Pav Bhaji Recipe || Mumbai Street Style Pav Bhaji

A tasty and filling dish, Pav Bhaji is served with soft butter toasted dinner rolls, crunchy onions, and lemon wedges. It features a delectable blend of spicy mixed veggies. With its robust spices, this handcrafted Mumbai street-style snack dish is a crowd-pleaser and tastes amazing. On hectic weeknights, it's the simplest and best dinner choice you can prepare. Use my easy recipe instructions to create the best Pav Bhaji at home in an Instant Pot, stovetop pressure cooker, or normal pan.

                                                             About Pav Bhaji

An famous dish from Mumbai, pav bhaji is also very well-liked as street food throughout India. It initially appeared in Mumbai as a quick lunch choice for workers at textile mills.

Over time, the meal gradually gained popularity. It is now a popular street snack and a specialty in restaurants in Mumbai and other Indian cities.

In Marathi, "pav" denotes bread rolls, and "bhaji" signifies vegetables or a mixed vegetable meal that is either dry or gravy. Since both of these are eaten together in this specific combination, the dish is known by the nickname Pav Bhaji. 

                                            Ingredients List

Mixed Vegetables This bhaji dish should always be made with tender, fresh veggies. For optimal effects, the wet components and spice blend must also be fresh and fragrant.  I use green peas, cauliflower, potatoes, and capsicum. 

Pav Bhaji Masala Without pav bhaji masala, this dish will lose its flavor. Therefore, you have the option of using your own handmade pav bhaji masala or a high-quality, premade one.

Butter is the key ingredient that adds flavor to the dish. you may use homemade butter.

Pav You can either buy fluffy pav or dinner rolls from a noted bakery or make a batch at home.

                                                     Make Pav Bhaji Masala

4 tbsps. coriander seeds 

2 tbsps. cumin seeds 

5 dried red chilies 

8 cloves

1 tbsp fennel seeds

3 black cardamoms

1 cinnamon stick, around 2 inches

1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 

2 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 tbsps. amchur (dry mango powder).

Dry roast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, fennel seeds, dried red chilies, black cardamom, and cinnamon stick in a pan over medium heat for three to four minutes, or until aromatic.

After allowing it to cool, move the spices to a spice grinder. Add amchur, ground ginger, black salt, turmeric powder, and ground black pepper.

Grind until thoroughly mixed and powdery. Use the pav bhaji masala as needed, keeping it at room temperature in an airtight container. This yields about 100 grams of masala for pav bhaji. 

How to Make Pav Bhaji – Step by Step

Preparation:

Rinse, peel, and cube two large potatoes (about 300 grams) or three medium potatoes. Measured, mine were about 1½ and 2 cups. Clean one cup of optional cauliflower florets. Rinse the green peas in ½ to ¾ cups. You can also use one medium carrot (half a cup sliced) if you'd like.

Chop one medium onion (¾ to 1 cup), two medium tomatoes (¾ to 1 cup), half a bell pepper (½ cup diced), and one green chili to make masala. Make one tablespoon of ginger garlic paste as well. Set all of these away.

1. Add potatoes, cauliflower, peas & carrots (optional) to a pressure cooker. Pour 1½ cups water, it should be just enough to cover them partially. Pressure cooks for 1 to 2 whistles on a medium flame. 

2. When the pressure releases open the lid. Veggies should be soft, cooked. Mash them well.

3. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter.

4.  Add ¾ to 1 cup chopped onions. Sauté till they turn translucent. 

5. Include one green chili and one tablespoon of ginger garlic paste. Fry till it has a pleasant scent. Be careful not to burn.

6. Add half cup chopped bell pepper. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

7. Add   ¾ to 1 cup diced tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt. Fry until the tomatoes become pulpy, soft, and mushy.

8. Add 1 to 1½ tablespoons of Pav bhaji masala powder and 1 teaspoon of chili powder. You can omit the chili powder if you're cooking it for children, but it will change the color. Mix well and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

9. Include the mashed and boiled vegetables. To achieve the desired consistency, add an additional ½ to ¾ cups of water.

10. To enhance the masala taste, thoroughly mix and boil for a while. If desired, add more salt after tasting. At this point, you can optionally add extra chili powder for a more vibrant hue. Additionally, if you'd like, you can add more pav bhaji masala for flavor.

11. Include one-half spoonful of Kasuri Methi. Add the chopped coriander leaves once the consistency is what you want. Turn off. Before serving, let it cool somewhat and squeeze in some lemon juice.

Toast Pav

12.With one edge intact, cut the pav horizontally. Heat 1 teaspoon of butter on a tawa over a low heat. Sprinkle some masala powder on top.

13. Toast the pav on the butter for one to two minutes, or until it is just beginning to crisp up. Don't overdo it because it will burn the spice powder. By adding extra butter to the pan, you can repeat the process on the opposite side as well.

14. Now flip the pav over. To ensure the second side absorbs the butter, rotate them on the tawa and gently press with a spatula.

Add sliced onions, lemon wedges, and coriander leaves as garnish. Put extra butter on top of the heated bhaji. Serve pav bhaji with an onion and a little butter on top.

FAQs

1. How can I turn red or orange?
Restaurant-served bhaji is either bright orange or crimson in tint. This color is typically absent from homemade bhaji. I've heard that some street sellers dye the bhaji with artificial coloring.

You can use mild Kashmiri red chili powder or prepare a red chili paste to achieve the red hue organically.

Three to four dried Kashmiri red chilies should be deseeded and soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes to prepare red chili paste. Then, using some of the soaking water, drain and grind to a fine paste. 

2. In place of pav bhaji masala, what can I use?

As an alternative to pav bhaji masala, you can use 1 teaspoon amchur (dry mango powder) and 2 tablespoons garam masala powder.

3. What is appropriate with Pav Bhaji?

Soft pavs, or bread rolls, are typically served with bhaji, or vegetable gravy. A few butter cubes and coriander leaves are placed on top of the hot bhaji.

Add some chopped onions on the side, squeeze some lemon juice into the bhaji, stir, and serve with some pav. It can be eaten for lunch, dinner, or as a snack in the evening.