Mumbai is the Indian city most closely associated with vada pav.
Vada pav consists of a spiced potato fritter, or batata vada, placed inside a pav bread roll. It is usually served with chutneys and sometimes fried green chili. The snack is strongly identified with Mumbai, Maharashtra, where it became a widely available and inexpensive street-food meal.
The dish is often described as a Mumbai adaptation of the hamburger format, but its ingredients and flavors are distinctly Maharashtrian. The potato filling is coated in chickpea-flour batter and deep-fried before being placed in the bread.
Vada pav spread beyond Mumbai and is now eaten across India. Other cities have their own street-food sandwiches, and regional vendors vary the chutneys and spice levels. Nevertheless, Mumbai remains the canonical city association and the place most frequently linked with the snack’s rise as a mass street food.