Street Style Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is nothing but a humble dish that started out as a fast lunchtime meal for textile mill workers in Mumbai. It is a popular Indian street food which is a thick consistency vegetable curry (bhaji) served with a soft bread roll that's toasted in butter. With just few quick steps you can achieve the authentic Pav Bhaji flavor.

The Mumbai street-style pav bhaji is made on a huge iron tawa (griddle) by mashing a variety of veggies in onion tomato masala that makes the bhaji thick, creamy, and almost smooth.

It is cooked in lots of butter and flavored with a special spice mix called Pav Bhaji Masala that lends this dish its unique flavor and taste.

Like any other dish Pav Bhaji too has been evolving and has a wide range of variations

• Cheese pav bhaji, with cheese on top of the bhaji

• Fried pav bhaji, with the pav tossed in the bhaji

• Paneer pav bhaji, with paneer cheese in the bhaji

• Mushroom pav bhaji, with mushrooms in the bhaji

• Jain pav bhaji, without onions and garlic and with plantains instead of potatoes

• Kolhapuri pav bhaji, using a spice mix common in Kolhapur

Making Pav bhaji at home is easier than you think. Even if you don't have tawa you can easily make this dish in

• Pot on the stovetop

• Traditional pressure cooker

• Modern pressure cooker like Instant Pot

Making Pav bhaji in pressure cooker or instant pot is my preferred, your vegetables are boiled till soft, and effortless to mash. All you need to do it boil the veggies (potatoes, cauliflower, green peas, and beet) and then add them to the onion tomato masala. Homemade pav bhaji is delicious and satisfies all your street food cravings!!

Serve: 6 Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins Total Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

2 large Potato

100 gram Green French Beans

2 larger Green Bell Pepper/ Capsicum

3 larger Carrot

2 medium Beetroot

1/2 cup Green Peas

4 medium Onion

3 medium Tomato

3 medium Green Chili

2 tsp Cumin Seeds/ Jeera

2 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala

2 tsp Red Chili Powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

1/2 tsp Mango Powder/ Amchur Powder

2 tsp Crushed Kasuri Methi

2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1/2 bowl Tomato Ketchup

100 grams Butter

Salt to taste

Garnish:

Finely Chopped Onion

Fresh Coriander

Lime Juice

Butter

Let's get cooking

Cutting Vegetables

1. Cut the vegetables i.e. potato, french beans, carrot, and beetroot in large cubes as they will be pressure cooked and further smashed into a paste

2. Finely chop the onion, green chilli and capsicum. Since the onion and green bell pepper must be sautéed separately, cutting them small can speed the cooking process and give the bhaji a sweeter crunch.

Boiling Vegetables

1. In a pressure cooker/ instant pot, heat 2 tsp oil, add the cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add 1 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala, tomato and salt, now fry everything well. Add in your vegetable that are cut in large cubes along with 1 cup water. Pressure cook the vegetables till 3 to 4 whistles.

2. Once the whistle are done let the cooker cool down. Smash the vegetable with a Vegetables Smasher to a paste.

Pav Bhaji Making Procured

1.In a kadai add 2 tbsp oil, 100 gram butter, add in the finely chopped onion and capsicum and let it cook till the onions turns translucent.

2. Add in the green chilli, coriander, Kasturi Methi, ginger garlic paste, Pav Bhaji Masala, red chili powder, garam masala, Mango Powder/ Amchur Powder and fry everything well.

3. Add in the smashed vegetables to the mixture, along with tomato ketchup and little water. Let the bhaji simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Add salt to the bhaji as per taste

Toast the Pav/ Dinner Rolls

1. To toast the pav, melt butter on a pan on medium heat. Sprinkle some pav bhaji masala on top of the butter and then place the buns on the pan.

2. Press to toast the pav until crisp and golden brown from both sides.

Serve the Pav Bhaji with toasted/ plain dinner rolls either way it taste great. Top the bhaji with a small cube butter, freshly chopped coriander, finely chopped onions and squeeze some lime juice.

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