if its edible, you can put it in a pav
-random person from Mumbai
Pav's come in all shapes, sizer, flavour, colour and with everything you can imagine. You have a pav for all kinds of mood, season and people with different eating habits. And if you want to have a pav, there is no other better place than Mumbai. If you have visited Mumbai, you've probably had a variant below your hotel in Mumbai from a street vendors or simply from a restaurant or hotel in Mumbai, as it is omnipresent in the city. But what is the best pav's? while everyone has their favourite, we came up with a list which takes a look at the 5 pavs Mumbaikars can't enough of, maybe you'll see your favourites as well.
1. Vada Pav
The most legendary and most famous in the pav family, Vada Pav is synonymous with Mumbai. Similar to a burger for the lemans, Vada Pav is the dish McDonald's burgers aspires to be. The dish is said to have been invented in 1966 by a Mumbaikar, Ashok Vaidya, who opened the first Vada pav shop opposite the Dadar train station. In front of this station huge number of labourer's passed frequently needing a quick snack at a cheap price, on their way to the Textile mill in rural areas, like Parel and Worli. Vada pav was a instant hit with Bombayites (as Mumbaikars were then known). Vaidya stays a Mumbai symbol; one nearby columnist even made a narrative about him, called Vada Pav Inc. You have heard a variant of this story surely if you ever stayed in a hotel in Dadar. The dish comprises of a pan-fried potato dumpling set inside a bread bun (pav) cut nearly into equal parts through the center. It commonly goes with at least one chutneys and a green bean stew pepper. Some must-try places to have Vada pav would be Arama Vada Pav at Capitol Cinema Building, Opp. CST Station, Mumbai CST Area, Ashok Vada Pav stall at Cadel Road, near Kirti College, Prabhadevi, Samrat Vada Pav at Nehru Road, Parleshwar, Vile Parle East and Graduate Vada Pav outside Byculla (West) station.
2. Misal Pav
What ramen's to Japanese, Misal to Maharashtrians. There is a different version of Misal Pav all over Maharashtra. Being one of the staple street food in Mumbai, misal can be of two types, usually the thick mixture Ussal and Rassa the liquid gravy. The Misal gravy can be of different colours like black, red and green which in turn give a different flavour. The colours are all-natural coming from the ingredients in use, for example, the red gravy or Lal Rassa is made using chilli, the green gravy or Hira Rassa is made using green chilli and coriander and the black gravy is made using dry roasted bay-leaf and black pepper. The dish is occasionally topped with sev, onions, lemon and coriander. Having a choice of drink like Lassi or Buttermilk is also highly recommended to balance the spiciness of the Misal. If you asked a Mumbaiaker the most famous place to have a misal pav, they'll likely say Aaswad, Dadar, the birthplace of previously mentioned Vada Pav. So if you are pav fan and visiting Mumbai, book a hotel in Dadar for the ultimate experience. Some other no famous joints are Mamledar Misal at Talao Pali, Naupada, Thane West, Aram at Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Fort, Mumbai and Mama Kane at Senapati Bapat Marg, Dadar West.
3. Pav Bhaji
Pav Bhaji has its origin to the 1860's Civil war. There was a huge demand of cotton at the time, hence the cotton dealers from Bombay always used to return late after getting telegrammed the new price of cotton every night. The wives would be reluctant to serve their husband's food for running so late, so to serve these hungry cotton dealers, the street vendors in Mumbai collected the leftover vegetables from the Jesuit priest, cut and mix them, and accompanied it with butter and Pav to serve what we know today as Pav Bhaji. The recipe for Pav Bhaji varies significantly as it is an inexpensive food dish to be arranged rapidly. The general method for making bhaji is mostly the same. Potatoes are crushed on a level frying pan (Tava), and made into a thick sauce after adding diced tomatoes, finely grilled onion, green peas and chopped capsicum (green bell pepper). Other grouped vegetables, for example, cauliflower and carrots are included. Garlic also is added on occasion to spice it up. An extraordinary mix of flavours essentially called the pav bhaji masala is added to this thick sauce giving pav bhaji it's genuine marginally orange earthy coloured shading. The sauce is then permitted to stew on the search for a gold couple of moments and is served hot in a level dish with a tablespoon of margarine on top. The Dish is probably the most popular globally and has found its place not only in menus of restaurants of India but other countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK. Sardar Refreshments is arguably the most famous joint in Mumbai to pav Bhaji, serving gastronomic joy to Mumbaikars for last 54 years. If you're staying at a hotel in Tardeo, this place is a must-visit. Some other honourable mentions are Cannon Pav Bhaji at CST, Sukh Sagar at Chowpatty and The Square, Novotel, a hoteil in Juhu.
4. Dabeli
Owning its roots to Gujrat, the state for vegetarian delicacies, dabeli is perhaps had the fastest preparation out of the bunch. It is believed Dabeli was invented in Keshavji Gabha Chudasama in Mandvi in Kutch district of Gujarat. It encompasses the spiciness, sweetness, sourness and crunchiness into a single. The masala of the dabeli normally consists of spicy dry-paste made from dried red chillies, black pepper powder, dried coconut, salt, clove, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, star anise turmeric, cardamom, bay leaves, black salt, and other spices with potato filling consisting of sev and peanuts. Even though it has its home in Gujrat, just like all pavs it made its way to the pav town of Mumbai and became an instant crowd favourite with its distinct crunchiness due to the nuts. The chutney is a very important part and always accompanies the dabeli, while the chutney type can differ a green chili chutney is the most common companion and maybe a sweet red one at times for the contrast. In every restaurant or hotel in Mumbai you'll find dabeli, the Cheese Garlic Dabeli at Matunga Dabeli located at Meckoni House, Bhandarkar Road, Dancing dabeli at Kapil Dabeli Centre located at Old Nagardas Road, Andheri East, and Butter Dabeli at Joshi’s Dabeli House located at Hanuman Chowk, Mulund East are three of the cities most favourites.
5. Keema Pav
An Iranian delicacy, Keema Pav is one for the non-vegetarians who would love of have a Pav. Normally the tidbit consists of minced cooked mutton with a buttered pav but there are multiple variations with different meat all over the city. The meat is cooked with aromatic spices and herbs, and the meat is minced for the convenience of packing it inside a pav. Keema Pav is normally available at Iranian cafes or hotels in Mumbai, due to the meat being a common choice of ingredient for Iranian food. Other choices of meats are normally chicken and a more exquisite choice is lamb. Some crowd favourites places of have keema pav is BKC DIVE at BKC, Aqua at Sun N Sand Hotel in Juhu, Ibrahim’s at Malad West and Good Luck at Bandra.
Pav is one of the most versatile tidbits available on the go and will forever be Mumbai's favourite. No matter what kind Pav you like from the above-mentioned list or some other variants like Usal Pav, Masala Pav, Anda Pao. If you are making a things to do for a perfect weekend in Mumbai list, surely add trying different pav's to the list. Everyone agrees Pav is amazing, and if you don't find something you like you can always repeat history and create your own Pav.