Bateka wada, Bhajiyas - Pallika

This recipe is not really a family recipe. I've adapted it to match the taste of roadside wada pav.

Bateka Wada:

Boil, peel and mash potatoes.

No tadka, Homestyle version - add salt, sugar, hing, lime juice, chopped cilantro, and green chilli - ginder paste.

With Tadka, Roadside version - For the tadka, heat some oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing, finely chopped green chillies, ginger and lots of garlic, may also add some coconut at this point, then add turmeric, small pieces of cashew nuts, and finally some chopped cilantro. Add this mixture to the potatoes, mix well, add salt and lime juice as per taste.

Batter: Besan, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhana-jeeru, pinch of garam masala, amchur or chat masala, baking soda, and a tsp of hot oil. Add water and make a smooth batter.

Make medium sized balls of the filling (I flatten the roadside version a little bit). Then coat with the besan batter and deep fry. Serve with garlic chutney, and pav (if making wada pav).

Bhajiyas:

Use the same batter as above. Things you can dip in this batter are endless. Fry on a medium heat in oil, till golden brown.

Sliced raw potatoes, diced bell pepper, pieces of paneer (marinated in some spices), pieces of cauliflower (also marinated in basic spices), spinach leaves, sliced bananas, diced ripe mango, galka (a vegetable like zucchini), baby corn, sliced baby egg plants...

There's an interesting story about bhajiyas and dadaji. He used to say that any bhajiya whose name starts with a 'K' should be eaten carefully as it might be hot from inside, even if you feel they've cooled down - examples - kanda (not the dry version), kela, keri...his theory kinda worked...