With its combination of tender buttered dinner rolls, crisp onions, and refreshing lemon wedges, Pav Bhaji makes for a satisfying and flavorful lunch. It features a great mix of spicy mixed vegetables. This homemade Mumbai street food snack meal is so good that everyone will love it. It has strong flavors. For a hectic weeknight, there is no better or easier dinner to prepare than this.It’s good for you, tastes great, and has so many flavors that it takes you right to the busy streets of Chowpatty.
My easy recipe shows you how to prepare the BEST Pav Bhaji at home using a standard pan, a stovetop pressure cooker, or an Instant Pot. This site has a full, step-by-step Pav Bhaji recipe with all the tips, replacements, variations, and secrets you need to make it taste just like the street vendors in Mumbai.
Pav Bhaji is a combination of:
- Pav – soft bread rolls (inspired by Portuguese pão).
- Bhaji – a spiced, buttery mash of vegetables like potatoes, peas, cauliflower, and capsicum.
It originated in the 1850s in Mumbai, where textile mill workers needed a quick yet filling meal. People on the street cooked up extra veggies with spices, mashed them up, and served them with bread. Over time, Pav Bhaji became a legendary Indian fast food—enjoyed at stalls, restaurants, and homes alike. Whether you’re in an expensive restaurant, a school or college cafeteria, or even a street vendor in India, you’re bound to see this. Plus, it’s a staple in any international restaurant serving Indian food. People says that Mumbai serves the BEST Pav Bhaji but it will be the bestest onetry it by yourself.
Aloo tikki, Idali sambhar, Masala Dosa, and Pani Puri are just a few of the many tasty Indian street snacks. This dish is different from the others because of its strong smell. A lot of Indians probably find it hard to go past a restaurant without giving in to the urge. There’s little doubt that this is the most popular street food in Mumbai, India!
Video Guide For Pav Bhaji Recipe
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Ingredients for Pav Bhaji
Here’s a breakdown of what you need for the best Pav Bhaji recipe:
Vegetables (boiled & mashed)
- 3 medium potatoes
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- ½ cup carrots (optional, for sweetness & color)
- ½ cup green peas
- 1 medium green bell pepper (capsicum), finely chopped
For the Bhaji (spiced curry)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp butter (more for richness)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 3 large tomatoes, finely chopped or pureed
- 2 green chilies (optional, adjust heat)
Spices
- 2 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp kasuri methi (crushed, optional but flavorful)
For Serving
- 6 pav buns (soft bread rolls)
- Butter for toasting
- Lemon wedges
- Finely chopped onion & fresh coriander leaves
Recipe
You can easily make Pav Bhaji at home with this recipe, and it tastes great!You won’t have to do much work other than getting ready. This is a classic, but it’s not the best appetizer; it’s better for a dinner. No one wants to stop at just one or two dishes of this.
Bhaji is a mix of veggies cooked with butter and pav bhaji masala, a specific spice mix that makes everything taste amazing. There is a lot of butter on top of the sizzling hot bhaji, and coriander leaves are used to decorate it. After that, it is served with buttered pav, chopped onions, and slices of lemon. You can now dip the pav into the bhaji and eat it.
Here are two simple ways to make bhaji that I want to share with you. The first step is to boil all the veggies, like potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beetroot, and peas. Then, to add flavor, mix them with sautéed onion, tomato, and pav bhaji masala. The second way is a one-pot variation. You start by making the masala base with spices, onion, and tomato. Then, you add the fresh vegetables right to it for pressure cooking. You can chose which way you like best because both offer you that real street-style taste.
This is cooked under pressure with the ground spices. If you have a pressure cooker, such an instant pot or a stovetop Indian cooker, do this.
Make Pav Bhaji Masala
There are a lot of ready-made pav bhaji masala powders on the market, but I like to make my own spice mix at home. You won’t get the same deep smell and taste from purchased masalas as you will from freshly ground ones.
If you want to try my version, just dry roast the spices listed below, let them cool fully, and then use a spice grinder to turn them into a fine powder. This fresh and fragrant handmade masala will take your pav bhaji to the next level.
- 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds
- One black cardamom
- Two green cardamoms
- 1 tablespoon of cumin or jeera
- 1 tsp of peppercorn
- ½ tablespoon of fennel seeds
- Three dried red chilies
- A chunk of cinnamon that is 1 inch long
- Three to four cloves
- ½ tablespoon of amchur, which is dried mango powder
For more street foods like this
How to make Pav Bhaji (step – by-step)
Bhaji Recipe (Step by Step)
- Chop Vegetables
- 250 gm potato
- 1 carrot
- One small cauliflower
- 1 beetroot
- ½–1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
- 1 capsicum (keep aside for later)
- Pressure Cook Vegetables
- Heat little oil + 1 tbsp butter in pressure cooker.
- Add 1 tsp cumin seeds.
- Put 1 tbsp pav bhaji masala.
- Add chopped tomatoes and all vegetables (except capsicum & onion).
- Add 1 cup water, mix, and pressure cook for 4–5 whistles.
- Mash vegetables lightly after cooking.
- Heat little oil + 1 tbsp butter in pressure cooker.
- Prepare Masala Base
- In a big pan, heat 2 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp butter.
- Add chopped onions and sauté till golden.
- Add capsicum, sauté 2–3 minutes.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and cook.
- Put chili powder, pav bhaji masala, and salt. Mix well.
- Add Cooked Vegetables
- Add boiled & mashed vegetables to masala.
- Mix well and mash further for smooth texture.
- Cook on medium heat 10–15 minutes, stirring.
- Adjust water if needed.
- Add 1 tsp pav bhaji masala + 1 tbsp butter at the end.
- Add boiled & mashed vegetables to masala.
- Ready to Serve
Bhaji is ready. Serve hot with butter-toasted pav, onion, lemon, and coriander
