Pav Bhaji Recipe Mumbai Street Style at Home

Pav Bhaji Recipe: Mumbai Street Style at Home

Byorevia
Prep20 minutes
Cook30 minutes
Serves4
Total50 min
2 min readJump to Recipe ↓

Pav bhaji is a Mumbai street classic: a buttery, spicy mash of vegetables served with toasted pav. It looks heavy, but the method is simple. The trick is to cook the vegetables until they mash easily and to use plenty of butter at the end.

In This Guide
  1. Did You Know?
  2. Ingredients
  3. Method
  4. Which Pan
  5. Common Mistakes to Avoid
  6. Storage and Reheating
  7. Quick Answers

Did You Know?

Pav bhaji is a Mumbai street food that is commonly said to have started as a quick, filling meal for textile mill workers. The bhaji is a mashed mix of vegetables cooked with butter and pav bhaji masala, and the pav is toasted in butter.

Ingredients

  • 3 potatoes, 1 cup cauliflower florets, 1/2 cup peas, 1 small beetroot (for colour)
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1 capsicum, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
  • 2 tbsp pav bhaji masala, 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, salt
  • 4 tbsp butter, lemon, coriander
  • 8 pav buns

Method

  1. Boil the potatoes, cauliflower, peas and beetroot until very soft. Mash coarsely.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp butter on a tawa or wide pan. Cook the onions until golden.
  3. Add ginger garlic paste, then the capsicum and tomatoes. Cook until pulpy.
  4. Add the masala, chilli powder and salt. Cook for 2 minutes.
  5. Add the mashed vegetables and 1 cup water. Mash with a masher while it cooks for 10 to 12 minutes.
  6. Finish with a generous knob of butter, lemon juice and coriander.
  7. Slit the pav, spread butter on the tawa and toast the pav until golden.

Which Pan

Cook the bhaji in a wide triply kadai because of the tomatoes, then toast the pav on a cast iron tawa for a crisp, buttery finish. See our cast iron tawas.

Serve with chopped onion, a lemon wedge and extra butter on top.

Shop Cast Iron Tawas →

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Not mashing the vegetables well. The bhaji should be smooth and thick.
  • Skipping the butter at the end. It is what gives the bhaji its signature shine.
  • Serving the pav cold. Toast it on a hot tawa with butter.

Storage and Reheating

The bhaji keeps for 3 days in the fridge and often tastes better the next day. Reheat with a splash of water and a spoon of butter.

Quick Answers

Which vegetables work?

Potato, cauliflower, peas, carrot and capsicum are common.

Why is my bhaji watery?

The vegetables were not mashed enough or cooked down. Simmer until it thickens.

Written byorevia

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