Just to put in some pics of what this snack actually is, I tried searching "Vada Pao" on google..and the smarter search engine corrected me that it was actually Vada Pav and not what I had been trying to find. God Save Google...
Ahh...The days spent gorging on this delicacy in Maharashtra.
12 th June, the first day that my taste buds savoured "The Vada Pav". I got up at 8 in the morning after a rainy night..and it was still raining cats and dogs outside. In my usual Puma shorts and a Tee, I came out of my room, went down and out of the lodge to find the weather perfect for a morning snack and a cup of garma garam chai.
I had no clue where I was and absolutely no sense of the directions either. I tried following my instincts which as usual got me closer and closer to food.. ( my nose guides my instincts most of the time without the slightest twinge of guilt) . I saw the street outside bustling with people who seemed to have no problem with the heavy downpour. I realised that an umbrella could have been something much more important than the dozen odd books which I had carried in my suitcase.
And then suddenly out of the blue...this big realisation dawned on me that Ma wasn't there to scold me even if I got drenched. So with the new found wisdom, I started walking and walking....one way to the other... from one street to the next..going past shops that still hadn't opened shutter..and tried to decipher Marathi signboards that looked down upon me..
Now, the curious case with marathi signboards is that they are all written in Hindi. In fact all the signs that i saw there were in Hindi. Even the km markings on the roads. How do they expect a Hitchhiker who never understood the nitty grtties of Hindi numerals in school to find his way around ? A lot of people did sympathize with me on this when i told them the story of how I used to find out how far I was from a place by looking not at the km markings but the markings on the trees next to the road.Suprisingly those trees had English markings on them which sort of followed some regular pattern that I could decipher.
My mother must surely have been very happy for me that time. Her son was solving puzzles. Something which he had never done. Well mummies definitely have their way of getting things done..huh !! Mummies, they rule the time, they know how to get things done without being there.. do you expect any less sir?
Disappointed at finding nothing to eat in that part of the town, I decided to change route. I walked down the main road to other part of the town. Just a few steps from my lodge, the opposite direction of where I had initially gone in the morning was the bus adda. And there it was, just outside the bus adda...
Food Ahoy !!
I got visual of rediwallahs, steaming hot chai, and the pleasant whiff of pakoras.
Yes, God had definitely made me for this. To eat. ( Well I couldn't get a better word ) . I quickened my pace. It didnot matter what these people thought of me. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. And I didnot have an umbrella. But those glances at my drenched body didnot matter.Everybody there except me knew that it rained heavily during those months. Well who cared anyway!! As long as I got something to eat.
A series of tarpoline covered shops stood by the side of the road. Or I could say they appeared to be standing. A 5-year old leaning against them would have made them appear like a pack of cards .
Hey, wait a minute...where does the look of the shop come into this anyway? Its whats cooking beneath, that matters. I stopped by the first shop to see what he could offer me. Unfortunately the aroma didn't manage to get to my heart. In all matters of the FOOD, I can always tell. The freshness, the appeal, the droolability..
It was the 3rd shop that I finally got into. The bhaiya there seemed relieved. He must have seen me looking around. Thinking me to be some sort of a 'Connoisseur of modern street food' . I couldn't resist the urge any longer. I asked him for a chai, and something to accompany it. I was then that he offered me a Vada Pav. Having heard passengers screaming the word to vendors at stations in Maharashtra, I knew how popular the snack was. And So I agreed. Very naively, infact. Unaware of the fact that one bite would be enough. Enough to hook me onto this delicacy for a lifetime.
The preparation of the snack took no more than 3 odd seconds. But I will try and describe it you in sloooooooooooooooow motioooooon. He tore out a bun from the umpteenth rows of freshly baked buns ( commonly known as the 'Bombay Pav' ). He then applied a dry red masala onto the bun face. Seeing me clenching my teeth at his action, he assured me that it wasn't red chilli powder which I was thinking it to be. After that he popped in a Vada ( ..known as the Patata Vada , if eaten alone..) , closed the bun, and handed it to me. To top it all, he put a green chilli in my hand. A Chilli smothered with a little salt.
So there it was. All done and ready to eat.
And he expected me to stomach that really fast and ask for another. I wasn't going to.
The first 2-3 bites were more of a hunger supressant, rather than a gastronomer's delight. I could't care less. I wanted to come to the 4th bite, and fast. Wow. That tasted good. Really good.
According to normal maharashtrian standards, a Vada Pav doesnot usually last the no. of bites which I broke my 1st Vada Pav into. Standards,...ahh..Ive heard that word before.
I asked for another Vada Pav. Didn't care that my tea was getting cold. The way it melted into my mouth after I smacked 2 large bites from it. That was the amazing part. The red masala was a chutney prepared by grinding garlic, peanuts and then simmering the mixture in a kadhai for it to attain the light reddish-browm tinge. Tasted like heaven. Even if one of the ingredients was missing, the vada pav wouldnt have tasted the way it did. On that rainy day.
That rainy day, by the side of the road, under a tarpoline covered shack. In a small town in Maharashtra.Gorging on the Vada Pav.
