In short: Pav bhaji is a Mumbai street food: a spicy, buttery mash of vegetables (bhaji) cooked with pav bhaji masala and eaten with soft bread rolls (pav) toasted in butter. Our Pav Bhaji (₹160, 300 g, serves about 2) is the bhaji, ready in 3 to 4 minutes; you add the pav.
Where does pav bhaji come from?
It is often traced to the textile mills of 19th-century Bombay, where street cooks mashed leftover vegetables with spices and butter for a quick, filling meal served with bread. Today it is sold at every Mumbai beach and street corner.
What is in the bhaji?
Potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum, cauliflower, green peas and more, cooked and mashed together with butter and pav bhaji masala, the way the street carts make it. Ours is spicy, buttery and tangy, and contains milk.
How do you serve pav bhaji at home?
- Heat the bhaji.
- Toast pav in butter on a pan.
- Top the bhaji with a little butter, chopped onion, coriander and a squeeze of lemon.
How do you heat it?
Drop the sealed pouch into boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, or empty it into a pan for 2 to 3 minutes on a medium flame. It keeps 12 months at room temperature, so there is nothing to thaw. Once opened, eat it straight away, or refrigerate it and finish within 24 hours. More in how to heat a ready-to-eat pouch.
It is cooked in small batches in our family kitchen in Morbi, sealed in a foil pouch at 121°C with no preservatives, and delivered across India (2 working days in Gujarat, 3 to Mumbai, 3 to 5 elsewhere; free delivery above ₹799).
Questions people ask
What is pav bhaji made of?
A mash of vegetables, mainly potato, tomato, capsicum, cauliflower and peas, cooked with butter and pav bhaji masala, eaten with buttered pav.
Is pav bhaji spicy?
Usually medium-spicy and tangy; the butter and lemon balance it.
Is pav bhaji Jain?
No: the classic bhaji has potato, and ours is cooked with onion and garlic. See our Jain dishes.
How many people does a pouch of pav bhaji serve?
One 300 g pouch serves about 2, with pav.
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