If you are from Bombay, India then you love Vada Pav! Period! There is no argument here. Vada Pav is like Mac Donalds for us. We have grown up to it. Every street boasts of a vada pav vendor who makes the world's best vada pav. It is also called a "Poor man's meal" because of its affordability and simplicity. It's a potato dumpling dipped in chickpeas flour and deep-fried. It's then served in water rolls along with some spicy chutney. Everyone at home loves this dish. It's really delicious. So having always been a fan of this, we miss it terribly here. Sure, we can make it at home, but we miss the kick in going to the vendor and buying it. Somehow it tastes better when purchased!
KR has been craving always craves for vada pav. We have a best friend here who loves making it for him and does so frequently and we all enjoy it. This time when my girl friends were visiting us along with their families, they decided to take over my kitchen for a day and give me a break from cooking. KR lured them into making vada pav for him and they were more than happy to oblige. So we had a picnic in our patio. I set up the place, put up the mats, made chutney sandwich for the kids and cold coffee for all of us (It was a hot day outside) and all of us enjoyed hot vada pav for lunch. One of the best and the most memorable one from their trip. Laughter, food and friends is always the best combination after all!
But anyways, coming back to this particular recipe. I had seen many stuffed french loaf recipes in the past and had been wanting to try one out myself. Last week when I was in Publix doing my groceries, I came across this fresh loaf bread and got tempted to pick it up. I came home and contemplated with the stuffing. I thought of stuffing it with mushrooms but then it struck me that I could stuff it with potato filling (that used in vada pav) and show my readers a new way to eating vada pav!
I was very excited with my idea and now I began to conceptualize the dish. I thought of the chutney, the way I would make the potato filling, flavored butter, etc. When I told KR about my idea, he was as excited as me. I don't know whether his excitement was for this new creation or for the fact that it was eventually vada pav that he is going to get!
Make the potato curry first. Heat oil
in a pan
. Temper mustard
and cumin seeds
. Next add and fry urad dal
till they turn golden. Grind 
green chillies, ginger and garlic to a fine paste and add it to the pan. Saute for 2 minutes till the raw smell goes away. Add turmeric powder and salt. Mix and add boiled potatoes and green peas
. Mix it all together till the veggies get coated well. Cook for 3-4 minutes and lastly add cilantro. The stuffing is now done. Keep it aside.
Next, carefully cut the french loaf in half. Next, scoop out the bread to make a depression on both halves. Make flavored butter by adding melted butter (salted)
, minced garlic
and dried parsley
. Spread this butter all over the insides of the bread. Sprinkle garlic masala powder (used to make vada pav). If this is unavailable, sprinkle some chilly powder
mixed with garlic powder
all over the bread. You can even drizzle some hot sauce
over it.
Now fill each half with the potato mixture. Sprinkle cheese
over one half bread. Close the bread by placing the other half bread over it carefully. Smear some butter on top. Wrap the bread in aluminium foil
. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place this bread on a baking tray
and bake it for 15 - 20 minutes.
Let it rest outside for 5 minutes before unwrapping it. The bread should have got more than warm, less than hot. Cut in slices and serve with spicy green chutney.
I cannot even begin to tell you how delicious this tastes. You have to try it out and then let me know! Between the both of us, we finished the entire loaf! We didn't have any space left in our tummy but we were satisfied beyond imagination!
Cheesy Potato Stuffed French Loaf
Ingredients
- For the stuffing
- 6-7 potatoes boiled and chopped
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 5-6 green chillies
- 1 inch ginger
- 5-6 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- For the flavored butter
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- Other ingredients
- 1 french loaf bread
- 2 tsp garlic masala powder/chilly powder
- Hot sauce optional as required
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Butter to apply over the bread
- Aluminium foil
Instructions
- Make the potato curry first. Heat oil in a pan. Temper mustard and cumin seeds. Next add and fry urad dal till they turn golden. Grind green chillies, ginger and garlic to a fine paste and add it to the pan. Saute for 2 minutes till the raw smell goes away. Add turmeric powder and salt. Mix and add boiled potatoes and green peas. Mix it all together till the veggies get coated well. Cook for 3-4 minutes and lastly add cilantro. The stuffing is now done. Keep it aside.
- Next, carefully cut the french loaf in half. Next, scoop out the bread to make a depression on both halves. Make flavored butter by adding melted butter (salted), minced garlic and dried parsley. Spread this butter all over the insides of the bread. Sprinkle garlic masala powder (used to make vada pav). If this is unavailable, sprinkle some chilly powder mixed with garlic powder all over the bread. You can even drizzle some hot sauce over it.
- Now fill each half with the potato mixture. Sprinkle cheese over one half bread. Close the bread by placing the other half bread over it carefully. Smear some butter on top. Wrap the bread in aluminium foil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place this bread on a baking tray and bake it for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Let it rest outside for 5 minutes before unwrapping it. The bread should have got more than warm, less than hot. Cut in slices and serve with spicy green chutney.
This Cheesy Potato Stuffed French Loaf is surely the new and healthier way to eat vada pav! No deep-frying required. Now the French can also enjoy our desi dish. 😉
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Wow...this sounds amazing!
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Woow thats a wonderful idea....loved the pictures as well!
I made this and it was delicious...a small piece got left over and we ate it two days later...tasted even better. The only thing is the baking/heating through and through took longer as I chose to use the toaster oven...it would have done better in the large oven. Utterly, butterly delicious and so quick if you make extra potato for dosa and have it ready!
Thanks Geeta 🙂 Glad all of you liked it!
Prasad wanted me to make this recipe right away when he saw it. I just had to get the ingredients. Boy it turned out so delicious!! Thank you for sharing this and many more of your recipes with us. ???
I'm loving this bread! Looks so scrumptious with that flavorful potato stuffed in a delicious loaf! I'm also featuring you this week on Inspire Me Monday - congrats! 🙂
WHAT!?!? This is amazing!
Omg that looks really awesome! And yes, as a fellow Mumbaikar, I sooo agree with you on Vada Pav 😀
XOXO
-Shamira
Oh my gosh, this looks so delicious. Who would've thought to stuff French bread like this. I'm so going to try this. Thank you so much for linking up to Thriving on Thursdays last week. I'm featuring this at tomorrow's party.
Anne @ Domesblissity
What a unique sandwich! I am really intrigued by this and am pinning to try later. I've never had vada pav, but I'm game to try! Thanks so much for linking up with us at You Link It, We Make It! We hope you'll stop by and link up with us again! - Kim @ knockitoffkim.com
This is serious "fusion" cooking at it's best! I know I'll probably never have a chance to purchase from a street vendor but now I can have a little taste of it!! It looks amazing and the photos are so fun!!
Thanks so much for sharing with us at Throwback Thursday!!
Mollie
Potato salad in an edible dish!! What a fabulous idea for picnic food! Thanks for sharing the What's for Dinner linky!
omg this would be a hit at my picnic
Leslie
http://alifewellconsumed.com
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome Stuffed Potato French Loaf with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. This is a great idea and recipe. Hope you are having a great weekend and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
This stuffed bread looks amazing! Thanks for linkin' up with What's Cookin' Wednesday!
Thanks a lot for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you're talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my web site =). We could have a link exchange agreement between us!
This dish looks amazing. I'm so impressed. Thanks so much for sharing at Your Inspired Design Link Party.
This looks so delicious! Wow! I can't wait to try it!
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe at the #RecipeSharingParty! I hope to see you next week. Pinned and Yummed. Please visit #OverTheMoon on Sunday or #WonderfulWednesday for more sharing fun! Don't forget to Comment your link #'s so I can be sure to visit and you get a chance to be featured! Stumbled as a bonus today!
This sounds unbelievingly delicious! Thank you so much for sharing it at The Really Crafty Link Party this week. Pinned1
Hi again, just to let you know that this post is one of this week's features! Congratulations!
awesome! Thank you so much..love your parties! 🙂
This looks incredible! The pictures are so colorful and bright . . . I can almost smell the delicious aromas through each photograph. The ingredient list is so delicious. I have never used masala powder, but I love masala. Do you think my local grocery store would carry it? Cheers!
Thank you so much for your kind words.. you can make the garlic masala powder at home by mixing garlic powder and chilly powder. You can also check any Indian grocery store for the same.
Alright, you just got me drooling. Thanks for the instruction tho.
I like how you capture the photos as well.
yum yum
OH MY YUM>>>>>this looks amazing.
Wow...this sounds SO amazing!! YUM!
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
What a brilliant idea! Seems fairly simple to make too so I need to give this a try soon!
This looks incredible!! I've never seen a recipe like this, but will have to give it a try!
What a delicious looking recipe! I love all things bread! Thank you for sharing, I can't wait to try it!
This is perfection! I love a good French Loaf!
Greta | http://www.gretahollar.com
That looks delicious! I'll have to try making it at home 🙂
Nellwyn | http://www.thecardinalpress.com
This looks absolutely delicious! What a scrumptious idea...I can't wait to try this. xo, Catherine
This looks so amazing! Like wow! I hadn't heard of it before but it sounds yummy
I've never seen a recipe like this, but it sounds delicious and fun to try!
This looks absolutely amazing! Holy yum.
xoxo, Jenny
this looks amazing I can't even deal.
http://sheismelrose.net
@sheismelrose
Ooooh I've never seen anything like this before! Looks perfect for a picnic! Now all we need is some sunshine...
Now this looks like a filling comfort meal! Could totally go for this.
OMG. I spend a lot of time day dreaming about recipes etc so I have seen it all. Oh so I thought, This stuffed load, oh my gosh, I need need need to make it. Very excited (as you can tell) to try it.
This recipe looks so tasty! I love sandwich! I have to try this soon
I seriously can't stop drooling. This looks absolutely mouth-watering! I love all of the flavors you've put into this dish. And, I must confess that I have never had vada pav before either, so I will have to give that a try too! 🙂
OMG!!!!! wow!!!! That looks amazing!!!