Rainy Evening Nirvana : Batata Wada Reinvented!

Its been raining on and off - more on than off, I am glad to report - in Mumbai since the last few days. Its heart-achingly beautiful weather - dark grey skies, soft, soft drizzles, wispy misty clouds - all of them making the perfect backdrop for the fiery brilliance of the of the Gulmohar in full bloom.

And what better way to improve perfection than piping-hot Batata Wadas, strong sweet adrak chai (tea brewed with ginger) and comfortingly sweet mango sheera? :) That was the menu of a recent Sunday evening spent in the company of extended family and Marathi golden oldies on the stereo.

Though Dad is a Batata Wada fanatic, I am more partial to Mom's reinvention of the BW.

The Classic Maharashtrian Batata Wada

Mom's Batata Wada Bhajis

While the classic Batata Wada consists of a ball of spicy mashed potato dipped in chickpea batter and deep fried, Mom's Batata Wada Bhajis up the ante on the crunchiness index, with the spiced potato mash mixed right into the batter to make a homogenous mess and deep fried to get crisy, crunchy golden morsels.

Apart from the higher cruchy batter-to-soft filling ratio as compared to the BW, these bhajis (fritters) are also easier to make and less labour- and time-intensive. No making balls of the filling-dipping them in batter to get an even coating-frying them in small batches, just mix the spicy potato mash into the batter, and drop bite-sized clumps into the hot oil. Fry large batches at a time - and eat piping hot with sour-spicy-sweet mint-and-raw mango chutney. With a cup of Mom's special tea, it cant get any better!

Mom's Batata Wada Bhajis

Ingredients:
2-3 large boiled potatoes, peeled and coarsely mashed
1 large onion (red), chopped finely

3-4 fat cloves of garlic, chopped fine/minced
1/2 inch piece ginger, chopped finely
2-3 (as many as you like) green chillies, chopped medium-fine
(Alternatively you can replace the above three by 1 tbsp ginger-garlic-green chilli paste)

A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
salt and sugar and lemon juice - to taste

1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
salt, red chilli powder, turneric powder - a pinch each
1 tbsp oil - heated till near-smoking point
water

Oil for deep frying

Method:
Mix the potatoes, onion, ginger, garlic, chillies, lemon juice, salt and sugar. Taste and adjust seasoning - it should be a tad saltier/hotter than the ideal, since it has to season the batter as well.

Mix the hot oil, chickpea flour, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and water to make a thick batter. Some peopl use soda bi carb to make the batter light and crunchy, but, apart from it being not good for you, it is unnecessary as well.

Heat the oil for deep-frying in a large kadhai (wok) till really hot. Test-fry a tiny amount of batter - the oil should start spluttering and bubbling around the batter.



Mix the potatoes mix into the batter and stir well to incorporate the two evenly.

Drop small clumps (teaspoon-sized) of this mix into the oil. They HAVE TO be small in size since the batter has to be cooked through all the way. If you make really large dumplings, the batter on the outside will be burnt to cinderblock by the time the batter at the centre of the fritter is cooked completely.

Deep-fry till golden brown in colour

The hand that fries the bhajis rules the world. :P

Golden perfection!

Serve sizzling-hot with tangy mint-and-raw mango chutney, a cup of steaming tea to the background music of pitter-patter rain.

Nirvana is not elusive after all. :)