Delicious Homestyle Bombay Pav Bhaji Recipe

Q: What Is Pav BHaji?

Pav bhaji simply translates to “pav,” which is the bread that’s served, and “bhaji” refers to the curried vegetables. Pav bhaji is a popular street food item served in North India. The main flavour profile comes from the tomato-rich gravy with some mashed potatoes! We’re also going to be adding some traditional Indian spices. As mentioned earlier, you can add a variety of veggies to your pav bhaji. However, on the streets, the main focus is in the potatoes and in onions. I’ll be preparing mine in a similar fashion in this recipe!

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About this recipe

Make authentic homestyle Bombay Pav Bhaji at home with this easy recipe. Buttery, spiced vegetables served with toasted pav make the perfect Indian brunch everyone will love.

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Pav bhaji is near and dear to my heart, and I think all North Indians will agree on this! I like to call pav bhaji an “Indian sloppy joe” because I really think it is! Although this is meatless, you have a thick and rich gravy and you serve it up on some toasted bread! I’ve never actually had a real sloppy joe’s, but I’m sure the satisfaction of enjoying it is exactly the same as indulging in some pav bhaji!

You’ll see that this recipe is actually incredibly easy! I’m keeping it very simple here by mainly focusing on the tomato and potato goodness! As I’ll discuss later in this post, there are many variations that you can experiment with by switching up the ingredients. But here we’ll stick to the basics, and this is my favourite way to prepare pav bhaji!

Pav bhaji can be enjoyed as a fantastic brunch or as a satisfying dinner. Growing up, no matter what time of day you’re having pav bhaji, you’re going to fall in love with this recipe and want to make it again!

What Is Pav BHaji?▼

Pav bhaji simply translates to “pav,” which is the bread that’s served, and “bhaji” refers to the curried vegetables. Pav bhaji is a popular street food item served in North India. The main flavour profile comes from the tomato-rich gravy with some mashed potatoes! We’re also going to be adding some traditional Indian spices.

As mentioned earlier, you can add a variety of veggies to your pav bhaji. However, on the streets, the main focus is in the potatoes and in onions. I’ll be preparing mine in a similar fashion in this recipe!

Bombay pav bhaji served on a white plate with buttered pav bread, spiced bhaji curry, and lemon wedge garnish.

Tips for Making the Best Bombay Style Pav Bhaji

Butter is your best friend when it comes to pav bhaji, so don’t skimp out on it.
Pav bhaji is great to hide lots of veggies in a delicious dish. If you want, add in cauliflower, and more peppers to really get the veggies in for stubborn eaters, adults or children!
Deggi mirch is great to add lots of bright red color to the dish without as much spice. So don’t feel the need to add red food colouring to this street side favourite.
A potato masher is a must to get that classic smooth texture. Don’t use a food processor, the texture will not be as desirable.
Butter both sides of the buns/pav and warm lightly, there is no need to toast the buns any longer.
Serve with fresh slices of lemon or lime and sliced onions if desired.
Most of all, enjoy this treat!

Ingredients for Pav Bhaji

Here’s what you’ll need to prepare an excellent pav bhaji:

Potatoes
Tomatoes
Onion
Green pepper
Butter
Garlic paste
Pav bhaji masala
Deggi Mirch
Cumin seeds
Green peas
Water
Salt
Lemon wedge
Cilantro
Buns (to serve)

Pav bhaji served on a white plate with buttered pav buns, lemon wedge, and cilantro garnish.

How to Make Homemade Pav Bhaji

To Prepare the Potatoes and Peas

1. Boil the potatoes and peas in a pressure cooker. If using an Instant Pot, slice potatoes in half, insert a trivet to the pot and add the potatoes and peas directly on the trivet.

Potatoes and peas in steamer basket inside Instant Pot with cooking liquid during pressure cooking step.

2. Set the Instant Pot to Sealing mode and cook in Steam mode for 11-12 minutes. Let pressure release naturally.

Boiled potatoes and peas in a colander being drained in an Instant Pot.

3. Peel the potatoes and transfer both potatoes and peas to a large bowl. Lightly mash the potatoes and peas and set aside for use later.

Mashed potatoes and peas being stirred together in a glass bowl with a fork.

To Prepare the Pav Bhaji

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of butter in a pan and once molten, add cumin seeds and onions. Sauté until onions become soft and turn a light golden brown.

Butter melting in a pan with cumin seeds and diced onions being sautéed until golden brown

Diced red onions sautéing in melted butter with cumin seeds in a large pan.

2. Add garlic paste and green pepper and sauté until peppers have softened, and rawness of the garlic has cooked off.

Garlic paste being grated on a microplane grater over a white surface with fresh tomatoes and onion in the background.

Sautéing ground meat and onions with green chilies and spices in a large pan for Pav Bhaji.

3. Add tomatoes, salt and half of the deggi mirch. Mix well and continue cooking until tomatoes cook down and become soft. Stir ever so often to ensure they don’t stick to the pan and burn.

Diced tomatoes and green peppers being stirred in a pan during Bombay pav bhaji preparation.

Tomatoes, peas, and diced peppers cooking in a pan with red spices for pav bhaji.

4. Add the mashed potatoes and peas and mix well to combine. Then, make a well at the center of the pan and add 2-3 Tbsp of butter. Add the rest of the deggi mirch and mix in with the butter.

Mashing potatoes and peas into tomato-based bhaji mixture in a pan with a potato masher.

Potato and pea bhaji mixture being mashed with a potato masher in a pan on the stove

5. Cook the spice until fragrant, about 30 seconds and then mix in with the bhaji.

6. Add water, about 1/2 Cup at a time until you have a wet consistency. Mix well and then start mashing the bhaji with a potato masher until completely smooth.

Mashing cooked bhaji mixture in a pot with a potato masher while liquid is being poured in.

Pot of mashed bhaji being stirred with a yellow slotted spoon, showing wet orange curry mixture.

7. Turn heat to low and simmer, add more water if required to match the consistency of your liking. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

8. Sprinkle with pav bhaji masala and mix well. Let bhaji simmer while you prepare the pav.

Simmering bhaji mixture in a large pot with wooden spoon, showing thick orange curry-like consistency with masala sprinkled on top.

9. Heat a tawa pan on medium low heat and add 1-2 Tbsp of butter and let it melt. Slice the pavs in half and add to the pan. Coat each side with butter, adding more as necessary to completely butter the pav. Toast lightly, until pavs are warmed through.

Buttered pav bread slices toasted on a dark griddle pan, some with melted butter coating.

How to Serve This Bombay Pav Bhaji

Top your pav bhaji with a generous dollop of butter on top! Add a squeeze of lemon juice and top with a lemon wedge. Finish with some freshly chopped cilantro, and your pav bhaji is complete and ready to indulge in!

Bombay pav bhaji served with buttered pav buns, topped with cilantro and lemon wedge on the side.

Breads to Serve with Pav Bhaji

You can use many breads to serve your pav bhaji. “Pav” is actually a type of bread, which is a type of bun. Now, I don’t get pavs here in Canada, so there are other options you can serve with! Here are some ideas:

dinner rolls
burger buns (as I do here!)
sliced bread
potato rolls

Pav Bhaji Variations

I kept my recipe very simple to make with minimal ingredients. However, if you’re looking to add more vegetables to your pav bhaji, here are some ideas of vegetables you can incorporate:

cauliflower
eggplant
beetroot
cabbage
carrot
broccoli

Was there a vegetable I missed in this list? Let me know in the comments if you prefer your pav bhaji with veggies or plain! I’ve also seen cheesy pav bhaji! I’ve never tried it myself, but Instagram pictures definitely make my mouth water! I’m a sucker for going by what I know and the tradition, but perhaps one day I’ll try adding cheese to my pav bhaji and see how it goes! If you’re not already following me on Instagram, I recommend that you do because you’d be first to see when I do add some cheese to my pav bhaji as I share all of my cooking experiments and recipe sneak peeks in my stories and posts!

Pav bhaji served on a white plate with bread rolls, topped with green cilantro, and lemon wedges on the side.

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!

Recipe by Anadi Misra