Mumbai Street Style Pav Bhaji recipe.

Making of Pav bhaji recipe at home with detailed step-by-step pictures. Pav bhaji is a delicious Mumbai street-style snack mainly a combination of a perfect butter-toasted bun(called pav) and a spicy & creamy finger-licking vegetable curry(called bhaji). Though homemade however tastewise simply best. Easy to prepare at home with simple spices along with a few tricks.

About Pav bhaji recipe

Pav bhaji is one of the best street-style food in Mumbai. On an easy note, pressure-cooked( or instant pot) veggies(mainly potato, carrot, and green peas) mashed & cooked with pav bhaji masala(store-bought or homemade) and served with butter-toasted rolled bread is called pav bhaji. 

Butter-toasted rolled bread & lip-smacking hot, spicy, and flavourful thick mashed vegetable curry complement each other. Even that curry is made more delicious by topping up with a perfect cube of butter and a sprinkle of chopped onion- fresh coriander. A squeeze of lemon from the top makes it more delicious. 

The secret of Mumbai street style pav bhaji

Pav bhaji’s(Mumbai street style)secret is hidden in its masala. Though the secret of the street-style recipe doesn’t hide in only the packet masala. To get that original Mumbai street style taste needs to include cumin-coriander powder, dry roasted Kasuri methi, and black salt to its ingredients list.

Though along with the spices, today I will share a trick to make Mumbai street style pav bhaji’s rich texture. That trick really works for me. So here I don’t use any food color to get that rich red texture. Though the texture is optional only taste matters. To know all the secrets about this recipe please stay with me till the end.

Please let me know how this street-style pav bhaji worked in your kitchen by leaving a comment in the comment box below.

If you are searching for street foods, India, then you may check my chicken roll recipe and mochar chop recipe(Kolkata street food).

Pav bhaji recipe(Mumbai street style)

Ingredients of pav bhaji

For Boing Veggies

• 1 ½ cup of Water
• 4 medium Potatoes
• 1 Carrot
• 1/2 cup Green peas

For Making Bhaji 

• 1 ½ tsp Kasuri methi (roasted)
• 3 tbsp + 1 ½ tbsp Butter
• 2 tsp Vegetable oil
• 3 medium Onion (finely chopped)
• 3/4 cup(= 1 medium) Capsicum
• 1 cup(= 4 medium) chopped Tomatoes
• 2 pcs Green chilies
• 1/2 tsp Ginger paste
• 1  tsp Garlic paste
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1 ½ tsp Kasuri methi (roasted)
• 2 ½ tbsp Pav bhaji masala (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 ½ tsp Spicy Red Chili powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 ½ tsp Cumin powder
• 2 tsp Coriander powder
• 2 tsp Black salt
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder (optional)
• A handful of Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
• Salt (as per taste)

For Toasting Pav (Bread/Bun)

• 2-3  tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tsp Pav bhaji masala
• 8 pcs Pav or Bun or Bread roll

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 25-30mins

Served in: 40-45 mins

Course: Evening snacks/street food

Cuisine: Indian(Maharastra)

Serving: 8-10 people

Author: Moumita Paul

How to make Pav bhaji with detailed step-by-step pictures

Instructions

Boiling veggies(potato, carrot, green peas) in the pressure cooker

• Thoroughly wash all the vegetables 3-4 times in running water. Peel out the potatoes and carrots, and cut them into pieces.
• Take 1/2 cup of peas and wash them too in water.
• Now take a pressure cooker and put all the veggies in it.

• Add 1 1/2 cup of water in it.

• Place the pressure cooker on the heat and wait for the 6-7 whistle.
• Turn off the heat and wait until the pressure is released automatically.

Mashing veggies

• Once the pressure cooker cools down, remove the lid and mash all the veggies(don’t need to strain the water) with the help of a masher.

Preparing bhaji for pav

Adding butter to the pan 

• Heat a pan on medium heat, dry roast the kasuri methi, and ground it to make a powder.
• Add 2 tsp oil and 3 tbsp butter to the same pan.

Frying chopped onion in butter

• When the butter melts down and is completely mixed up with the oil, add chopped onion to it.

Fry chopped capsicum and green chilli

• Let it fry for 5-6 mins, then add chopped capsicum to it. Saute it till it gets soft.
•  Then add chopped green chili to it.

Adding turmeric and red chilli powder

• Add the 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 1/2 tsp chili powder to it. Mix it nicely with the veggies.

Add chopped tomatoes

• Then add chopped tomato and saute it for 2-3 mins.

Adding salt to taste

• Add then 1/2 tsp salt, then the salted veggies will start releasing water and that water will make it soft.

Adding ginger and garlic paste

• It’s time to add 1 1/2 tsp garlic paste and 3/4 tsp ginger paste to it.

Adding secret masala ingredients

• Now add the secret ingredients of this recipe, 1 tsp black salt + 1+1/2 tsp cumin powder + 2 tsp coriander powder + 1+1/2 tsp roasted ground Kasuri methi to it. These are the secret masalas used in street-style shops.

Adding store-bought packet pav bhaji masala

• Lastly, add 2+1/2 tbsp Pav bhaji masala( I’ve used Everest pav bhaji masala) and saute all ingredients for 2-3 mins.

Mashing sauteed veggies with masala

• Then take the masher and mash the sauteed veggies.

Adding chopped coriander leaves

• Add chopped coriander to the pan and mix it well.

Adding water

• After 1 min adds 1 cup of water to it. Let’s bring it to a boil.

Adding lemon juice to the gravy

• Then add 2 tbsp lemon juice(about 1 medium lemon) to it.

Adding boiled mashed vegetables to the gravy

• Now add the boiled mashed veggies to the pan and mix it nicely.

• Bring it to boil, in the meantime take a small tadka pan to add 1+1/2 tbsp butter to it.

Making tadka of Kashmiri red chilli in butter

• Let the butter melts down, then add 1+1/2 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder(optional) to get that rich-colored gravy. That is my own trick except using red food colors like street-side pav bhaji stalls. Fry it for 25-30 secs.

Chilli-butter tadka in bhaji curry

• Add it to the gravy and mix it well.

• As boiled mashed veggies will turn it to be a thick gravy, so you can add some water to get your desired consistency. Bring it to a boil. Add salt as required.

Bhaji is ready for pav bhaji

• When the gravy will start to be thick & creamy, turn off the heat. Mumbai street-style Bhaji is ready to serve.

Making bread for pav bhaji

• Take a flat pan or tawa, add 1+1/2 tbsp butter + 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder + 1/2 tsp Pav bhaji masala to it. Mix it well.
• Slit all the pav from its side and divided it into 2 parts( top and bottom part).

• Now put the pav on the tawa and toast it from both sides for a few seconds.

• Apply the same method for toasting the rest of the pav with the rest amount of butter, Kashmiri red chili, and pav bhaji masala.
• Pav bhaji is ready, serve the toasted pav with the spicy, delicious hot bhaji with chopped onion, coriander leaves, a wedge of lemon, and lastly a generous cube of butter.

Tips for making the best pav bhaji recipe

• If you add Kashmiri red chili powder in the hot oil or ghee or butter and saute it for a few seconds. And then if you add this mix to gravy, that will surely add a rich color texture to the gravy. And this trick always works for me. You may skip this step. Even you can use red food color too. 
• Add a generous amount of butter to making the bhaji & bread both to make it more delicious.
• Here I used store-bought pav bhaji masala for a quick pav bhaji recipe. If you wish you can make this masala at your home.