Full Recipe
Author
Meherwan Irani | 2020-08-03
Description
Chai Time is an ongoing series on Spicewalla's IGTV featuring chef and Spicewalla founder Meherwan Irani cooking Indian dishes LIVE in his home and answering all your cooking qs. Check out the video for Pav Bhaji here to learn some tips and tricks that only an Indian mom or aunt could teach you! Follow us on instagram to tune in live and join the conversation.
Utterly butterly delicious. Chef Meherwan Irani whips up a wondrous, spicy, vegetable hash on his latest episode of Chai Time on IGTV. Cooked in butter and zinging with masala, this dish is arguably one of Mumbai's greatest street food inventions.
The Portuguese introduced the yeasty soft roll they called "pau" to their colonies in India and by the 19th century, Goan bakers had set up shop in Mumbai supplying Pav to street vendors feeding mill workers working the late shift due to the boom in cotton production in Mumbai during and after the American Civil War. Cheap potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers & onions (the bhaji), were mashed together with spices on a large tava (griddle) and served with pav with generous slatherings of butter. Quick & tasty, and fuel for factory workers as they hit the streets for their meal breaks. But things really took off from there. More than 100 years later, this dish born of necessity has become an iconic street food item and a staple in many homes in India.
Like everything else, there are now endless variations on Pav Bhaji and the ingredients used. At Spicewalla, we're big fans of using what's on hand (especially during a pandemic!). Chef Irani's version has potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers, onion, cilantro, and since he was fresh out of pav, some griddled hot dog buns made the cut.
