Wada-Pav Magic!

barochallo

In Maharashtra, a favourite snack (which often doubles as a meal for poor people) is the ‘wada-pav’. This is essentially a patty made of mixture of potato and spices dunked in a paste of gram-flour and deep fried. This is sandwiched along with onion slices between a ‘pao’ or non-sweet bun cut and and served with chutney (usually dry red garlic dry or sweetish tamarind), reminiscent of it’s western counterpart, the burger, only considerably spicier.

The wada may also be eaten on its own, again usually with chutney. Another combination is the ‘wada-usal-pav’. The latter involves the wada swimming in a bowl of ‘usal’ which in turn is a curry with pulses. This gives it a crispy-soft taste. This is often spicy, and more so with the addition of ‘tari’ which is a paste of chilli and oil.

An interesting anecdote I could relate to you is about this wada-pav stall in my town which became extremely famous for its special taste. But he had to ultimately close down after people came to know that he was adding fish-powder to his wadas to give it that special taste. This was found offensive by the vegetarians in the town.

Wada-pav stalls are the norm on every Railway station and are seen in even in the remotest parts of Maharashtra, especially in the coastal regions. And somehow, the smaller the stall, the greater the taste.

The wada-pav is enjoyed by rich and poor alike and certain outlets have built big-income, big-name businesses on wada-pav alone. For e.g. the Vangaon Railway Station on the Western Railway Route is so renowned for its wada-pav, that people disembark specially from the trains just to run to that particular stall and pack some wada-pavs.
I’ve known of people who have literally died for that wada-pav. Such people get off their train (which has only a 40-50 second halt), run to the stall, get delayed while buying their wada-pavs, and then try to board their trains which by now have already started moving away from the platform. Often with disastrous results!

But leaving such gory aspects of the humble snack aside, the wada-pav has a special place in the hearts (and stomachs!) of the people in Maharashtra.

barochallo

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ronsaik

The yummiest vada pav I've had has been on the Bombay Pune highway, at a shack some 40 mins out of Pune. Forget the name.
Yes, it's a damn neat snack!

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