A quintessential Mumbaiya dish that represents the spirit of Mumbai in every sense. Pav Bhaji shares its rich legacy with the city in which it was born.
This dish is a wonderful amalgamation of different vegetables, mashed and spiced with flavorful Pav Bhaji Masala and cooked on hot sizzling tawa. This Bhaji is served with butter laden Pav roasted on the same Tawa till it absorbs all the flavor of the Bhaji. Finally, the Bhaji is topped with lots of crunchy Onions, dash of lime and some more butter and that ladies and gentlemen is one of the most iconic street food dishes in India-Pav Bhaji for you.
Pav Bhaji is one of those dishes that bears testimony to a Mumbaikar’s (Mumbai resident) spirt, the much talked about and praised-survival spirit. The towering sky scrapers, malls and residential towers that adorn the skies of Mumbai now, were missing in those days. We are talking about the city in the decade of 70s. The majority of Mumbaikar belonged to economically lower rungs of society whose fortunes were interweaved with that of Mumbai’s textile mills. The bread earners for most families were employed in one of the hundreds of mills that existed in city and seemed indispensable in that era. The onset of the following decade was witness to the fall of Mumbai’s mill culture and disrupted millions of lives, but let me not digress from the post.
I brought up mills and mill-workers in this blog post for the sake of context and to explain how mill-workers were an inseparable part of Mumbai’s culture-where Pav Bhaji was born. The tale of its birth goes like this. Mill Workers had their lunch breaks which were too short for a full meal and they preferred something lighter that would keep them full and not let them doze off. Some enterprising street food vendor, having figured out this dilemma came up with this wonderful recipe. He mashed most of the vegetables that were on his menu and prepared a flavorful Bhaji serving it with the well-known Pav. The dish that was restricted to the streets later proliferated and became available in high end restaurants and Udupi hotels too. The story of its invention is a hard fact or an apocryphal is anybody’s guess. For me this could be a folklore like so many others that are told and retold in foodie community and it makes for an interesting read.
We have shared the recipe of Pav Bhaji earlier made in typical Mumbaiya style on a Tawa on Gas stove. Our viewers on YouTube often ask for a Microwave version of a dish and so in this post we are sharing the microwave version of Pav Bhaji.
You can find several other microwave recipes here.
Make this delicious Pav Bhaji as a part of your weekend lunch menu and share your feedback with us in the comment section below.
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
- 1 Cup=125 gms Cauliflower florets
- 2 medium sized=150gms Potatoes-cut into cubes
- 1 Large=100gms Onion-finely chopped
- 2 Large=200 gms Tomatoes-finely chopped
- ¼th Cup=40 gms frozen Green Peas
- ¼th Cup=40 gms Carrots-finely chopped
- ¼th Cup=40 gms Capsicum-finely chopped
- ¼th Cup fresh Coriander Leaves-finely chopped
- ¼th tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
- 2 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala
- Salt
- Butter
- Cooking Oil
- We will start with boiling the vegetables. Take a Microwave Safe bowl. This is 750ml bowl with a lid. Add Cauliflower florets, Carrots, Potatoes, Green Peas, capsicum and some Salt. Add 1½ Cup water while boiling of vegetables and mix well. Cook in Microwave for 12 mins on High Power
- a) Mode: - Micro b) Power:- High (900W) c) Time:- 12 mins d) Press Start Cook uncovered
- Vegetables get cooked in 12 mins. Now strain the vegetables and collect water in a bowl. Reserve water
- Collect boiled vegetables in a bowl and with a potato masher, mash all the vegetables into a fine and smooth paste.
- In a Microwave safe bowl, put 1 tbsp butter. Add 1½ tbsp Cooking Oil. Microwave on High power for 30 seconds
- a) Mode: - Micro b) Power:- High (900W) c) Time:- 30 secs d) Press Start Cook uncovered
- When butter melts, add chopped Onions and mix well. Cook in Microwave for 4 mins on High Power
- a) Mode: - Micro b) Power:- High (900W) c) Time:- 4 mins d) Press Start Cook uncovered
- After 4 mins, add Ginger Garlic paste and mix well. Cook in Microwave for 3 mins on High Power
- a) Mode: - Micro b) Power:- High (900W) c) Time:- 3 mins d) Press Start Cook uncovered
- Ginger Garlic gets cooked in 3 mins. Now, add chopped Tomatoes. Cook covered in Microwave for 4 mins on High Power
- a) Mode: - Micro b) Power:- High (900W) c) Time:- 4 mins d) Press Start Cook Covered
- Tomatoes have become soft and mushy in 4 mins. Add all dry spices-Turmeric Powder, Red Chili Powder, Pav Bhaji Masala and some freshly chopped Coriander leaves. Add Salt to taste and mix well. Mash tomatoes with spoon as you mix the masalas. Cook in Microwave 2 mins on High Power
- a) Mode: - Micro b) Power:- High (900W) c) Time:- 2 mins d) Press Start Cook uncovered
- Now, add some butter and mashed vegetables and mix well. Add reserved water (approx ½ cup). Add some more water to adjust the consistency. I have used total 1½ Cup water. Cover and cook on High power
- a) Mode: - Micro b) Power: - High (900W) c) Time:- 7 mins d) Press Start Cook Covered
- Pause the timer after 4 mins and give a stir. Put the bowl back in Microwave and cook for remaining 3 mins
- After 3 mins, Bhaji is ready
- Now, we will grill the Pav before serving the Pav Bhaji. We can use a nonstick Tawa which can be used in Grill mode. DO NOT use this Tawa in Micro Mode. USE it in Grill mode. Smear this Tawa with some melted butter. Put the Pav in the tawa and grill. Place the tawa on the glass tray.
- a) Mode: - Grill b) Time:- 2 mins c) Press Start
- Serve Hot
Click to watch recipe video
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