VADA PAV GOES GLOBAL: Every Mumbaikar can write an ode to the humble vada pav.
Mumbai: Every Mumbaikar can write an ode to the humble vada pav. Now this small snack could soon be making it big in the US as well.
A Mumbai-based vada pav chain is in talks with American companies backed by NRIs to launch a similar chain in the US next year.
“Some IT consultants who are in the US and are earning well have said they would like to take up Goli in US,” CEO of Goli Vada Pav, S Venkatesh said.
The vadas in Goli’s Vada Pavs are made at automated plants in Mumbai by Vista Foods, which also supplies burgers to McDonald’s.
If the deal comes through, Vista would act as Goli’s suppliers in the US. But will Americans give up their hamburgers for a vada pav? Mumbai’s students and Goli’s patrons think they will.
“People in the US will think it is a kind of burger and will try it,” a young student said.
While others agreed that vada pav will be a hit in the US because there is a sizable population of Indians there. “A lot of Indians stay there, so I think it is great that they are opening there.”
Meanwhile, the chain’s owners say they are planning to expand operations elsewhere in the country as well.
Indians might be crazy about it right now, but once this deal goes through the Yanks would also take a bite of the vada pav and say ‘I’m loving it’.
Oh this is so simple and brilliant ....how come this hadn't happened before now?
Absolutely - Vada Pav is nothing but a burger and unlike the tasteless soy based vegetarian burger, is a few hundred times better tasting than the cheeseburgers and the whoppers (I know because I used to eat them before becoming strict vegetarian).
I will make this prediction now: when proper quality, supply chain and marketing are established, the Vadapavs can make a SERIOUS dent to the meat burgers.
Now, obviously the yanks cannot handle the gun powder chilli mix that is liberally applied in Mumbai but I am sure they will come up with a midler version.
I used to eat a pav bhaji, followed by one or two vada pavs chased down with a kalagatta and finally a small fruit plate for lunch whenever I could - around he flora fountain area in Mumbai. All this used cost like Rs6 or so at that time.
Basically its boiled and mashed potatoes...add salt chillie powder garam masala and touch of sugar and lemon juice. Add chopped onions and coriander leaves. Roll into balls and deep fry in gram flour batter. However, for burgers, they may have to flatten the shape. Usually eaten with chutney made from coriander leaves, green chillies, salt and sugar
I make vada pavs at home but they never taste like how they taste when the road side food stalls make them so it would be great if they would start selling them in the US. Don’t think they would replace the Burgers and whoppers for white americans though
pani puri, sev puri, bhel puri…oh man my mouth’s watering bigtime! thank god for all the malls coming up in India, where a lot of them have the indoor food stalls!!!:AID:
Yea I love pani puri too. Do food stalls in indoor malls serve them ready to eat like the outdoor ones or do you have to painstaikingly fill each puri? Shame the way they are eaten in just one bite :(
Yea I love pani puri too. Do food stalls in indoor malls serve them ready to eat like the outdoor ones or do you have to painstaikingly fill each puri? Shame the way they are eaten in just one bite :(
that was the only photo I could find googling.
Yea I think there was pani puri in the Bombay mall stalls too but i'm not sure since its been about a year and half since I last went to India. I couldn't try it though because I always get bigtime sick when I drink the outside water other than bisleri so I didn't take the risk, oh I soooo wanted to eat it:(!!
well, they are just served as the are served on the roads. actually they are more hygienic!!! but sometimes they just dont taste the same! aakhir pani-puri wallah ka paasina bhi kuch chizz hai!
Indopak...I know what you mean...altho not sure about healthy:(...and you forgot dahi puri...those are great!
Pallavpotter...yes eating from outside has got something which cant quite be replicated. Altough I got to say my mum makes tasty pani puri bhel and pao bhaji :)
We have a place which is kind of in-between of eating from outside food stand and the posh mall...and its doing really well...even now an informal tourist destination (those who dare their stomachs!!) Anyway it has mostly Indian veg and non-veg food stalls....complete with the paan and everything. And when you sit yourselves on the benches, a whole swarm of waiters will pounce around you shoving their menus on your faces. Its quite a task shooing them away.
thank god for all the malls coming up in India, where a lot of them have the indoor food stalls!!!:AID: