Mirchi Vadaमिर्ची वड़ा
⏱ Prep 20m🍳 Cook 20m🍽 Serves 4🌿 Vegan
Video: Your Food Lab (YouTube)
Mirchi Vada is Jodhpur's most famous street food — large green chillies stuffed with a spiced potato filling, coated in crispy chickpea batter, and deep-fried until golden and blistered. The Jodhpur variety uses thick, mildly hot Bhavnagari chillies that make each bite more about warm spice than fire. Inside, the potato filling balances any residual heat with earthiness and tang. Every tea stall in Jodhpur serves these from the early morning hours alongside sweet masala chai.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
Finding Desi spots near Plano…
Ingredients
- ▪large green chillies, Bhavnagari or banana peppers8 to 10
- For the potato filling
- ▪potatoes, boiled and mashed — आलू3 medium
- ▪red chilli powder — लाल मिर्च0.5 tsp
- ▪dry mango powder (amchur) — अमचूर1 tsp
- ▪coriander powder — धनिया पाउडर0.5 tsp
- ▪garam masalaa pinch
- For the batter
- ▪chickpea flour (besan) — बेसन1 cup (100g)
- ▪turmeric — हल्दी0.25 tsp
- ▪salt — नमकto taste
- ▪oil for deep fryingas needed
🌍 Cooking abroad? Substitutions
- Bhavnagari chillies are long, thick, and mildly hot. Anaheim peppers, banana peppers, or mild Italian frying peppers are near-perfect diaspora substitutes in shape and heat level. Avoid jalapenos — they are too small and too hot — and bell peppers, which lack the right shape.
- Chickpea flour (besan or gram flour) is sold at Indian grocery stores and health food stores. It is naturally gluten-free and gives the batter its golden colour and nutty flavour. Plain wheat flour will work in a pinch but the result lacks the characteristic crunch.
- Dry mango powder (amchur) provides the tang in the filling. Outside South Asia, use a squeeze of lemon juice or a pinch of chaat masala stirred into the mashed potato before stuffing — both work well.
Method
- 1Make a lengthwise slit in each chilli from stem to tip, keeping the stem intact. Use a small spoon to remove the seeds and membranes — this tames the heat. Leave a few seeds for more warmth if desired.
- 2Mix the mashed potato with red chilli powder, amchur, coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. The filling should be bold and tangy, since the chilli skin itself adds no seasoning.
- 3Fill each slit chilli generously with the potato mixture, pressing it in so the filling is compact and the chilli bulges slightly. Press the slit closed gently.
- 4Make the batter: whisk chickpea flour with turmeric, a pinch of red chilli powder, salt, and enough water to make a smooth, thick coating batter — it should cling to the back of a spoon without dripping off too fast.
- 5Heat oil in a deep pan to 175 to 180 C. Dip each stuffed chilli completely in the batter and lower it gently into the oil.
- 6Fry 3 to 4 mirchi vadas at a time for 4 to 5 minutes, turning carefully, until the batter is evenly golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels.
- 7Serve immediately with tomato chutney or tamarind chutney alongside a cup of sweet chai.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.