The street food of Mumbai is as eclectic as the city. From Mulund to Malabar Hill every self-respecting gully and chowk boasts at least half a dozen hawkers with their soot-blackened stoves, grimy glass cabinets and bubbling concoctions. From breakfast at the break of dawn to a late night snack after a disco all-nighter the streets of Mumbai serve up a fascinating array of dishes.Much of the spread you will find is, unsurprisingly, imports. Dilliwallahs will defend vehemently their claims on Chaats and Puris. Dosas and idlis are clearly loans from our cousins down south. Noodles and chow mein have traveled many a mile from their homes in the Far East. And your succulent kebabs trace their origins all the way back to Genghis Khan and his fearsome riders. (The Mongols carried flat patties of meat under there saddles. They ate the tenderized meat as they went along. This way they never had to dismount when hungry and could focus all their energies on rape, beheading and pillage.)
So the proud Mumbaikar is left with little, in the realm of quick eats, to call his own. There is the ubiquitous Vada Pav. A handy little snack, supposedly devised by snack vendor Ashok Vaidya outside Dadar station 35 years ago, the Vada pav is a regular with Mumbai commuters, office goers and anyone looking for a quick, cheap and filling snack. The guys at Jumbo King Vada Pav have famously branded it as well.
But the true king of Mumbai street cuisine has to be the Pav Bhaji.
It is impossible to escape the aroma of dollops of butter swimming in bhaji, a thick gravy of potatoes, tomatoes, peas and onions spiked with coriander and a special pav bhaji spice mix. Served with fresh pav, the bhaji is a staple Mumbai dish consumed heartily all round the clock. Step into, or rather jostle into, any one of the suburban railway stations on a hot, humid morning and you can catch a glimpse of several pav bhaji connoisseurs swarming around one of the platform snack stalls. And when the last bit of gravy has been scooped up with relish all you need to shell out is a meager ten to fifteen rupees.
But the pav bhaji is not just a meal for the common man. It has great versatility too. The city’s premium eateries all have their own versions of the bread and curry delicacy. Loosen your purse strings a little and you can get your pav bhaji topped with cheese, extra butter, dried fruits, nuts and even grated paneer. And if you don’t mind the extra calories you can tuck into a surprisingly fulfilling meal.
So it will be quite a revelation to the staunch pav bhaji fan, and especially the Mumbaikar, to know that the Pav Bhaji is, almost entirely, a dish of little Indian heritage. In fact almost all the key ingredients, the bread and the vegetables, are all very recent entrants into the Indian gastronomic scene.
Phirang Invasion
There are several legends about the origin of the humble pav. And much of that has to do with its name. Some say the bread is called ‘pav’ because bakers used to knead the dough with their feet. Others say that it was called ‘pav’ because you always got it in sets of four and you broke of each mini-loaf as you ate it. (‘Pav’ in hindi means one-fourth.)
But the true origins of the word, and the bread, lay far away across the globe.
When Vasco Da Gama landed in Kozhikode in 1498, he became the first European to visit India, and establish a permanent presence. That set the stage for four and a half centuries of colonialism on the sub-continent. It also introduced the natives to a new item of consumption: baked bread. (And several more delicacies. But more on that later.)
Till the arrival of the first Europeans, India made do with unleavened breads like rotis and chappatis. With the Portuguese came bakeries of the modern type that was prevalent in Europe then. To this day Goa is home to hundreds of ‘poders’ or traditional bakers who continue to ply a trade that is centuries old. (Here is an interesting article on the poders.)
The poders not only make pav but a whole range of breads like the undo, poyi, katre, the pokshie and the crisp kakon.
And what is the Portuguese word for bread? You guessed it! ‘Pão’
Worldwide Vegetables
Now that one key piece in the puzzle is in place, we need to go hunting for potatoes and tomatoes. Both vegetables are ubiquitous in Indian cuisine. An Indian meal, anywhere in the country, without ‘tamatar’ is rare, and one without ‘aloo’ is impossible.
So be amazed when I tell you that both vegetables did not even grow in the country till four centuries ago. Till the 17th century the average resident on the subcontinent never had aloo subzi for lunch or dinner. He probably had never even heard of it back then.
And to see how these humble vegetables crossed the seas look no further than our old friends the Portuguese. Not only did the ‘whites’ introduce us to baked bread but also to the delicious potato and succulent tomato.
But the vegetables did not begin their journeys in the cool climes of Western Europe. No sir. These vegetables had already lasted through epic journeys of their own before they even got onto a ship laden for Indian shores.
Both the potato and tomato were introduced to European palates after the Spanish conquest of the Incas in 1531. Pizzaro’s men shipped back not just Inca gold but strange South American vegetables too. Two of them were the Potato and the Tomato. And within a hundred years they had spread all around the world carried around in the holds of invading ships as the colonies grew and prospered.
Mix and Mash
Where our desi ingenuity came to the fore was when the ingenuous vendors catering to hungry mill workers hit upon the idea of a quick meal of bread and leftover vegetables mashed together with spices. The workers could easily afford the meal and the pav bhaji was born.
Since then there has been no looking back. The Pav Bhaji is today a quintessential part of Mumbai culture. It is a quick breakfast, a filling lunch and can even become a sumptuous dinner. Hypermarkets stock fresh pav and ready to eat bhaji mixes. Even airlines serve it on board flights, albeit after having tempered the fiery concoction a little. The underworld and even Bollywood have adopted the Pav Bhaji with gusto. (It is believed that the dish was a favourite of smugglers and other shady minions. Remember Sanjay Dutt in Vaastav?)
Today when the Pav Bhaji is served abroad, some call it ‘Indian Sloppy Joes’, there is a tinge of irony in it. While it remains ‘Mumbaikar’ in spirit it is a dish that has a traveled across the world in coming to being.
So next time you feel that hungry ache in your belly shout out for a serving of piping hot curry and fresh bread. After all you are also tucking into a portion of history.
Also by Hafta
- A walk in the clouds - February 26th, 2007
- Off the beaten path in Toledo - February 26th, 2007
- Lazy French Holiday - January 22nd, 2007
- Mumbai Votes - January 15th, 2007
- Full House Mumbai - December 4th, 2006