Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji is a fast food or street food dish. It is basically a thick vegetable curry served with a soft dinner roll (pav). Pav Bhaji has originated from Mumbai but has now gained a lot of popularity all over India! However, there are many versions of the Pav Bhaji but the most authentic and the most delicious is the one from my Mumbai! 

Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji

So, some might ask, what exactly is a Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji ?! Well, it is the most wonderful pairing of humble veggies with some everyday spices, all mashed together to make a thick gravy kind of a concoction. This is the bhaji. The pav is nothing but a basic dinner roll. The Bombay style dinner rolls are called pav. They are not sweet like the dinner rolls in the West but they do have a really good flavor. The bhaji is incomplete without the classic Bombay pav. Here is the link to make your own classic Bombay style Pav.

Homemade Laadi Pav egg free | Mumbai Style Dinner Rolls

These right here are the Best Homemade Laadi Pav ever! The same have been used for my made from scratch Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji.

The pav needs to be absolutely soft, melt in the mouth kinds and very fresh when serving with the bhaji. No other city in India or elsewhere has a version of this pav that even comes close to the classic Bombay style Laadi pav. If you are a Bombayite like yours truly, you’ll know exactly what I mean. When this pav is smeared with some butter and flash toasted on the hot gridle. the aroma and the later, the flavor is top notch! It is the most tempting aroma ever. The pav turns slightly crisp on the edges and soaks up all of the butter, it literally oozes that butter as your tear the pav for every bite!

Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji

Coming to the bhaji for the Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji,  it is made with some very basic ingredients, nothing fancy at all. Some veggies are boiled and mashed, Then a curry based of sorts is made with some spices, mashed veggies go into it and all of it comes together as the bhaji. Served with a dollop of butter, squirt of lime and some chopped onions is how we enjoy this dish! Needless to say it happens to be my favorite street food ever, I do make it at home too and it does turn exactly like the ones from my favorite street vendors! Follow my recipe to the T and you will nail the color and the flavor! 🙂  I perfected my recipe taking a bit of it from my mom and the rest from  the actual vendors at Juhu Beach 😉
PS- I hate greens peas in my bhaji so I skip it.

Let us start with Bhaji, because the recipe for Homemade Laadi Pav is here.

For the bhaji –
Soak 6-7 long destemmed and deseeded Kashmiri red chilies in hot water for 15 minutes. Grind them with some water and the cloves of garlic. Set this paste aside.

Take 1 glass of water in a pressure cooker, add salt, then large cubes of the potatoes and the florets of cauliflower. Cover and let it cook for until 2 whistles. Once done, let the pressure release on it’s own.

Mash the boiled veggies properly and set them aside.

In a large, flat pan or wok, heat butter and oil together.

Add asafoetida (hing). Let it splutter for a few seconds. Add the chopped onions along with green chili and cook them until they are translucent. It will take about 4-5 minutes on medium flame.

Next add the chopped capsicum. Season with salt and turmeric powder. mix well.

Cover and cook until the capsicum turns mushy. Add the chopped tomatoes. Add the Kashmiri chili – garlic paste. Mix well. Cook until the butter separates from this mixture and the tomatoes are completely cooked. That will take about 8-9 minutes.

Next, take a potato masher and mash this mixture thoroughly. Try to mash them as much as possible.

Add the pav bhaji masala and mix again. Let all of this cook away covered for the next 5 minutes.

Add the mashed veggies next and some chopped coriander leaves. Use a the potato masher to mix everything well. Continue to mash as the veggies cook away with the masala. Add some water if needed to correct the consistency nd continue to mash and mix it all well. Cook for about 2-3 minutes more.

Add some more butter. Mix it well and turn off the heat.

Serve it piping hot with the pav.

For the perfect Pav –
Heat butter in a pan, place the pav slit from between on the melted butter. Sprinkle some red chili powder and some chopped coriander on the pav as it flash toasts in the butter.
Serve it piping hot with the bhaji.  

Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji

Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji

Buttery, soft melt in mouth Mumbai style dinner rolls a.k.a Pav is served with some flavorful, mildly spiced and buttery curry of mashed veggies a.k.a bhaji. It is the most popular street food from Mumbai. I am sharing my recipe for the most authentic Bombay/ Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji ever. 

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch Box, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Maharashtrian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 2 people
Author Shreya Ashish Tiwari

Ingredients

  • 2 nos. large potatoes
  • 1 cup cauliflower florets
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • a pinch of asafoetida hing
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1 tsp chopped green chili
  • 7 nos. kashmiri red chili
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 4 nos larg, ripe tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup chopped green capsicum
  • salt to taste
  • 1/4 tsp tumeric powder
  • 1 tsp pav bhaji masala
  • chopped coriander
  • pav, extra butter, lemon wedges, chopped onions, chopped coriander to serve

Instructions

For the bhaji -

  1. Soak 6-7 long destemmed and deseeded Kashmiri red chilies in hot water for 15 minutes. Grind them with some water and the cloves of garlic. Set this paste aside.

  2. Take 1 glass of water in a pressure cooker, add salt, then large cubes of the potatoes and the florets of cauliflower. Cover and let it cook for until 2 whistles.

  3. Once done, let the pressure release on it's own. Mash the boiled veggies properly and set them aside.

  4. In a large, flat pan or wok, heat butter and oil together. Add asafoetida (hing). Let it splutter for a few seconds.

  5. Add the chopped onions along with green chili and cook them until they are translucent. It will take about 4-5 minutes on medium flame.

  6. Next add the chopped capsicum. Season with salt and turmeric powder. Mix well.

  7. Cover and cook until the capsicum turns mushy. Add the chopped tomatoes. Add the Kashmiri chili - garlic paste. Mix well. 
    Cook until the butter separates from this mixture and the tomatoes are completely cooked. That will take about 8-9 minutes.

  8. Next, take a potato masher and mash this mixture thoroughly. Try to mash them as much as possible. Add the pav bhaji masala and mix again. Let all of this cook away covered for the next 5 minutes.

  9. Add the mashed veggies next and some chopped coriander leaves. Use a the potato masher to mix everything well. Continue to mash as the veggies cook away with the masala.

  10. Add some water if needed to correct the consistency nd continue to mash and mix it all well. Cook for about 2-3 minutes more.

  11. Add some more butter. Mix it well and turn off the heat.

  12. Serve it piping hot with the pav.

For the perfect Pav -

  1. Heat butter in a pan, place the pav slit from between on the melted butter. Sprinkle some red chili powder and some chopped coriander on the pav as it flash toasts in the butter. Serve it piping hot with the bhaji.

Recipe Notes

You can add any veggie of your choice.

Use a good quality salted butter as that adds the maximum flavor.

You can add more chilies if you want it spicy. 

Love,
Shreya

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Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji

8 comments on “Bombay Pav Bhaji | How to Make Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji”

    • Alka … that’s so sweet of you!! 😊 Actually that’s all I can do to bring my food to life…click n narrate well… I wish I could offer a serving to my readers!!!

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