Father of Vada Pav: The Mumbai Street Food Legend and Its Inventor Revealed
Father of Vada Pav: The Mumbai Street Food Legend and Its Inventor Revealed
Ashok Vaidya is recognized as the inventor of the famous Vada Pav, which he introduced in Mumbai during the 1960s. He began selling this tasty street food from a modest stall located near Shivaji Park. The dish features a spicy potato filling, known as vada, served inside a bun called pav, typically accompanied by chutneys and fried green chili.
Vaidya’s creation rapidly gained popularity among locals, particularly students and workers, due to its low cost and delicious flavor. He is often called the “father of Vada Pav,” and his invention has become a fundamental part of Mumbai’s street food culture, cherished not only in India but also internationally.
To understand the origins of Vada Pav, it’s important to consider the cultural environment of Mumbai in the 1960s. During this time, the South Indian community in Central Mumbai was growing rapidly, and Udipi restaurants were thriving, with dosa becoming a popular choice for a quick breakfast. These establishments were mostly run by owners who had recently moved to Mumbai, which created some tension with the local government and business owners.
This environment laid the groundwork for Balasaheb Thackeray to establish the Shiv Sena in 1966, promoting the idea that ‘Maharashtra belongs to the Maharashtrians.’ Ashok Vaidya was among those inspired by this movement and chose to start a stall selling poha and batata vadas outside Dadar station, a busy area frequented by cotton mill workers in Central Mumbai.
As the story goes, Vaidya set up his stall next to an omelette pav vendor, who was also selling a popular Mumbai breakfast item. There are two versions of how Vada Pav was created.
One version claims that Vaidya and his colleague decided to experiment, and he took a pav, added a batata vada in the middle, topped it with garlic chutney (because no street food is complete without chutney), and served it to some adventurous customers. The other version suggests that on a particularly busy day, the omelette pav stall ran out of eggs, so Vaidya offered his vadas as a filling for the pavs, leading to the creation of Vada Pav. Regardless of the version, the combination quickly became a sensation.
In the 1990s, McDonald’s entered India and expanded quickly, but it couldn’t compete with the popularity of Vada Pav in Maharashtra. This was largely because McDonald’s burgers are standardized and taste the same everywhere, while Vada Pav sellers pride themselves on unique recipes and ingredients. In a culturally diverse country like India, people crave different flavors, which McDonald’s didn’t provide at the time. In 2000, Dheeraj Gupta recognized this opportunity and launched a Vada Pav chain called ‘JumboKing,’ marketing it as the “Indian Burger.” JumboKing became successful, opening 75 outlets in Mumbai and selling over 500 Vada Pav daily at each location. This success led to the emergence of various Vada Pav chains across India.
