Pav Bhaji (Vdo)

 

Pav bhaji is one of the most famous and popular street food especially in western India. Pav Bhaji takes me back to my college days. The late night studies and riding a motorcycle at midnight to the bus station to eat pav bhaji and fresh fruit juice. It was very easy to make with whatever veggies we had at the hostel and cheap enough to fit in my student budget. Pav bhaji is one of those dishes that always taste better the next day. The reason being there are several spices that go in the pav bhaji masala and it probably takes them that long to infuse all the flavorsin the pav bhaji. Don't worry you don't have to prepare the masala at home as it is readily available at the Indian grocery stores.

Pav bhaji is also possibly the best way to get kids to eat their vegetables. You can pack a pav bhaji sandwich in the lunch box or as an afternoon snack. The pav bhaji masala has red chilli powder in it so if you are cooking it for your kids use 2 tablespoon instead of 3 that way there is no room for complaint about it being spicy.

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes boiled, peeled and chopped.

1 red capsicum diced

¼ cup of cauliflower

1 carrot diced

1 cup of green peas

1 large onion finely chopped

1 medium tomato chopped

200 gms of butter

3 tablespoon of pav bhaji masala

ginger garlic paste

pav or bread rolls

salt to taste

 

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

 

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Combine the red capsicum, carrot, cauliflower and green peas in a pot filled with water. (You can additionally use green beans, corn or any other vegetable of your choice. Just make sure you add some potatoes since they bind the bhaji together.. )

Parboil the vegetables until they are just cooked. Once the vegetables are cooked, drain the water and save it as vegetable stock for later.

Coarsely blend the boiled potatoes and other boiled vegetables in a blender. (If not, you can finely mash all these vegetables)

Heat 100 gms of butter in a pan and add the ginger garlic paste. Saute the paste for 30 seconds and add the onion to the pan. Saute the onion until it becomes translucent. Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook them for 3-4 minutes or until they are completely cooked.

Add the pav bhaji masala to the pan and roast it for about 30 seconds. Return the vegetables to the pan and give it a thorough mix. Add additional 50 gms of butter to the pan and salt to taste.

Add some drained vegetable stock to adjust the consistency.

The bhaji is now ready and now you need to prepare the pav or bread roll. Slice the bread roll in half and apply some butter to the bread. Sprinkle some pav bhaji masala on the roll and toast the bread on a pan until golden brown on both sides.

Enjoy your pav-bhaji.

How do you make yours? Write back and let me know. Visit my blog for more recipes and tips to cook delicious Indian food, quickly and easily.