Want a meal that’s hearty, satisfying and delightful too? Here’s it: mashed spiced vegetables; served with a side of cotton-like soft, buttery dinner rolls, crunchy onions, herby fresh coriander and tangy lemon. To sum up, Pav Bhaji is a famous street food from the ‘city of dreams,’ Mumbai. This Pav Bhaji Recipe is going to be create fireworks on your palate! Check out my step-by-step picture guide and video of making this delicious street style dish in 2 ways: one, traditionally and two, as a quick Instant Pot recipe.
Pav bhaji is an iconic dish from Mumbai which is also hugely popular as street food all over India. It first came into picture in Mumbai as a quick lunch option for textile mill workers.
Gradually, over the years, the dish became widespread. Today, you can find it as a common street food and a special in restaurants in Mumbai and the rest of India.
Just to give you the literal meaning: in Marathi, ‘pav’ means bread rolls and ‘bhaji’ refers to vegetables or a dry/gravy-style mixed veggie dish. Since this particular combination has both being served together, the dish is well-known under the sobriquet Pav Bhaji
So, you must be thinking as to what really brings in the uniqueness in the bhaji or the mix of tangy, spiced vegetables in the Pav Bhaji Recipe? It is the special spice blend called Pav Bhaji Masala that makes the difference.
It is a typical Maharashtrian spice powder which is easily available in Indian stores and online. But, with the above-linked recipe, it can be easily made at home.
This masala powder is an absolutely essential ingredient in the Pav Bhaji Recipe, as you can only achieve the most authentic and perfect flavor by using the pav bhaji masala in it.
I highly recommend including your favorite brand while making this dish. Even better if you have a batch of homemade pav bhaji masala with you.
Not to forget, just like me, if you too are a total fan of the Pav Bhaji, then you must try this savory, spiced combination called the Masala Pav—another popular street food preparation in Mumbai.
Memories of my Pav Bhaji Recipe go back to the times when I was a teenager. At home, I would often make this lovely dish for my family, especially my sister, who absolutely loved to have this meal.
It was also a ritual for us to gorge on this delicious snack whenever we planned an outing to Juhu Beach in Mumbai.
The most typical way to have it was to order plates of it with a generous quantity of bhaji and 2 pavs at a time. And then, to finish the bhaji, we would keep on ordering for more pavs until there was no more bhaji left!
While I was growing up, it was almost a celebratory occasion to savor Pav Bhaji and other Mumbai-style street dishes, especially at Juhu Beach. That time with the most delectable food, wind in our hair and the sound of the gushing waves—I can never forget these!
More so, because it was the place from which I have picked up the fine tips, tricks and nuances of making this yummy recipe with a lineage of its own!
To make my version of the Pav Bhaji Recipe, specifically the bhaji, I sauté the onion, tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste in butter first. Later, I add the boiled and mashed vegetables to it, which is followed by the pav bhaji masala. Then, I simmer this gravy for some minutes and serve it steaming hot with pav, lightly toasted in butter.
The street vendors and restaurant cooks use a large, flat tawa (skillet) to make the Pav Bhaji Recipe. But when making at home, you can use a kadai (wok), skillet or frying pan.
Rinse, peel and cube 3 medium or 2 larger potatoes (about 300 grams). Mine were about 1½ to 2 cups when measured. Clean 1 cup cauliflower florets (optional). Rinse ½ to ¾ cups green peas. If you want, you can also use 1 medium carrot (Half cup chopped).
For making masala, chop 1 medium onion (¾ to 1 cup chopped) , 2 medium tomatoes (¾ to 1 cup chopped), half bell pepper (½ cup chopped) and 1 green chilli. Also, make 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste. Keep all of these aside.
1. Add potatoes, cauliflower, peas & carrots (optional) to a pressure cooker or a pot. Pour 1½ cups water; it should be just enough to cover them partially.
2. Pressure cook for 1 to 2 whistles on a medium flame. I pressure cook for only 1 whistle.
3. When the pressure releases, open the lid. Veggies should be soft-cooked. Mash them well.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon butter & 1 tablespoon oil in a pan.
5. Add ¾ to 1 cup chopped onions. Saute till they turn translucent.
6. Add 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste and 1 green chilli. Fry until it smells good. Take care not to burn.
7. Add half cup chopped bell pepper. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
8. Add ¾ to 1 cup chopped tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt. Fry till tomatoes turn mushy, soft and pulpy.
9. Add 1 teaspoon chilli powder and 1 to 1½ tablespoon paav bhaji masala powder. If making for kids, skip the chilli powder, but it will affect the color.
10. Mix well and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
11. Add the boiled & mashed veggies. Add ½ to ¾ cups more water to bring it to a consistency.
12. Mix well and simmer for a while to bring out the flavor of masala. Taste and add more salt if you want. You can also add more chili powder at this stage for brighter color. Also for more flavor, you may add more pav bhaji masala if you want.
13. Add ¾ tablespoon kasuri methi. When it reaches the desired consistency, add chopped coriander leaves. switch off. Slightly cool down and add some lemon juice before serving.
14. Slit the pav horizontally, leaving one edge intact. On a low flame, heat 1 teaspoon butter on a tawa. Add little masala powder over it.
15. Place the pav on the butter and toast for 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly crisp. Do not over do it, as the spice powder will burn. You can do the same on the other side as well by adding more butter on the pan.
Garnish with coriander leaves, lemon wedges and chopped onions. Top with more butter on hot bhaji. Serve pav bhaji with some butter and onions.
Pav Bhaji is a hearty, delightsome, flavorful meal of mashed vegetable gravy with fluffy soft buttery dinner rolls served with a side of crunchy piquant onions, tangy lemon and herby coriander. You will love this pav bhaji recipe for its Mumbai style flavors. I share the traditional method of making Mumbai street style Pav Bhaji recipe and a quick Instant Pot recipe
Which vegetables should I add?
The vegetables that are usually added are sturdy ones like cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, peas, capsicum, and french beans. In the pav bhaji that one gets on the streets of Mumbai, carrots are not added. But when you make it at home, you can add carrots.
You can also simply make bhaji with any of these veggie proportions but always keep the proportion of cauliflower lower than the other veggies.
Refrain from using veggies like okra, eggplants, radish, corn, yam or green leafy vegetables. Cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, and pumpkin are some unique options that you can consider adding, but the traditional version does not include these vegetables.
2. Cooking veggies
In the recipe, I have used a pressure cooker for cooking the vegetables. You can also steam or cook them in a pan on the stove-top.
3. Taste and Flavor
Depending on the quantity of these vegetables, the final taste and color of the bhaji will be different. For example, if you add more carrots, the bhaji will have a milder, sweeter taste. However, do add capsicum (green bell pepper), as it gives a really good taste to the bhaji.
4. Spicing
The spice powders can be easily adjusted to suit your taste. So add them less or more according to your preferences.
5. Vegan option
If you don’t want to add butter, then you can also make the pav bhaji recipe with a neutral-tasting oil or vegan butter.
6. Gluten-free options
Make the bhaji as per the recipe and serve with gluten-free dinner rolls or bread.
7. Pav Bhaji Masala
Use good-quality pav bhaji masala or make it at home following my recipe, Pav Bhaji Masala
8. Do not have pav bhaji masala?
Not to worry. Try this option and it works so well that no one will know the difference. Swap pav bhaji masala with 2 teaspoons garam masala and 1 teaspoon amchur (dry mango powder).