Pav Bhaji is popular Indian street food where dinner rolls/buns are served with spicy mashed veggies topped with dollop of butter. Street food doesn’t get better than this!
This Pav Bhaji Recipe is spicy, so flavorful and can be easily made vegan by replacing butter with vegan butter. If you have never had this in your life, you are seriously missing out!
What is Pav Bhaji?
Pav Bhaji is popular Indian street food originating from Mumbai.
It has spicy mashed vegetables served with dinner rolls. Pav refers to the bread and bhaji means vegetables.
A special blend of spices known as pav bhaji masala is used to flavor the dish, which is finished with lots of butter and cilantro!
It came into existence in 1800s when cotton mill workers in the city had to work for long hours and would often miss their meals and remain hungry. So pav bhaji was that easy quick meal which was invented to feed these workers during those times.
There are different types of pav bhaji depending on how it’s made. There’s Jain version which is minus the onion and garlic. Then there’s Kathiyawadi Pav Bhaji which uses some local spices and is popular in the Kathiawar region in Gujarat. There’s also Khada Pav bhaji where vegetables are not mashed (khada=straight).
Ingredients
There are 2 parts to this recipe – the pav and the bhaji.
Ingredients for The Bhaji (other than basic staples like onion, tomato, ginger, garlic & green chili).
- Vegetables: bhaji is made with mixed vegetables and the most commonly used vegetables in pav bhaji are potatoes, cauliflower, green pepper, peas. Carrots, beets, beans are also commonly used.
- Pav bhaji masala: the main flavor in the bhaji comes from a special blend of spices known as pav bhaji masala. You can either get it from Indian grocery store (I like Everest) or make it at home (see recipe below).
- Kashmiri red chili powder: this is added mainly for color. Do not confuse it with regular chili powder, this one isn’t hot.
- Butter: there’s no good pav bhaji without lots of butter! I love using amul butter in my pav bhaji.
- Tomato puree: along with fresh tomatoes, I also like adding some store bought tomato puree for extra flavor. I would highly recommend not skipping it.
- Garnishes: to finish the pav bhaji, you would need a good squeeze of lemon juice and lots of cilantro.
How to Make Pav Bhaji Masala (Homemade Pav Bhaji Masala)
You can get this masala easily at any Indian store. It’s a blend of spices like coriander, cumin seeds, fennel, cinnamon, amchur (dried mango powder) and more. I prefer Everest brand of pav bhaji masala, but you may use whatever you like!
To make pav bhaji masala, you would need:
- 4 tablespoons coriander seeds (20 grams)
- 2 tablespoon cumin seeds (18 grams)
- 5 dried red chilies (3-4 grams), adjust to taste
- 8 cloves
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (9 grams)
- 3 black cardamom
- 1 cinnamon stick, around 2 inches
- 1.5 teaspoon turmeric powder (6 grams)
- 2 teaspoon ground black pepper (6 grams)
- 1.5 tablespoon amchur (18 grams)
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger (1 gram)
- 2 teaspoon black salt (12 grams)
Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, dried red chilies, cloves, fennel seeds, black cardamom and cinnamon stick in a pan on medium heat until fragrant, around 3 to 4 minutes.
Let it cool and then transfer spices to a spice grinder. Stir turmeric powder, ground black pepper, amchur, ground ginger and black salt.
Grind until powdered and well combined. Store pav bhaji masala in an airtight container at room temperature and use as required. This makes around 100 grams of pav bhaji masala.
How to Make Pav Bhaji – Step by Step Instructions
1- Boil the veggies first and keep them ready.
2- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and oil in a large pot on medium heat. Once the butter melts and oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
3- Add the chopped onions and mix. I like to use my food processor to chop them really fine.
4- Cook the onions for around 4 minutes until golden brown in color. Add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chili. Again, I used my food processor to chop them really fine.
Cook the ginger-garlic-green chili for 1 minute.
5- Add chopped tomatoes and mix well. Let the tomatoes cook for 2 minutes.
6- Add tomato puree, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover the pan and let the tomato cook for 6 minutes until softened and completely cooked.
7- Add the pav bhaji masala, Kashmiri red chili powder, red chili powder and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. You may also add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar here (optional).
8- Mix well and then add in 2 teaspoons of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves).
9- Stir in the boiled veggies and mix.
10- Using a potato masher, mash the veggies until they are completely mixed with the masala.
11- Add the remaining 3/4 – 1 cup water and mix. I used an immersion blender to blend the veggies to a paste like consistency, this is optional. You may keep them as such.
Cover the pot and set heat to low. Let the bhaji simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
12- Open the pot and add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
13- Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro.
14- Then add in juice of 1 large lemon. Let the bhaji simmer for 2 more minutes and then remove pan from heat.
15- To toast the pav, melt butter on a pan. Sprinkle some pav bhaji masala on top of the butter and then place the buns on the pan.
16- Press to toast the pav until crisp and golden brown from both sides.
Serving Suggestions
To serve the pav bhaji, place ladle full of bhaji in a plate. Top the bhaji with a dollop of Amul butter. Serve with 2 pavs and a side of chopped onions and a lemon wedge. I like to serve with lots of onions on the sides, it tastes really amazing that way!
Tips to Make the Best Pav Bhaji
- Use lots of butter and kasuri methi! Preferably use Amul butter in your bhaji.
- A generous squeeze of lemon juice is must before serving.
- Garnish with lots of cilantro.
- Use fresh ginger and garlic, the store bought ginger-garlic paste won’t give the same flavor.
- When toasting the pav/bun, add a pinch of pav bhaji masala and kasuri methi to the butter and then toast the pav.
- Don’t forget the chopped onions while serving the pav bhaji!