Pav Bhaji Juhu Beach

Pav Bhaji Juhu Beach, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

From Wikipedia

Pav Bhaji (Marathi: पाव भाजी) is a fast food dish that originated in Marathi cuisine, and is native to Maharashtra and is popular in most metropolitan areas in India, particularly in Pune.[1] Pav in Marathi means a small loaf of bread. The word has been derived from Portuguese pão (lit., "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 baked pav. The pav is usually buttered on all sides.


The origin of this dish is traced to the heyday of the textile mills in Mumbai. The mill workers used to have lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to strenuous physical labor after lunch. A vendor created this dish using items or parts of other dishes available on the menu.[citation needed] Roti or rice was replaced with pav and the curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were amalgamated into just one spicy concoction, the 'bhaji'. Initially, it remained the food of the mill-workers. With time the dish found its way into restaurants and spread over Central Mumbai and other parts of the city via the Udipi restaurants. [2][3]

Such is the popularity of this dish, that it is common to find it on the menu of most Indian restaurants serving fast food in Asia (especially Singapore, Hong Kong), America, UK (London), Switzerland and elsewhere.

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 grilled onion, green peas and chopped capsicum (green bell pepper). Other assorted vegetables like cauliflower and carrots are 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. 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, ('खडा'). Vegetables are not mashed, but small pieces cooked with masala gravy.
Jain Pav Bhaji, replacing the potatoes with unripe bananas, as the Jains do not eat potatoes. Onion and Garlic is not added either.
Kathyawadi Pav Bhaji with buttermilk, eaten particularly in the state of Gujarat.
Dryfruit Pav Bhaji with added dry fruits.
Punjab di Pav Bhaji, eaten in parts of Punjab and Haryana. The drink of choice to go along with it is often lassi.[citation needed]


A Versatile Dish

It can be eaten as a snack or as a meal in itself. It is often eaten as an evening snack between lunch and dinner, particularly in western India. In this part, Pav bhaji is available on hand carts and at kiosks. It is also available in hotels and eateries serving fast food. In recent years, Pav bhaji is also consumed as a light evening meal, and is also a party favorite.
[edit] In popular culture and media

Sanjay Dutt played the role of a pav bhaji vendor in the Hindi movie Vaastav.
In the Telugu film Dubai Seenu, Ravi Teja and his friends opened a pav bhaji stand on the road in Mumbai, India.