Mention the word ‘Pav Bhaji’ to a Mumbaikar (a native of Mumbai) and see them go into a food swoon, thinking about their favourite Pav Bhaji thela (street stall) or restaurant. I remember this restaurant very close to my college which was supposed to have one of the best pav bhaji’s in our part of Mumbai and people used to come from near and far to eat this.

Pav Bhaji, which is a complete meal in itself started life as a quick on-to-go meal for the mill workers in what was then Bombay in 1850s. According to Wikipedia, “The mill workers used to have lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to strenuous physical labor after lunch. A vendor created this dish using items or parts of other dishes available on the menu.” In time this dish, along with a few others like Vada Pav, have come to become ubiquitous dishes that define Mumbai.

Since we had the long CNY break last week, I decided to make Pav Bhaji on one of the days. So without much further ado, here’s my take on the Mumbai street-food.

Pav Bhaji

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower, chopped into small pieces
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• ½ head broccoli, chopped into small pieces
• 3-4 potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup French beans, finely chopped
• 1 green capsicum, finely chopped
• 8-10 red onions, finely chopped
• 7-8 ripe red tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsps garlic paste
• 1-2 tbsps green chilli paste
• 2 tbsps red chilli powder
• 2 tbsps Kashmiri red chilli powder (optional, for the colour)
• Salt to taste
• 3-4 tbsps Pav Bhaji Masala
• Ghee or butter (optional, but if added gives a delicious taste to the bhaji)
• Pav (We usually don’t get Pav, so use Burger or Hotdog bread)
• 2-3 tbsps oil

Method:

Finely chop all the vegetables. In a pressure cooker, cook the cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, French beans and peas for 3-4 whistles with little water, just enough that it does not burn. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook in a large pot until they become mushy. Do not add a lot a water as then the bhaji will become watery. Once the pressure is released, mash the vegetables till you get a nice consistency, none of the vegetables should be really seen.

In a separate pan, pour oil and when it heats up, add in the ginger, garlic and chilli pastes. Fry it for a while till the raw smell goes away, then add the onions, fry for a minute and add the capsicum. Once the raw smell of the onions and capsicum is gone, add the tomatoes and cook till they turn mushy. You can add some salt here to help the process. Also mash them so that they have the same consistency as the vegetables.

Once both the vegetables and the onion-tomato paste is of the same consistency, pour the paste into the vegetables. Add salt to taste, then add the pav bhaji masala and the Kashmiri red chilli powder. After a few minutes, add the ghee/butter and your bhaji is ready!

To serve, cut the bread into halves and toast lightly. You can also add butter to this to make it authentically Mumbai, but I prefer to dry toast it. Serve with loads of finely chopped onions and coriander with a dash of lime.

Enjoy and imagine you are in Mumbai!