Snacks & street food · Maharashtra

Pav Bhaji

Mumbai's beach-stall favourite: mashed spiced vegetables cooked down in plenty of butter, scooped up with soft pav toasted on the same griddle.

Prep 20 min · Cook 35 min · Total 55 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 3 Medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup Cauliflower florets
• ½ cup Green peas
• 1 Green capsicum, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Salt

Bhaji

• 4 tbsp Butter
• 2 Onions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 2 Green chillies, finely chopped
• 4 Ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Pav bhaji masala
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ Lemon, juiced
• 3 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped

To serve

• 8 Pav (soft dinner rolls)
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Lemon, in wedges

Method

1. Boil the vegetables. Pressure-cook the potatoes, cauliflower and peas with the salt and 1 cup water for 3 whistles, or boil until very soft. Mash roughly in their water and keep.
2. Build the base. In a wide heavy pan or tawa, melt 3 tbsp butter and fry the onions until soft and light gold. Add the ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and capsicum and cook 3 minutes.
3. Cook the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, pav bhaji masala, chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Cook, mashing with a potato masher, until the tomatoes melt and the butter shows at the edges.
4. Mash together. Tip in the mashed vegetables with their water and keep mashing and stirring over medium heat until thick and smooth, loosening with splashes of hot water. Finish with the last spoon of butter, the lemon juice and coriander.
5. Toast the pav. Slit the pav horizontally without separating the halves. Butter the cut sides, sprinkle with a pinch of pav bhaji masala and toast face down on the hot tawa until crisp.
6. Serve. Serve the bhaji hot with a knob of butter on top, the toasted pav, chopped onion and lemon wedges.

Tips

Brand of pav bhaji masala makes the biggest difference to the taste; Everest or Badshah are what most Mumbai stalls use.