History

Pav bhaji emerged in 1850s Mumbai when textile mill workers needed cheap, quick lunches between shifts. Vendors near the Girangaon mills mashed leftover vegetables with butter and spice, then served the mash with the Portuguese-introduced pav. By the 1950s Sardar Pav Bhaji in Tardeo had become the canonical city version, and Mumbai still treats the dish as its working-class symbol.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Nightshade

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 50 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped (500g)
  • 1 medium cauliflower, chopped (300g)
  • 200g green peas
  • 2 medium capsicum, chopped
  • 4 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
  • 2 medium onions, chopped fine
  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
  • 3 tablespoons pav bhaji masala (Everest or MDH brand)
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 100g butter plus extra for serving
  • 8 white pavs
  • Salt to taste
  • Lime wedges and chopped onion for serving

Method

  1. Boil potato, cauliflower and peas in salted water 12 minutes until tender. Drain and roughly mash.
  2. Melt 50g butter in a wide pan. Add chopped onion, cook 5 minutes until soft and golden.
  3. Add ginger garlic paste, cook 1 minute. Add chopped tomato and capsicum, cook 8 minutes until tomatoes break down.
  4. Add pav bhaji masala, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Cook 2 minutes.
  5. Add the mashed vegetables and 200ml hot water. Mash again with a potato masher while cooking 10 minutes.
  6. Slice each pav. Heat a flat griddle with butter; toast both cut sides of the pav till golden.
  7. Top the bhaji with another knob of butter, serve with hot buttered pav, raw chopped onion and lime.

Tip from the editors. Keep mashing the bhaji as it cooks; the texture should be coarse, not smooth. Don't skimp on the butter.

Where to eat pav bhaji

Pav bhaji in Mumbai

Sardar Pav Bhaji ★ 4.6

Street food$tardeoDaily 12:00-00:00

Sardar charges INR 150 for the canonical Mumbai pav bhaji. Cheese version runs INR 200; counter service is faster than table service at busy lunch hours.

Try: Pav bhaji

Order: Pav bhaji with extra butter and a sweet lassi.

Tip: Counter service is fastest; ask for the extra-butter version.

166-A Tardeo Main Road Junction, Tardeo, Mumbai 400034

Cream Centre ★ 4.2

Indian$$chowpattyDaily 11:30-23:30

Cream Centre opened at Chowpatty Seaface in 1958 as a vegetarian sweets and snacks counter. The channa bhatura is the canonical dish; the hot fudge sundae.

Signature: Channa bhatura, Sizzler, Hot fudge sundae

Order: Channa bhatura with a Spanish omelette sizzler and a hot fudge sundae.

Tip: Family-friendly with a high-chair stock; weekday lunches are quietest.

25/B Chowpatty Seaface, Chowpatty, Girgaon, Mumbai 400007

Sukh Sagar ★ 4.0

Indian$chowpattyDaily 09:00-00:00

Sukh Sagar at Chowpatty has run a pure-veg multicuisine menu for four decades. The pav bhaji is INR 220, sandwiches and dosas around the same.

Try: Pav bhaji

Order: Pav bhaji and a sweet lassi.

Tip: Takeaway at the front counter is faster than table service. Cash and card both accepted.

Ground Floor, Marina Mansion, SVP Road, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400007

More cities are in research. Want pav bhaji covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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