An excellent dish of pav bhaji comes with butter melting dollops on the dish. Do we all love it? But we are very sure that you haven’t known the root of this glorious dish which is so renowned that the town of Mumbai synonyms it.
When did you have a meal at an outlet in Mumbai for the last time and wondered what the story was behind the dish? You’d not even hear about it, I bet. I bet. Not many people are curious about the history behind a product they sample every day in a town that has to deliver a wide range of food, from a Rs10 nimbu paani to a Rs25000 three-course dinner.
Toped with a few chopped onions and a pool of butter, Crispy toasted pav along with spicy bhaji. Only the notion is enough to make culinary fans drool. This tasty street food is often liked by people of all ages and very popular in India. This flavorful lip-smack has been a popular delicacy in India for years now, made with mashed potatoes and many other plants. Do you know pav bhaji isn’t Indian, in fact? Yes, you read that correctly. You read that right. Pav Bhaji may be Maharashtra’s most loved dish, but there are no Indian origins.
So, the British had no reliable cotton supply when the American Civil War happened because of the American disturbance. They then came to India in search of it. The mills were collecting large orders, and the workers frequently had to work late in the evening. The vendors outside these mills selling pav bhaji plates can be noticed to keep the employees fed. The bhaji was made primarily from remaining vegetables and fried with tomatoes and potatoes. As the number of mills increased, the pav bhaji was not only a street food item but the friend who kept the worker company late into the evening.
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In this case, a quick snack to cook, eat, and light on pockets was desperately needed. The response came as Pav bhaji by local vendors standing outside the gates and selling them for little money plate by plate.
The Story of Sardar Pav Bhaji
It was necessary to do this near the Crawford and suburban markets of Tardeo in Mumbai, where many textile mills lived, which was often an abusive place for mill workers. Mills worked 24 hours a day, and starving men searched for food when the shift was over. Most were Konkan migrant workers, hence forced bachelors – they had to rely on cheap food supplies.
At the time, and for many still today, the main thing was the all-around pavilion. For something you can eat, you can complement it. And for those on a budget for shoe-cord, just ‘chai’ and pav! There are Wada-pav, kheema-pav, and-pav!
In the 1960s, this young man was also named Sardar Ahmed, who stood outside a door in the Mill and sold fruits to his famished employees and later fruit juices. He understood they almost remained in the Wada-pav, and he also found a ‘fruit wallah’ to be a weak replacement of ‘khana.’
He also wondered – “How can I provide something healthier, fresher, and yet affordable to these hard-working men.”
His thoughts led him to explore, refine and serve with the generous quantities of Polson’s butter, which consist of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and other seasonal vegetables.
The tale seems likely, although Wikipedia dates back to the late 1880s and gives rise to ‘pav bhaji.’ The possible possibility is that restaurants for mill employees may have served vegetables, dal, etc., at low prices with pav. But Sardar was the first person to make the vegetables fresh with his preference.
His patrons, whom he initially cooked and sold from the wagon, lapped up Sardar’s pav bhaji. He quickly had his own small restaurant, which had grown substantially since 1966 when he opened his doors.
The Portuguese Connection
Pav Bhaji’s origins can be traced back to the Portuguese, where the dish is originally said to have been made. The Portuguese used to make pav bhaji with all the vegetables mixed and bread. Bread is known in Portuguese as ‘pão’ and is sometimes referred to in India as pav or pao. Many would claim ‘pav,’ and this was 1/4 of the bread. It was called so. Pav bhaji came to India when Princess Catherine D Braganza married the British Prince Charles II, the talented Portuguese Bombay (now Mumbai), in dowsing to the British. So the tasty Pav Bhaji became and is famous to its taste till now. This is the specialty of Mumbai.
The love of India
This mouthwatering plate has spread across India today and has been cut off with a unique twist. While the pav bhaji Mumbai is spicy and usually eaten with chopped onions and coriander, the pav bhaji in South India is provided with tadka curry leaves.
In Gujarat, also known as Jain pav bhaji, the pav bhaji version is free of onion and garlic. The Punjabi variant of pav bhaji is made from an extra flavoring of butter and garam masala. A glass of buttermilk is served, which gives the plate an ending touch of Punjabi.
We have various variations of it today in India. In Southern Indians, curry leaves are provided. In Northern Indians, a platter of pav bhaji is soothing for the palate and the soul.
