Pav Bhaji : A Popular Indian Street Food Snack

What is Pav Bhaji ?
Pav bhaji is a Maharashtrian fast food dish that originated in Mumbai cuisine. It is native to Mumbai and has now become popular in most metropolitan areas in India, especially in those of central and western Indian states such as Gujarat and Karnataka. Pav in Marathi means a small loaf of bread. Bhaji in Marathi means vegetable dish. Pav bhaji consists of bhaji (a thick potato-based curry) garnished with coriander, chopped onion, and a dash of lemon and lightly toasted pav. The pav is usually buttered on all sides.

Preparation
The recipe for Pav Bhaji varies greatly as it is essentially a fast food dish to be prepared quickly. The general procedure for making the bhaji remains the same. Potatoes are mashed on a flat griddle (tava), and made into a thick gravy after adding diced tomatoes, finely chopped onion, green peas and chopped capsicum (green bell pepper). Other assorted vegetables such as cauliflower and carrots are mashed and added. Garlic too is added at times to spice it up. A special blend of spices simply called the pav bhaji masala is added to this thick gravy giving pav bhaji its authentic slightly orange brown color. The gravy is then allowed to simmer on the pan for a few minutes and is served hot in a flat dish with a tablespoon of butter on top.
The pav is heated on the griddle and buttered generously. The Bhaji is garnished with coriander and diced onions.

In restaurants some more varieties are available including;

• Cheese Pav Bhaji, in which the bhaji had an additional garnishing of cheese
• Paneer Pav Bhaji, Prepared with paneer(cottage cheese) as one of the ingredients in the bhaji along with the vegetables.
• Mushroom Pav Bhaji, with mushrooms as one of the ingredients in the bhaji along with the vegetables.
• Khada Pav Bhaji. Vegetables are not mashed, but small pieces cooked with masala gravy.
• Jain Pav Bhaji, replacing the potatoes with plantain, as the Jains do not eat potatoes. Onion and Garlic is not added either.
• Kathiyawadi Pav Bhaji with buttermilk, eaten particularly in the Kathiyawadi.
• Dryfruit Pav Bhaji with added dry fruits.