Pav Bhaji/ Vegetable mash served with toasted Bread rolls

Pav Bhaji/ Vegetable mash served with toasted Bread rolls

Pav Bhaji

By now you should all know I am a big fan of street food and so here I have yet another Mumbai street food inspired dish,  Pav Bhaji (vegetables with bread roll). Of course the vegetables being mashed. And to add a crunch to the otherwise smooth texture, some chopped onions and a little butter is added so the bhaji doesn’t taste dry.

Pav Bhaji

If you have tried this at the thella/stall, then you should know that it’s usually made on a huge tawa (just like any other street food) to speed up the process of cooking.  At home however everybody has adapted their own variations and usually will add every vegetable they find in the fridge and some also use a pressure cooker.

I however have decided not to compromise on the taste and still manage making a huge batch without spending too much time, and so if you have all the ingredients ready and understand the procedure you should be able to whip up this dish in about 30 mins or less considering that you will have a few distractions like your favorite song is being played on the TV or someone calls or in my case A decides to help me in the kitchen.  And still you should be able to serve a delicious meal/breakfast/supper.

Ingredients for authentic pav bhaji

It’s all about mashing and using a few right ingredients and if you are not in a mood for work out (mashing is a kind of work out) then use a hand blender like me (there is a reason why they make these things).  

Add all the ingredients, spices, some water cook till tender and mash

In a separate tawa, mash the onions and masalas ( crush dry fenugreek leaves into the mixture)

Mix, cook serve

Toast the bread.

 Its absolutely delicious, so heres what you need

Ingredients:

1 Green pepper/ capsicum

3 Potatoes- Boiled and peeled

 1/4^th cup Green peas or (or dried whites peas, soaked overnight and cooked till tender)

3 small tomatoes chopped

Small bunch of coriander chopped

1 green chilly chopped

2 small onions finely chopped

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 tbsp. Ginger garlic paste

A pinch of Kasoori Methi/ Dry fenugreek leaves

½ tsp Asafetida/Hing

½ tsp Turmeric powder

½ tsp Chilly Powder X 2

4 tbsp. Pav Bhaji Masala

4 tbsp. Butter

Red food colour (optional)

Jug of water

Masher/ hand blender

To serve

Pav/ Bread rolls

1 onion chopped

Lemon wedges

Coriander and butter to garnish

Method:   

1. Microwave green peas for a 1 minute
2. Place a wok/ Kadai ( wide to allow mashing) on high heat, add 1 tbsp. butter, add capsicum/green pepper, boiled potato, green peas, tomatoes , add chilly powder, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, green chillys  and a little  water and cook till tender.
3. Mix and mash (add water if it starts sticking to the pan). Cook till all the veggies become tender and mushy( on mashing) 
4. Add a tbsp. of Pav bhaji masala, salt to taste, chopped coriander leaves and cook for 6 to 8 min. leave aside.
5. In a separate tawa/griddle/pan, add  2 tbsp. butter, add onions, asafetida, fenugreek leaves, lemon juice, food color, salt, chilly powder,pavbhaji masala, salt, remaining ginger garlic paste and Food colour( if you like) mix and mash it ( for about 5 mins or till the onions become tender)
6. Finally, the mashed onions with the above mashed veggies, add water if you like a thinner consistency  ( as the pav bhaji cools it gets thicker) bring to a boil or cook till everything is well incorporated.
7. Mash for an even consistency.
8. Finally toast the pav/ bread rolls with some butter on a tawa.
9. Garnish the bhaji/ mash with chopped coriander leaves, onions and a wedge of lemon and a blob of butter and Serve.

Notes:

1. Pav Bhaji masala can be spicy add as per taste
2. Adding kashmiri red chilly powder can add colour, I did not have any so had to use food colour
3. If you dont have Pavbhaji masala, use a  of mix garam masala, dry mango powder, chilly powder.