Pav Bhaji – The ultimate street food delight with a spicy veggie curry and buttery, toasted buns ! The name simply translates to Bread & vegetables. Such a simple sounding dish but such an amazing taste that it is now an integral part of the Mumbai street food. iThis recipe was shared by Bhavana Barot. So a big thanks to her!
Origins of Pav Bhaji
Pav Bhaji was originally created as a lunch menu for the textile workers of Mumbai. They needed a quick, relatively cheap and light but energy packed lunch to carry on with their strenuous physical activity. So Roti was replaced with the fluffy pav and they paired it with minced and mashed nutrition vegetable curry. Easy and quick to eat!
Multiple variants of Pav Bhaji
Growing up in Mumbai , this was one of my To-Go dishes. Mumbai is a city of multiple cultures and consists of people from all over India. And all these different people have customized pav bhaji to their taste buds. This has resulted in multiple variants of this dish
- Jain pav bhaji : Without onion ,garlic or potatoes
- Khada pav bhaji : Where the vegetables are kept whole and not mashed
- Cheese pav bhaji : Cheese added in bhaji
- Paneer(Cottage cheese) pay bhaji : Adding cubes of paneer to the bhaji
- Kolhapuri Pav Bhaji : A much spicier version of pav bhaji with the Kolhapuri spices
- ….
- And as you can imagine the list goes on
Serving/Pairing options
This is one dish where the pairing is in the name itself!
The word Bhaji is a Marathi word meaning vegetables. The name “pav” comes from the Portuguese word “pão,” meaning bread, reflecting the influence of Portuguese cuisine on Indian street food.
So you pair the Bhaji with the pav! 🙂
Of course you can also pair it with brown/white bread. But pav is pav.. And that too when toasted with a bit of butter ..yummmmmm!
For added flavor add butter, chopped onions and some lime juice!
Alternative ingredients
The best part of the bhaji is that you can almost use any vegetables you like as per your taste and choice
Storage options
Once the bhaji has cooled down you can pack it in airtight containers and keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days max.
Equipment options
If you do not have a masher at home, you can simply use a flat metal bowl OR you can also simply use the mixer . Just make sure not to grind the vegetables into a paste..! We need a chunky paste with very small pieces of vegetables.
Lets now go to the recipe!
Pav Bhaji
Ultimate street food delight with a spicy veggie curry & buttery, toasted buns !
3
servings15
minutes15
minutes196.8
kcalIngredients
250 gm Cauliflower
1 Potato
0.5 Tomato
0.5 Onion
1 Carrot
05. cups Green Peas
2-3 cloves Garlic
1 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala
2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp Salt
Directions
- Preparation
- Dice & boil the potato, cauliflower, green peas & carrot in cooker for 3-4 whistles
- Once boiled mash the vegetables properly
- Now chop the onion,tomato & garlic
- Assembly & cooking
- Heat oil in a pan
- Add garlic and shallow fry
Tip : For better garlic flavor crush the garlic - Now add the onion & tomato and cook
- Mash the mixture
- Next add turmeric, salt and the pav bhaji masala
Note : For spicier version add more masala! - Finally add the boiled vegetables
- Mix and mash the vegetables completely
- Simmer for a few minutes
- Serving
- Optional : To enhance the flavor add a dollop of butter
- Optional : Garnish with chopped onions and lemon wedges
- Serve hot and pair with Indian Pav or any other bread toasted with butter.
Equipment
- Masher
- Pan
Notes
- Nutritional values are an indication based on ingredients. Actual nutrition may vary depending on certain factors
Nutrition Facts
- Total number of serves: 3
- Calories: 196.8kcal
- Carbohydrates: 23.88g
- Protein: 5.15g
- Fat: 10.17g
