Pav Bhaji Masala

Pav Bhaji Masala

Who doesnt like Pav Bhaji? Well I dont know anyone that dislikes it to be honest!. I first had it when I was really young and my mom kept teaching me how to eat it by adding some bhaji onto a bun, add some fresh chopped onions and coriander leaves to it!

Buttery buns with a fiery bhaji is such a beautiful combination. Its no wonder that this dish is a top seller in street food. I always have a feeling these dishes taste better on the streets than in gourmet restaurants. On my last trip to Mumbai I visited a hotel and they had 27 different varieties of pav bhaji on the menu! Thats right 27! They put all sorts of things on the pav bhaji including cheese! Cheese!!!

Anyways this variety doesn't have any cheese, just the usual stuff. Its mostly supposed to have just potatoes in it but I like to make it with many veggies just to make it more healthy plus it tastes better. Here's how its done.

Ingredients

• Potatoes   3
• Onions     1
• Capsicum 1
• Tomatoes 4
• Mixed Veggies (carrots, peas, beans and cauliflower) 1.5 cups
• Green chillies 4
• Ginger Garlic Paste 1 Tbsp
• Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilly Powder 1/2 tsp
• Pav Bhaji Masala 1.5 Tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Lemon Juice 
• Butter 3 Tbsp, plus some more to add while serving
• Cilantro For garnish

Method

Roughly chop the carrots, beans, cauliflower and Fresh Peas(if using, i used frozen blanched peas). Cube the potatoes and pressure cook all the veggies with salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles.

Heat a pan and add 3 tbsp butter to it. I add some butter for the smell and add oil too, just to reduce the quantity of butter added to the dish. For the authentic pav bhaji, you should go the all butter route though. Add cumin seeds. Once they splutter add in a full diced onion.

Adding a pinch of salt with the onions makes the moisture come out of the onions and hastens the cooking process. Add some turmeric powder with the onions and saute it in the oil to cook it well. Once the onions turn brown, add ginger garlic paste. Saute the paste until its cooked and the raw smell goes away. Now add the capsicum. Give it a quick sauté, I prefer my capsicum crunchy not cooked all through. Add the tomatoes in and let it cook. 

While the tomatoes ooze out some moisture, add salt, chilly powder. Add in the Pav Bhaji Masala at this point and cook until it oozes fat from the sides. I also add in some tomato puree to intensify the flavor of tomato. Here in the US, they are not as flavorful as they are in India hence the addition of the puree.

Cook the tomatoes until they are well combined and resembles a gravy. It will start oozing oil or butter from the sides. The tomatoes have to be well cooked to ensure that the gravy has the right taste and texture. Once the gravy is well cooked, add the cooked veggies in and mash well along with the peas. I use frozen blanched peas so i just let it boil with the gravy as it cooks.  Mix it thoroughly with the gravy. You can add some water and cook it for sometime, until all the veggies are well combined and the flavors intermingle with one another. 

Finish by adding lemon or lime juice and freshly chopped cilantro. Also you can add some butter to the gravy now to give that shiny finish and rich texture.

To serve the pav bhaji, toast some pav buns with butter and serve with hot steaming bhaji on the side with chopped onions, fresh cilantro/coriander and a slit lemon with a dollop of butter on the Bhaji. I make my own dinner rolls with Chefinyou's recipe for white dinner rolls.

Tips:

1. Left over pav bhaji masala tastes great as a filling for a veggie puff. The gravy will be watery as a bhaji but this needs to be reduced to a nice pasty consistency to use as a filling for puffs.

2. It can also be used as a base for a pizza. With an Indian twist, this can be used instead of the traditional tomato sauce!

3. You can make a panini style sandwich too with the filling!