Pav Bhaji on the Beach
He has curly hair and a thick moustache, both glistening with sweat. His brows are furrowed, maybe in concentration, or maybe that’s just how he wears his face. A striped black apron hides a faded white shirt, but not his frayed collar.
He stands on a platform. The smoke from the large tava shapes into a spiced cloud around him. He doesn’t seem to notice it. I wait on the sidelines; wait for him to prepare my plate of pav-bhaji (bhaji being the curried mashed vegetables and pav the buttered buns), with extra pav.
I pull back my drenched hair and mop my face. Mumbai is living through a heat wave, and standing in a lane crammed with food stalls and sizzling woks doesn’t help. A few feet away, the beach is busy. At some point today all those people will stop by these food stalls too -the beach in Mumbai is known for its food rather than the grey, plastic crusted waters.
His spatula pounds the tava, mashing the already mashed vegetables. Between each pounding, he adds generous dollops of Amul butter; each addition is announced with a high-tone sizzle. I feel the calories gently pushing against my belt.
Once the bhaji, already partly prepared, is ready, he pushes it to the edge of the tava, freeing up the centre for the stack of pav – a set of four buns. He picks up the lot, sliced in between, and presses them onto a glob of melting butter.
When the bread, shiny with the additional weight and slightly crispy, is done, he scoops the bhaji, finely chopped onions, coriander and lemon quarters, as well as the toasted buns into the sectioned plate, and hands it over.
My hands are greedy as they stretch out for the plate.
I hurriedly sprinkle the chopped onions onto the bhaji and squeeze the bits of lemon. I mix the lot with a spoon – bits of orange-red specks fly about – I still have faded stains on my pink kurta. I tear the pav, small pieces, pile them with bhaji and gobble. There is no place for elegance here, just a good hearty meal.
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This post has been entered into the Grantourismo and HomeAway Holiday-Rentals travel blogging competition
I love this. Love the greedy hands and your spiced cloud. I feel like I’m right there with you in the heat with all these sizzling things.
Such beautiful language, Neha.
Thanks Leigh! Food and Mumbai do that to me!
Oh wow – I’m drooling a little bit here. I miss Indian spices so much living in Italy. Lovely post, Neha.
Oh you can imagine my plight in Croatia! What I’d do for one more plate…
you make my mouth water and crave for mumbai despite the heat
Yeah, it was only raste ka khana that got me out in that heat!
Such fun!
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oooh, I was hanging on your every word – loved it!
Thanks for reading Rebecca!
Lovely writing as always Neha!
Thanks Lola!
Beautiful words so magically weaved together. Thnx Neha for bringing us on a journey.
Oh, am glad you enjoyed the trip! Thanks for reading
Oh, Neha, you could win that contest. I think you’re the best writer ever.
Haha, Sabina, you are the best! This comment made my day. I think I start every work day with it
Thanks for your rock solid support.
i love this – i want to be there! good luck!
Haha, I’d like to be there too
Thanks for reading!
Yummy. I want to feel the calories pushing against my belt, too !
Ahh, see that’s the thing – how much more could one (and by one, I mean Me) enjoy food if the calories didn’t push against the belt. Think of the possibilities!
Meals where one uses his hands to eat are the best meals, I always say! None of that fork-spoon-knife nonsense
Haha, yeah, the flavours are just so much richer, no? Thanks for stopping by.
Great post, Neha. Good luck in the contest
Thanks so much Sophie!
Delish! Yum! I can taste it too! Thanks so much for your entry into our Competition! Sincere apologies for taking so long to get back to you – we have virtually no internet access all last week in Puglia. Best of luck!
A week without the internet … I just felt a shiver run down my spine! Following your travels and absolutely loving the contests. You’ll see more of me around
lovely post! this is one of the things I miss most about Bombay – the street food, esp pav bhaaji – what I would not do to have “greedy hands” again!
“There is no place for elegance here, just a good hearty meal” Excellent! Damn…now I am totally craving for some steaming hot pav bhaji.
Hey Neha, i must say u’ve captured d picture of d pav-bhaji centre as a hang out point so well – words r often a better scale 2 measure, than megapixels of a digital camera, d clarity of a scene. I was havin a virtual pav-bhaji
. . However i had to ask – were u endorsing d brand Amul? 