Wada Pav

Vada Pav

A plate of Vada Pav with seasoning of red chilli powder and a green chilli.
Alternative names	Bombay Burger, Vada Pao, Wada Pav, Wada Pao, Pao Vada, Pav Vada, Pao Wada, Pav Wada
Type	Snack
Place of origin	India
Region or state	Maharashtra
Main ingredients	Deep-fried mashed potato patty, chilli peppers, garlic, ginger, bread bun

Vada Pav, alternatively spelt Vada Pao, Wada Pav, or Wada Pao, is a vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. The dish consists of a deep fried potato dumpling placed inside a bread bun (pav) sliced almost in half through the middle. It is generally accompanied with one or more chutneys and a green chilli pepper. It originated as cheap street food in Mumbai, but is now served in food stalls and restaurants across India. It is also called Bombay Burger in keeping with its origins and its resemblance in physical form to a .

Vada comes from the Marathi compound word batata vada, which means "potato fritter". Pav is a derivative of the Portuguese word "pão", which means sweetened bread.

Boiled potato is mashed and mixed with spices, usually with green chilli, garlic, asafoetida, turmeric, and mustard seeds. The mass is then coated in gram flour batter and deep fried. The resultant fritter is served in a bread bun, accompanied by one or more chutneys and fried green chilli.

The most common theory of the Vada Pav's origin is that it was invented in the erstwhile mill-heartland of Central Mumbai, then known as "Bombay". The carbohydrate-rich snack catered to the mill workers of what then known as Girangaon. The combination of the potato dumpling (batata vada) placed inside a pav quickly became popular in Girangaon and later the rest of Mumbai. Despite the ethnocentrism in Maharashtra, Vada Pav is claimed to be a part of the culture of Marathis despite the concept of a sandwich (a filling of potato within slices of bread) being western.