Tawa Pulao is a popular Mumbai street food and is super easy to make. Leftover rice works best for this recipe and is a super hit with kids too. Here is how to make Mumbai Style Tawa Pulao Recipe at home.
What is Tawa Pulao?
Today I’m posting a recipe for the famous Mumbai Street Style Tawa Pulao Recipe that will instantly take you back to the streets of Bombay. If you’re from Mumbai and a true Mumbaikar, then you may have discovered the secret behind this flavourful Mumbai favourite, but if you still haven’t, then it’s time to explore the flavours of the unexplored Mumbai Style Tawa Pulao or Tava Pulao.
This pulao is quite common in Mumbai and you’ll find that it is available in most chaat shops or local pav bhaji counters. So what makes this Mumbai Tawa Pulao Recipe so special you ask, let’s see the recipe to find out.
Now the reason it’s called Tawa pulao is because it is cooked on the same tawa as pav bhaji, imbibing all the rich flavours of the pav bhaji masala. What’s great about this tawa pulao is that the vegetables are still crunchy and there is a perfect balance of flavours from the masalas used.
How to make Tawa Pulao?
The street vendors cooks this rice in a huge tawa on which they also cook Pav Bhaji. The bhaji is kept on the sides of the taw and a little bit of it is brought in the centre and mixed up with cooked rice to make Tawa Pulao.
At home, you can use a kadai to make this rice if you don’t have a huge tawa. Infact, I suggest making it in a Kadai as when making at home, we don’t make huge quantity and for small portions, heating up a big tawa is useless.
To make this pulao recipe, first the rice is cooked, I’m using long grain rice for this recipe. Rice is to be soaked for about 30 minutes in enough water, after which the water is drained and rice is cooked with water and salt. The rice once cooked, is allowed to cool.
You could also make this recipe using day old rice as it ensures that each grain is apart, without making the pulao sticky. Next water is heated in the pan and the veggies like peas, carrots and beans are added and allowed to cook till softened.
Once cooked, the vegetables are drained and kept aside. Then some butter is heated in a pan to which cumin seeds are added, followed by the addition of onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli.
Once the onions become translucent, tomatoes and capsicum are added and fried for a few minutes. To this mix, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and pav bhaji masala are added and cooked.
Pav Bhaji masala gives it a very typical street style flavour and is a must add in this recipe. This masala is what makes this rice Tawa Pulao.
Water is added, and the boiled vegetables and cooked rice are also added to the tawa mixture. As a final touch, some freshly squeezed lime juice and chopped coriander are put in.
If you don’t have a large enough tawa, you can definitely make this recipe in a kadai.
What to serve with Tawa Pulao?
This Mumbai Style Tawa Pulao is best served hot with raita and crunchy papad. You could try any of these raita recipes I’ve posted as an accompaniment to this pulao: Tomato Onion Raita, Mooli Dill Raita or Spring Onion Peanut Raita.
A dollop of butter on top is must though. And I also like a squeeze of lemon over it.
Some of the other pulao recipes you could try this summer are: Bengali Mishti Pulao, Veg Pulao, Achari Veg Pulao, a healthy Spinach Millet Pulao or our delicious One Pot Tomato Chicken Pulao.
Although the name suggests that this pulao be made on a tawa or a griddle but if you don’t have a huge tawa at home, a kadai will solve the purpose well. So here is how to make Tawa Pulao Recipe.
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How to make Tawa Pulao Step By Step
Heat water in a pan. Add peas, carrots and beans and cook till softened. Drain and keep aside.
Heat butter in a Tawa or Griddle.
Add cumin seeds and let them crackle for a while. Add onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli and fry until onion turns transparent.
Now add tomatoes and capsicum and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and pav bhaji masala and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Keep mashing the masala while cooking.
Add the boiled vegetables and cooked rice and mix well.
Add lemon juice and fresh coriander and mix well.
Mumbai Tawa Pulao Recipe
Tawa Pulao
Tawa Pulao is a popular Mumbai street food and is super easy to make. Leftover rice works best for this recipe and is a super hit with kids too.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Cooked Rice
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 cup Onion Chopped
- 2 tsp Ginger Grated
- 2 tsp Garlic Chopped
- 1 tsp Green Chilli Chopped
- 1/4 cup Capsicum Chopped
- 1/2 cup Tomato Chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 2 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala
- 1/4 cup Peas
- 1/4 cup Carrots Chopped
- 1/4 cup Beans Chopped
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 2 tbsp Coriander Chopped
Instructions
Heat water in a pan.
Add peas, carrots and beans and cook till softened.
Drain and keep aside.
Heat butter in a Tawa or Griddle.
Add cumin seeds and let them crackle for a while.
Add onion, ginger, garlic and green chile and fry until onion turns transparent.
Now add tomatoes and capsicum and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and pav bhaji masala and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add little water if required.
Keep mashing the masala while cooking.
Add the boiled vegetables and cooked rice and mix well.
Add lemon juice and fresh coriander and mix well.
Serve hot with raita and papad.
Recipe Notes
Use a kadai or a deep pan instead of a Tawa to make Tawa Pulao at home.
Use leftover cold rice to make tawa pulao.
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