Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Indian

Pav bhaji

Vegetarian

पाव भाजी · pav bhaji

A buttery, spiced mash of potatoes, cauliflower, peas, peppers and tomatoes served with soft bread rolls toasted on the griddle. Mumbai's famous street-food dinner.

Pav bhaji is an Indian street food, ready in about 1 hour and made with potato, butter and pav bhaji masala. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
A serving of Pav bhaji
Photo: Rupali Banarase / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
20 min
Cook
40 min
Total
1 h
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
541

Ingredients

4 servings

For the bhaji

For the pav

To serve

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Boil the potatoes (opens in a new tab), cauliflower (opens in a new tab), peas (opens in a new tab) and carrot (opens in a new tab) until very soft. Drain and mash roughly.

    Potatoes boiling in a pot
    How it looks · Photo: Lionel Ntasano on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Melt most of the bhaji butter (opens in a new tab) in a wide pan over medium heat. Fry the onion (opens in a new tab) until soft, then add the garlic (opens in a new tab), ginger, green chilli (opens in a new tab) and green pepper (opens in a new tab) and cook until the pepper softens.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Add the tomatoes (opens in a new tab) with the pav bhaji masala (opens in a new tab), chilli powder, turmeric (opens in a new tab) and salt, and cook, mashing, until the tomatoes completely break down.

    • 7 min
    • medium heat

  4. Step 4

    Add the mashed vegetables and water and keep mashing over the heat until you have a thick, smooth bhaji. Simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the remaining butter (opens in a new tab), lemon juice (opens in a new tab) and coriander.

    • 8 min
    • medium-low heat

  5. Step 5

    Spread the cut sides of the pav with butter (opens in a new tab) and toast on a hot griddle until golden. Serve with the bhaji, chopped red onion (opens in a new tab) and lemon (opens in a new tab) wedges.

    A flatbread cooking on a hot griddle
    How it looks · Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Mumbai, Maharashtra, Maharashtra, India · Well documentedMore food from India
Dish
Dinner · Snack · Street food · Main courses
Cooking method
Boiled, Sautéed, Toasted
Taste
buttery, spicy (chilli heat), tangy, savoury
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food · Child-friendly · Make-ahead
Cook more with
Potato · Butter · White bread · Cauliflower · Green peas · Onion
Techniques
Toasting · Sautéing · Boiling · Simmering · Spice roasting (dry-roasting)

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom butter, white bread
  • May contain: Eggsfrom white bread
  • Contains: Wheatfrom white bread
  • Contains: Glutenfrom white bread
  • May contain: Soyfrom white bread
  • May contain: Sesamefrom white bread

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

541 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 552 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 10%
  • Carbohydrate 57%
  • Fat 33%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy541 kcal98 kcal
Protein14.5 g2.6 g
Carbohydrate79.4 g14.4 g
Net carbohydrate68 g12.3 g
Sugars14.3 g2.6 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre11.5 g2.1 g
Fat20.2 g3.7 g
Saturated fat11.1 g2 g
Trans fat0.7 g0.1 g
Cholesterol43 mg8 mg
Sodium1165 mg211 mg
Salt equivalent2.9 g0.5 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
1248 mg
Calcium
210 mg
Iron
5.9 mg
Magnesium
92 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
237 µg
Vitamin C
104 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
231 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: carrot, red onion, lemon.
  • Pav bhaji masala: Curry powder (FDC 170924) used as a stand-in: a Mumbai street-food blend heavy in chilli, coriander and amchur.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • A potato masher used directly in the pan gives the right street-stall texture.

Common mistakes

  • Leaving the bhaji too thin — it should hold its shape on a spoon.

Serve with

  • Top with an extra knob of butter, as the street vendors do.

Storage

  • The bhaji keeps 3 days refrigerated or 2 months frozen.

Reheating

  • Reheat in a pan with a splash of water and a little butter.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

Accompaniments

To serve

  • Red onion, finely chopped, to serve (optional)0.5 piece · 55 g
  • Lemon, cut into wedges (optional)1 piece · 85 g
Used in step 5

Masalas in this recipe

Make the masala first, then come back to finish the dish.

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

You might also like