At any time of the day, there’s always a crowd outside Parle Tilak Vidyalaya MG Road, Vile Parle East. On a Tuesday afternoon, the enthusiastic cries of students running around the playground rings in my ears. The smell of curry leaves, which wafts from a corner on the campus, where 75-year-old Babu Satap Rao has been running his canteen since 1950, is intoxicating. He also caters to outsiders who throng his stall for Patti Samosas, Vada Pav, Kanda Bhajji and Kothimbir Vadi.

A worker at Babu Vada Pav at Vile Parle rolls the vada. Every three days, they utilise 600 kg of potatoes. Pics/Khushnum Bhandari

I have signed up for a Vada Pav Food Walk with experiential company, Blue Bulb and this is the ideal place to start. Food blogger Abhishek Sadekar, a resident of Vile Parle East, tells me about the history of vada pav, how it evolved into Mumbai’s favourite snack and the various iconic joints that serve it.