Pav bhaji recipe
Pav bhaji is a fast food dish from India. It is a world famous fast food dish. You can say pav bhaji is a king of the street food. It is a thick vegetable curry served with soft bread roll called pav. It is originated from the state of Maharashtra.
Basically, bhaji from pav bhaji is a flavorful & hearty meal. It is a delicious blend of spicy mixed vegetables with unique blend of spices called pav bhaji masala, served with soft butter roasted dinner roll (pav). It is accompanied with onion, papad, lemon etc. Sometimes spicy garlic chutney (tari) is also served with it to make it spicier. It is a great dinner option for quick cooking.
Basically bhaji is the mixture of vegetables cooked with butter & pav bhaji masala. They all together creats a magic. Normally piping hot bhaji is topped with generous amount of butter, coriander, onion & a slice of lemon. Normally street vendors makes bhaji with potatos & green peas. They skips other vegetables like cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower or takes a little quantity of them to make it cheaper.
In case when we makes it at home, we can use all vegetables to make it healthier. Even we can use homemade pav bhaji masala to enhance the taste more. Let’s make this popular street food at home. Enjoy cooking!
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 30 minutes
Serves – 4 person
Ingredients to make Pav Bhaji:
For bhaji:
2 tablespoon oil
4 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon broken cashews
½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
¾ cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon crushed ginger
1 tablespoon crushed green chili
¾ cup finely chopped/grated tomatoes
3 big potatoes boiled & grated/mashed
3 tablespoon chopped & boiled carrot
3 tablespoon boiled green peas
3 tablespoon boiled cauliflower
3 tablespoon boiled cabbage
3 tablespoon finely chopped capsicum
Salt to taste
2 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon cumin-coriander powder
2 tablespoon pav bhaji masala
For garnishing:
Freshly chopped coriander
Butter
Chopped onion
To serve with:
Roasted papad
Lemon slice
Finely chopped onion
For pav (bun/dinner roll):
8 nos. pav
Butter as needed
A laddle prepared bhaji
or
Pav bhaji masala
For garlic chutney (tari):
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
Salt to taste
Method to make pav bhaji:
• Heat oil & 2 tablespoon butter in a broad pan. Add cumin seeds to it. When they crackles add ginger, garlic & green chili to it. Sauté them for 2 minutes or until its raw taste disappears. Add broken cashews to it & mix well. Cook for a moment.
• Add onion to it & cook until they are soft. Add capsicum to it & cook well. Now it’s time to add all dry spices. Cook them at slow flame & then add tomatoes to it.
• Cook until it releases oil from the pan. Add remaining butter to it. Mix well.
• Now add all boiled vegetables to it and mix well. Adjust consistency by adding hot water. Cook for minimum 5 minutes covered.
• Check the taste and transfer to serving bowl. Garnish piping hot bhaji with a spoon full of butter, onion & coriander.
For pav:
• Take a piece of pav and slit it horizontally. Repeat the same for remaining.
• Heat a griddle & add butter to it. Sprinkle some pav bhaji masala over it and roast pav over it from both sides.
• Never overcook them otherwise you will get burnt masala’s taste.
• Repeat the same for remaining pavs.
• IN case you want to make pave spicier you can roast it with butter & a spoon full of bhaji.
For garlic chutney (tari):
• Heat oil in a tempering pan and add crushed garlic to it. Let it cook at slow flame, now add red chili powder to it and cook for 30 seconds.
• Mix well and add salt to it. Add some water to it to adjust consistency. Mix well & cook for 2 minutes at slow flame.
How to assemble:
• In a serving plate place some bhaji & top with butter & finely chopped coriander. Serve it along with pav, tari, papad, lemon slice & onion.
For making pav bhaji masala at home:
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds (jeera)
2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 small cinnamons
2 to 3 cloves
3 to 4 dry Kashmiri red chilies
Method:
• Roast all above ingredients at slow flame. Let them cool & then churn to make thin powder.
Tips:
• You can add or omit any vegetable you wish.
• Quantity of butter can be adjust as per taste.
• Instead of masala pav you can roast pav with butter only if you want mild taste.
• To give more attractive red color take red chili paste instead of red chili powder. To make it soak Kashmiri dry red chilies in water for 30 minutes and make the smooth paste from it.
• Instead of Kashmiri red chili another chili can be used.
