Mumbai Pav in Gurgaon

On Wednesday (8th) we accomplished a much delayed project – we went to Vyapar Kendra, Sushant Lok and got my PayTM re-activated :):). For nearly a year, I couldn’t use my PayTM because the KYC was not done and there was Rs. 1500/- lying in the wallet un-utilized. The whole KYC process was painless and got done in less than 5 minutes including the Aadhar biometric verification. Just a word of caution – when you call the number to verify yourself, the self-service menu will try and get you to open a PayTM bank account. Its worded in such a way that you may get confused ! I chose to activate the wallet only.

Once we completed the re-activation, we walked around the market to complete other chores like sending some couriers and buying some stationery. We had parked the car in the lane before the Vyapar Kendra market and it started to drizzle by the time we completed our chores. We tried to find the nearest exit to our car and as we neared the gate that faces the Mother Dairy shop, we came across a vegetable shop and a  groceries store. I bought some vegetables and the shop assistant told us to get the billing done at the grocery store. We went across to the grocery store and as we neared the billing counter, I saw several packets of “Mumbai Ladi Pav” on one of the shelves. What a lovely surprise !

Krishnan and I love the Mumbai pav and I had been wondering why no one makes them in Delhi. Well someone finally is making them. I got a couple of packets of the ladi pav and we will be eating them soon as “pav bhaji” or “vada pav”. My father would always discourage me from eating “pav” and my other favourite “butter” (not the dairy butter that becomes ghee, but a rusk in the form of a bun, Tamilians will understand “porai”) when we lived in Dehu Road, but whatever he said, I still love both.

I did eat up one pav as soon as I got it home – its larger than what we get in Mumbai and a little more harder. These “pavs” are being made in Haryana so maybe they need some more lessons in getting it just right.

Suggested reading – Vir Sanghvi’s article on the origins of Pav and how its used in Goa, Mumbai and Gujarat. Food is fascinating ! https://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/the-portuguese-contribution-that-usually-goes-unheralded/story-sHINlLSQx7kZYjFFDh0b3H.html

p.s – Except for the Portuguese “pao” there is not much to thank them for. They were nastier, bloodier and more barbaric than the Brits who came later. Also remember – Goa got its independence from the Portuguese only in 1961, a full 14 years after India got its independence. The Portuguese ruled Goa for 450 years :(.