Vada Pav with Fried Chili is the Mumbai sandwich served with a deep-fried whole green chili, the mirchi, on the side. The sandwich itself is unchanged: potato vada, soft pav, garlic and green chutneys. What this version names is the accompaniment, and the accompaniment exists for one reason, to add extra heat alongside the sandwich rather than inside it.
The fried chili is the part worth getting right. A large, relatively mild green chili is taken whole, sometimes slit and lightly salted, and deep-fried until the skin blisters and softens and the flesh goes tender. Fried well, it is intensely savory with a controlled, blooming heat and a soft bite; fried poorly, it is either raw and harshly sharp because it spent too little time in the oil, or collapsed and bitter because it spent too long. It is eaten in alternating bites with the vada pav, a mouthful of the starchy, chutney-dressed fritter sandwich followed by a piece of the hot chili, so the two play off each other. The vada and pav underneath follow the standard build: a chickpea-battered, deep-fried spiced potato ball in a hinged soft bun, dry garlic chutney for pungency, green cilantro-mint chutney for lift. The chili does not replace the chutneys' heat; it stacks on top of it for eaters who want the sandwich pushed hotter than the chutneys alone take it.
Service is the same fast, made-to-order routine as any vada pav, with the fried mirchi laid alongside on the same plate or paper. Timing still favors eating immediately: the vada should reach the bread crisp, and the chili is best while it is still hot and its skin still has some give, since a fried chili left to cool turns slack and loses the contrast that is the whole point of pairing it.
This is a deliberate heat variation, not a different sandwich. It is not the doubled build and not the South Indian medu vada swap, both of which change the sandwich itself rather than what sits next to it. The fried green chili is also eaten on its own and with other street snacks across India, and in that broader role it deserves its own article rather than being crowded in here. As an entry, this one is defined by the side: a standard vada pav with a deep-fried mirchi for extra heat.