney — is the Dadar variation worth trying.
- Twenty to thirty rupees is the normal price. Much more means you are paying for the address.
The other dishes
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