Pav bhaji - is it Gujju or Marathi?
Incoming!
First Feature Friday!!!
My most recent blog post went over the basics of Indian cookery. Talking about all the spices and flavors sure watered my mouth! One dish came to mind while writing - a masaledar (full of spices) pav bhaji. Being a Gujju and pav bhaji being one of my all time favorites, I 100% believe that it originated in Gujarat. However, there is much debate on its origin in the food world, even in my house….
My mom is a gujju, but was brought up in Bombay, Maharashtra. She moved to Ahmedabad, Gujarat over 20 years, yet has a massive fixation towards Bombay. Clearly our house is divided on this issue. She claims that the dish was created out of necessity for hard working mill workers in Bombay some ages ago. We have yet to see eye to eye on this subject or eat pav bhaji when this (heated) debate has not come to light!
What is pav bhaji? Pav bhaji is a fast food dish served by street vendors or restaurants. It is a tomato curry made with mashed up veggies (bhaji) served with a soft roll (pav), a squeeze of lemon and finely chopped onions. But, most importantly, it is LOADED with butter. It can be made as spicy or as mild as you want. Recently, my mom started adding a chutney of dried red chillies, red bell pepper and garlic, which has elevated the pav bhaji game at home. Our family tries to eat healthy for the most part. We usually end up eating bhaji with whole wheat bread instead of the traditional pav. Don’t worry though, we still smother our wheat bread generously with butter! To make pav bhaji a complete dinner party meal, I like to serve it with veggie pulau and raita.
While photographing pav bhaji, I think my mom was about ready to lose it with me! I was adamant about using a traditional steel sectional plate. She wasn’t thrilled when I decided to rummage through our storage one afternoon. I was definitely thrilled when I spotted it in a steel canister almost as tall as me and under a ton of other steelware. Vish 1 - Storage 0. Obviously, when I stumbled onto one, I found others in different sizes and shapes. My excitement lasted only so long, as now, it was mumma’s turn to be adamant. She wanted me to capture a ‘platter’ photo - complete with bhaji pav, onions, veggie pulau and raita. I wasn’t the most excited about this, but figured I’d give her this one if I wanted to live in peace and harmony!!!
Pav bhaji’s history, to the ongoing debate in our house, to the photo shoot have proven one thing to be true. Debates about pav bhaji are just as masaledar as the dish itself!
