Pav Bhaji ~ Mumbai Street Food
Mop up some delicious potato & mixed vegetable mash with some aromatic, buttery toasted pav bread for an amazing meal experience. The pav-bhaji, a quintessentially Mumbai street food can now be recreated in your kitchen!
Servings 6 people
Ingredients
For the vegetable mash
- 2 big (500 grams) potatoes, peeled & cubed (approx 3 cups)
- 10 (75 grams) French beans, chopped (approx 3/4th cup)
- 1 medium (60 grams), carrot, cut into small cubes (approx 1/2 cup)
- 150 grams cauliflower, cut into small florets (approx 1-1/2 cups)
- 60 grams green peas, approx 1/2 cup
Other ingredients:
- 2 medium-big (250 grams) onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium (250 grams) tomatoes, finely chopped
- 3 teaspoons ginger & garlic paste
- 1/2 (100 grams) green capsicum, finely chopped (approx 3/4th cup)
- 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
- 2 teaspoons pav bhaji masala * see note
- 1 teaspoon kitchen king masala * see note
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur)
- 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder, adjust to taste
- oil for frying
- 2-3 teaspoons of butter for frying if desired
To garnish the bhaji
- 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
- lime wedges
- generous dollops of butter
To serve
- pav bread as required (approx 2 big pavs per adult)
- salted or unsalted butter to toast it
Instructions
- Place all the vegetables mentioned under 'For the vegetable mash' in a steel bowl or vessel. Do not add any water to this vessel. Instead, bring enough water to the pressure cooker to a boil and place this vessel of vegetables into the cooker. The water in the pressure cooker should not be more than half the height of the vessel. Cover and cook for 7-8 whistles. Turn off the heat and let the cooker cool down for 15-20 minutes or until the weight (whistle) can be removed easily. Then mash all the vegetables and keep aside. See note
- In a wide based kadai/wok, heat the oil and/or butter and fry the onions till they turn translucent. Next, add the ginger & garlic paste and fry for about a minute. Add in the chopped capsicum and fry until translucent.
- Add the tomatoes and a little salt and fry until they turn mushy. Now reduce the heat and add the spice powders - pav bhaji masala, kitchen king masala and amchur powders. Add half of the red chilli powder, check the taste and add more only if required.
- Mix in the mashed vegetables and add about 1/2 to 3/4th cup of water or the stock in which the vegetables were cooked. Simmer & cook for about 5 minutes, stirring every now & then. Do a taste check and add more of red chilli powder or salt or amchur powder as need be. Turn off the heat.
- To serve, slit the pav breads halfway horizontally. Apply butter lavishly and fry them on both the sides on a hot skillet/tawa. Place on a serving plate, preferably a sectioned one. Place a portion of the vegetable bhaji, garnish with the chopped onions & coriander leaves. Sprinkle some lime juice & enjoy!
Notes
This technique of placing food inside a container before pressure cooking will preserve the nutrients and make the veggies less soggy. You may also steam the vegetables. If you wish, you can boil the potatoes separately and use only as much as required. I used store-bought Badshah (brand) Pav Bhaji masala and Kitchen King masala which added to the taste. Everest & MDH are the other brands that sell good Pav Bhaji masala. You can skip the kitchen king masala and use 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala instead. Use very less red chilli powder to begin with as many pav bhaji masala blends will have a lot of red chillies in it, so use according to taste.
Do check the Pao/Pav recipe here