Sweet, salty, spicy, and savory. This classic Bombay Veg Sandwich Recipe is filled with flavor that will leave you wanting more! It includes beets, potato, butter, cilantro chutney and is a popular street food in Mumbai. Serve this sandwich recipe as a filling and tasty breakfast or a snack.
Table of Contents
About This Veg Sandwich Recipe
There are many different sandwich recipes served in Mumbai city. But this popular and delicious veg sandwich was one of my favorites during my college days. Whenever I forgot my lunch box, me and my friends would go to a sandwich stall opposite our college and order customized vegetable sandwiches.
My sister is also fond of the toasted version of these sandwiches and always orders them when we go to restaurants and cafes in Mumbai. So this post is dedicated to her.
Some more tasty Sandwich Recipes that are popular on the blog are:
What you need for making Veg Sandwich?
1. Vegetables: The assorted vegetables that make up the bulk of this sandwich are cucumber, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and beets. A few variations also add green bell pepper.
While you must have not heard of beets being in a sandwich, but this earthy veggie makes these sandwiches from being ordinary to top notch.
The beetroot is boiled and sliced prior to it being layered in the sandwich. These add a lovely sweetness, tying all of the savory and spicy flavors together. I highly recommend adding beetroot for a truly authentic Bombay sandwich recipe that tastes simply awesome.
You do have the option to add or skip any of the veggie you do not like or prefer. But for a well rounded Mumbai street food experience, I suggest to add all the vegetables as listed in the recipe.
2. Coriander Chutney (Cilantro Chutney): The chutney can be prepped a day ahead and stored in the fridge. It is also multi-purpose and can be added to wraps, pakoras or chaat.
Spices and Seasonings: Black salt, and chaat masala add plenty of flavor to this sandwich recipe. You can also add roasted cumin powder, as well as freshly powdered black pepper for more flavor.
3. Chaat Masala: An important ingredient is the Chaat masala powder or Sandwich masala. Chaat masala is a tangy flavorful spice mix that is often sprinkled on Indian snacks. You can easily find chaat masala online or any Indian grocery store if you live outside India.
4. Bread: Soft, fluffy white bread is the unanimous choice of bread to make these Bombay sandwiches. Having said that, feel free to use your preferred bread. For healthy sandwiches, whole wheat bread, multi grain bread, soft rye bread are some nice options.
5. Butter: Dairy butter, typically salted butter is used in this veggie sandwich but you can swap this with vegan butter instead. You can also toast or grill these veg sandwiches if you want more crunch!
These sandwiches are so good that I made them often for brunch or a light lunch or dinner. They also make for a filling, comforting and tasty evening snack.
6: Cheese: A variation of this sandwich recipe also includes cheese. You can choose grated processed cheese or cheddar cheese. In India we use the popular brand of Amul processed cheese.
How to Make Veg Sandwich Recipe
Make Coriander Chutney
1. Rinse 1 cup of tightly packed coriander leaves (cilantro) and 1 to 2 green chillies in fresh water for a few times. Drain all the water.
Then in a small blender or a chutney grinder jar, add the coriander leaves, ½ teaspoon chaat masala powder and the green chilies (chopped).
You can roughly chop the coriander leaves and green chillies if you prefer. Finally, season everything with a few pinches of salt as chaat masala already has salt in it.
TIP 1: I usually add 2 to 3 green chilies as we prefer a spicy chutney.
TIP 2: You can also add half a portion each of coriander leaves and mint leaves instead of 1 cup of coriander. The mint leaves add a nice minty aroma to the chutney.
2. Blend or grind the chutney ingredients until smooth. Add 1 or 2 teaspoon of water if it is not blending. I did not add water as there was enough moisture from the rinsed coriander leaves which helped the chutney to blend smoothly.
Don’t make this chutney runny or water by adding too much of water.
3. Add the coriander chutney to a bowl, taste it and add more salt if necessary. Cover and keep the chutney aside if you are making sandwiches immediately or refrigerate.
Prepare Vegetables and Bread
1. Steam or boil 1 medium-sized beetroot and 2 small to medium potatoes in a steamer or pressure cooker or Instant pot. If you are using a pressure cooker then cook them for 2 to 3 whistles.
2. Thinly slice 1 medium sized tomato, 1 small or medium sized onion and 1 medium size cucumber.
TIP: Some times you may get bitter cucumbers. To remove the bitterness from the cucumber I follow this method.
First slice the top part. Then add a few slits to the cucumber on top with a knife. Rub the top sliced part with the rest of the cucumber. You will see a froth-like substance on the cucumber.
Doing this gets rid of the bitterness in the cucumber. Slice the frothy part of the cucumber. Rinse and peel it and then thinly slice.
4. Here’s all the thinly sliced veggies on a plate. In clockwise order, there are sliced tomatoes, cucumber, onions, boiled potatoes and beetroot.
5. Use good quality fresh and soft bread. If you have a loaf then slice it equally. I used homemade White Bread. Slice the edges off if you want. I did not because my homemade bread was soft.
You can also use whole wheat bread, brown bread or multigrain bread or ragi bread (finger millet bread) or rye bread.
Make Bombay Sandwich
6. Spread a generous amount of salted butter on 8 to 10 slices. If you don’t add enough butter then the chutney will cause the bread slices to become soggy.
Note: You can use both salted or unsalted butter. The butter should be softened and at room temperature.
The butter that is generally used by the vendors in Mumbai is the brand of Amul salted butter.
7. Spread a thin layer of coriander chutney now.
8. Place 2 to 3 boiled beetroot slices on 4 to 5 slices of the bread.
9. Sprinkle a pinch or two of black salt or regular salt, roasted cumin powder and chaat masala on the slices.
10. Place 2 to 3 tomato slices on the bread.
11. Then place 3 to 4 cucumber slices on top of the tomato slices. Then, sprinkle a pinch or two of black salt or regular salt, roasted cumin powder and chaat masala on the cucumber slices again.
12. Place 2 to 3 thinly sliced onion slices.
13. Sprinkle a pinch or two of black salt or regular salt, roasted cumin powder and chaat masala again.
14. Now add a layer of 2 to 3 boiled potato slices.
15. Sprinkle a pinch or two of black salt or regular salt, roasted cumin powder and chaat masala again.
16. Cover with the bread slices with the butter and chutney.
17. Slice the sandwich into four pieces of rectangles or triangles. If you have larger slices of bread then slice the sandwich into 6 pieces.
18. Serve veg sandwich immediately with extra chutney and Tomato Ketchup. You can also sprinkle fine sev (thin fried gram flour vermicelli) on top when serving.
In Bombay these veg sandwiches are served with tomato ketchup or pumpkin ketchup and the green chutney. You can also enjoy them as it is without any side condiments.
Expert Tips for Veg Sandwich
- Bread: I used fresh homemade Bread to make these sandwiches but feel free to use any soft bread of your choice. Some great alternatives include brown bread, rye bread, multigrain bread, ragi bread or whole wheat bread.
- Chutney: Green chutney adds a delicious spicy flavor to this sandwich. When making green chutney from scratch you can add less or more of certain ingredients. For example, add less green chilies if you prefer a milder chutney and add more if you want more heat. You can also add fresh mint leaves to the chutney for a refreshing minty flavor.
- Vegetables: This sandwich includes beetroots, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes and onions. I add equal amounts of each veggie to this sandwich but you can add more or less of your favorite ingredient or leave out any veggies that you don’t like. But for an authentic Bombay veg sandwich, I suggest including beetroot.
- Vegan option: To make a vegan version of the vegetable sandwich, replace butter with vegan butter.
- Additions: If you want even more flavor then you can add cheese or paneer to this sandwich. Add cheese like mozzarella, or cheddar cheese. If you are making a vegan sandwich then add vegan cheese instead.
FAQs
Yes, you can add garlic to the cilantro chutney. I add garlic sometimes. Feel free to skip the mint and use coriander instead.
Of course you can! Add cheese such as mozzarella or simple cheddar cheese. You can also add grated paneer.
I don’t recommend this sandwich recipe to pack for road trips as they become soggy. But for other sandwiches where watery ingredients are not used, wrap the sandwich in foil then place it in a tiffin box. The sandwich is now ready for a trip!
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Veg Sandwich Recipe | Bombay Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients
For veg sandwich
- 10 slices white bread or whole wheat, brown bread or any soft bread
- 2 potatoes – small to medium-sized, boiled and sliced into rounds
- 1 beetroot – medium sized, boiled and thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber – thinly sliced
- 1 small to medium onion – thinly sliced
- 1 medium tomato – thinly sliced
- Butter softened and at room temperature, salted or unsalted, as required
- chaat masala as required
- black salt as required
- roasted cumin powder as required – optional
- freshly ground black pepper – optional
- tomato ketchup or sauce to be served with the sandwiches
For making coriander chutney
- 1 cup tightly packed coriander leaves (cilantro) Or ½ cup coriander leaves and ½ cup mint leaves
- ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder or add as required
- 1 to 2 green chilies you can also add 2 to 3 green chilies
- salt or black salt as per taste
- 1 to 2 teaspoons water for blending or grinding, optional
Instructions
Making chutney
- In a mixie or blender, take coriander leaves, chaat masala powder and green chilies.
- Just add a pinch or two of salt as chaat masala already has salt in it.
- Grind the chutney ingredients till smooth. No need to add water. But if you cannot grind, then add 1 or 2 teaspoons of water.
- Collect the coriander chutney in a bowl.
- Check the taste and add more salt if required.
- Cover and keep the chutney aside if you are making veg sandwiches immediately or else refrigerate.
Preparing vegetables
- Boil or steam the beetroot and potatoes till they are tender. You can steam both the veggies in a pan, stove-top pressure cooker or in the instant pot.
- When cooled, peel both the vegetables. Then thinly slice the beetroot and slice the potatoes as well.
- Peel and thinly slice onion and cucumber.
- Thinly slice the tomatoes as well. Peel and rinse the onions. Thinly slice the onions.
Making veg sandwich
- Trim the edges of the bread slices if you want.
- Butter the bread slices evenly and very well.
- Now apply the coriander chutney to the slices.
- Place all the veggie slices one by one.
- Sprinkle the black salt and chaat masala on each one of them or alternately.
- Cover the sandwich with the bread slices with the butter and chutney on them.
- Slice into triangles or rectangles.
- Serve Bombay veg sandwich immediately with tomato ketchup and the coriander chutney. Do not let them rest as they become soggy.
Video
Notes
- You can cook the potato in the microwave. Wash the potato well. Prick the potatoes with a fork and microwave in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes.
- When the beetroot and potatoes are getting cooked, you can slice the other vegetables and make the chutney.
- You can use whole wheat bread or brown bread or multigrain bread or white bread. But the best taste in veg sandwich comes with white bread and this is how it is made by the street food vendors in Mumbai.
- Dairy butter is used in these veg sandwiches. But you could easily use vegan butter.
- You can also toast these veg sandwiches if you prefer.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Veg Sandwich recipe from blog archives (first published in April 2012) has been republished and updated on June 2021.
Super snack!!
All your receipies are very easy and very tasty and liked by everyone. I just love to make everything seeing your receipe. You are a great help to me.
Thanks a lot.
Yummy, I Love Your Recipes.. Nice Work
Hi.. we need some more receipe like this. Thank you 🙂
Welcome Kavi
tried this recipe. Absolutely yummy… Although I made toasted sandwich. Also applied tomato sauce on one of the slices and green chutney on the other… no butter inside.. loved the recipe overall… good and nutritious..
thanks Snehal. toast sandwiches can be easily made and tomato sauce can also be used. in fact butter can be given a skip and some olive oil can also be used.
Hi Dassana
It was awesome and vegrecipesofindia is an everyday companion for me and I would like to cook ya everyone does but like to cook differently. In that way I love your recipes and served this to my Son today and he enjoyed.
pleased to now this thank you so much sriram for your positive and encouraging words 🙂
Is there a way I can avoid the potatoes and use something else instead?The taste was just not right without the potatoes.
in bombay veg sandwiches potatoes are a must. without potatoes, something will be felt missing in the taste. i would not suggest to substitute anything else with potatoes. a tuber that does come close to potatoes when boiled is tapioca. so you can give a try with tapioca slices.
Wud like to get more recipe
sure santosh let us know which recipes you are looking for?
Superb thing i just love it!!!!!
thankyou 🙂
Want more recipes
shantanu, new recipes are continuously added.
Very good recipe
Hmmm superb thanks
welcome naveen
looks yummy!
thanks rama
Hi !
Long time I wanted to make a sandwich chutney kind this of my own… My long time wish is gonna complete today…… Thnkzz so much…
welcome smitha
WOW. I just loved your recipes. the dish taste marvelous. thank u very much for making me happy.
thanks hiren.
All d recepies are easy n tasty
its realy gud nd awesome
really its awesome and thank u very much…
welcome.
I want new recipes to surve in my home
Thanks for this healthy receipe
welcome abida
can you pls. send me how to make fresh sandwich masala using all the spices at home.
vidya, i don’t send recipe by email. may be in future i will post sandwich masala recipe in the blog.
I was looking for some nice indian recepies for my parents aniversery. They liked recepies and my mom asked me to teach her the recepe. I would like to ask that do u send recepe to e-mail; If yes what we have to do to enable it??? And Thankyou very much for the marvelous recepies.
thanks ankita and welcome. you can join as a subscriber to our newsletter. we send in a weeks or sometimes 10-15 days time a compiled list of all the new recipes posted. you will have to use your computer to see the joining form and not mobile. the form is on the left hand side row towards the bottom.
Very nice and tasty reciepe i was looking for reciepes for my husband’s lunch box.ur reciepes worked wonders.thanks.
welcome pallavi
Hi wanted to know do you supply to retail outlets since we have an Icecream cafe at 7 bungalows Andheri west
yogesh, we don’t supply any food items.
hey dassana i love awll ur dishes..plz do me a fvr..i want to buy a hand toaster…wer sud i go for in mumbai …plz mention adress as i m frm gwalior
thanks sanam, you will get hand toaster easily in mumbai in any area. go to a shop which sells all kitchen utensils like pressure cooker, tava or kadai.
Wonderful….mouth-watering recipe.Keep it up.
street food which is totally unhygienic on streets, now can be made at home completely hygienic
yes, thats the best part of it.
ur receipes are excellent ! can u give me the receipe for BOMBAY CHEESE SANDWICH TOAST PLZ,
tnxs/rgds,
raji
hi raji, for making the bombay cheese toast sandwich, after keeping the veggies on the bread, add some grated cheese on top. cover with a buttered and chutneyed slice of bread and then toast or grill the sandwich. you can use a hand toaster or an electric toaster.
Mint-cilantro chutney is one of my favorite things. I was taught to make it with tamarind rather than lemon.
some folks do add tamarind to the chutney. both ways it tastes great.
Wow looks so colorful and yum…lovely presentation
yummy treat and lovely clicks, feeling like having them right away….!
Hi,
It’s my first time on your blog and it is lovely! I remember I used to eat these sandwiches from a hawker who used to stand outside my college, everyday. They are simple yet so full of flavor. I too, recently did a post on green chutney. Green chutney is a must in every Indian household. It’s so versatile and we use it for just so many things.
dear asmita, you have already come here before 🙂 i do agree with the multi purpose uses of green chutney.
Whole heartedly appreciate
thanks for all your comments.
Good ones
Healthy recipes
Very Good recipes
Would like to share the above with my friends/relatives
I just love these sandwiches..I enjoy them here in mumbai very much,especially the grilled ones and masala sandwich is my fav
hey pratibha, i too love the grilled and masala sandwich. have already a masala toast sandwich recipe posted on my blog. i make these very often as i miss my old good mumbai days.
These sandwiches look pretty good.