Oreen's Batata Vadas

As finger foods go, nothing compares to batata vadas or Indian potato fritters. They are ubiquitous in most cities on the sub-continent, small balls of turmeric and spice flavored mashed potatoes, dipped in chickpea batter and crisp fried.  Street vendors sell them with a spicy red chile sauce or green chiles. Sometimes they come nestled in slider buns, bathed in a flaming hot red chutney. The internet is chock full of recipes, but mine comes to me from a beloved aunt. 

Aunty Oreen is family. Among her many attributes was generosity of home and hearth. She welcomed my family into her house with widespread arms. She taught me enthusiastic garage sale skills, ones that I am still too timid to employ. Our weekends with her with filled with expeditions to country parks and bargain basement stores as were always in search of a good deal! And of course many kitchen adventures. She unselfishly shared her repertoire of recipes including one of my favorites, batata vadas. She fried as I devoured them in rapid succession.

Sadly, she passed away this month. With her passing is the end of an era. She was the last of ten formidable siblings. She and my mother in law Pam shared a special closeness and looked similar as well. So much so that when my son was a child, he would find it hard to identify both these grey haired grandmas! 

We mourn family that has gone into the great beyond in many ways. I tend to make food that they fancied along with cherished memories. And so starts my foray into vada territory. 

OREEN'S BATATA VADA

Makes 12-15

 DF, GF, VN, EF, V

4 large Potatoes

3 tablespoons Canola Oil

1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds

6-7 Curry leaves

3 Green Chiles

1/2 teaspoon Turmeric

1/4 cup Cilantro leaves

1 Lime

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Oil for frying vadas

Batter

1/2 cup Besan or Chickpea Flour

1/4 teaspoon Chile Powder

1/4teaspoon Garlic Powder

A large pinch of Kosher Salt

A large pinch of Baking Soda

Boil potatoes. Peel and grate potatoes into a bowl. Or chop them into small bits.

Mince chiles finely.

Cut curry leaves into slivers. This way you can eat these antioxidents easily.

Roughly chop cilantro.

Heat oil in a saucepan. 

When it is hot and shimmers drop mustards seeds and let them splutter.

Add chiles and curry leaves to oil and saute for 10 seconds.

Add the grated potato to the pan. 

Season with turmeric, salt and cilantro. Stir well to mix. 

Pour a little water into the pan and cover.

Cook on a low flame for 10 minutes for flavors to develop. 

Squeeze the juice of a lime over potatoes. 

Mash the potatoes well so you do not have any lumps.

Cool potatoes and then roll into golf sized balls. 

Whisk all items for the batter. 

Add 1/4 cup water to batter and whisk till smooth. The batter should be of pouring consistency. If you need to add more water, then do it by the tablespoonful.

Heat oil in a wok or kadhai. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of oil to deep fry the vadas. 

Test the oil by dropping in a bead of batter. The batter should sizzle and rise to the surface immediately.

Coat each vada in batter and gently lower into hot oil. Fry a few vadas at a time, depending on how large your pan is. 

Fry till golden brown all over. 

Drain vadas on paper towels.

Serve them hot. And watch them disappear.

This time I fry and the family makes merry. Oreen is remembered fondly with funny stories of our shared past. The legacy of food and love passes on to another generation.

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