Pav Bhaji (Mumbai Buttery Mashed Vegetable Curry with Bread Rolls)
پاؤ بھاجی (ممبئی کی مکھن والی مسلی سبزیاں اور نرم بن)
Pav bhaji was born in the 1850s as a quick, cheap lunch for Mumbai's textile mill workers, and it's still the city's favourite street food. Vegetables are boiled, mashed on a huge flat griddle with plenty of butter and , and served with soft bread rolls (*pav*) toasted in more butter. It's spicy, tangy, rich and completely addictive. At home, a wide karahi and a potato masher do the job of the street vendor's tawa.
- ⏱ Total: 55 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Cook: 35 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Boil the potatoes, cauliflower, peas and carrot in the water for 15 minutes (or 3 whistles in a pressure cooker) until very soft. Mash roughly, keeping the cooking water.
In a wide karahi, melt 2 tbsp butter and crackle the cumin. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until soft, then the ginger-garlic paste and capsicum for 3 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, chilli powder, pav bhaji masala, turmeric and salt and cook for 6–8 minutes, mashing, until the tomatoes break down completely.
Add the mashed vegetables and some of their water and keep mashing over medium heat for 8–10 minutes into a thick, smooth, spreadable bhaji. Stir in the remaining butter, lemon juice and most of the coriander.
Slit the pav horizontally, leaving one side attached. Toast in butter on a hot tawa, sprinkled with a little pav bhaji masala and coriander, until golden.
Serve the bhaji topped with a cube of butter, chopped raw onion and coriander, with the hot pav and lemon wedges.
Kitchen notes
Don't skimp on the butter; it's what gives pav bhaji its street-stall flavour.
No pav bhaji masala? Use 1 tbsp garam masala, 1 tsp amchur and ½ tsp black salt.
Soft dinner rolls or burger buns are a good substitute for pav.
Lunch for the mill workers
In the mid-1800s, Mumbai’s cotton mills ran late into the night, and workers needed something quick, cheap and filling. Street cooks mashed leftover vegetables with spices on a griddle and served them with bread rolls, a legacy of Portuguese bakers in western India. The dish stuck, and today pav bhaji stalls at Juhu Beach and Chowpatty are part of every Mumbai visit.
The tawa technique
Street vendors cook pav bhaji on a huge, flat griddle, mashing and turning it constantly with a flat spatula. That constant contact with the hot metal caramelises the vegetables and gives a slightly smoky taste. At home, use a wide, heavy pan and keep mashing.
The masala
is a special blend with dried mango (amchur), black salt and Kashmiri chilli, which makes the bhaji tangy and red. Ready-made versions are sold everywhere Indian groceries are sold.
Serving
Serve with buttery pav, chopped raw onion, lemon and coriander. Follow it with a cold masala soda or mango mastani. For more Mumbai street food, try vada pav and bhel puri.
Questions people ask
Which vegetables go in pav bhaji?
Potato, tomato, onion and capsicum are essential. Cauliflower, peas and carrots are common; some vendors add beetroot for colour.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. The bhaji keeps for 2 days in the fridge; reheat with a splash of water and more butter.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 520
- Protein
- 11 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
