Fast food is a staple for many for its great taste and amazing variety. From Dahi Vada and Pani Puri to Aalo Tikki and Pav Bhaji, you name it. Among them all, Pav Bhaji is perhaps the most flavoursome, appetizing and most-loved fast food.
As the name indicates, Pav Bhaji consists of a soft bread roll called Pav and mixed vegetable curry called Bhaji. Pav Bhaji has its origins in Maharashtra and is Mumbai’s iconic street food. It is available in various flavours, from paneer to cheese and even mushroom.
Have you tried making pav bhaji that tastes similar to the one sold on the streets but failed? Don’t worry, here’s how to create that magic at home.
How to make pav-bhaji?
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How to prepare Mumbai Street-Style Pav Bhaji?
Pav bhaji masala is the key ingredient that renders pav bhaji its characteristic taste and aroma. It’s readily available in the market but you can even prepare it at home with readily available spices. So, before moving towards the pav bhaji recipe, let’s first learn how to make pav bhaji masala.
Pav Bhaji Masala
Preparing masala for pav bhaji is easy. The spices you need for this masala are:
- Coriander seeds – two tablespoons
- Green cardamoms – two to three
- Cumin or jeera – one tablespoon
- Black cardamom – one
- Peppercorn – one teaspoon
- Red chillies – three to four
- Cloves – three to four
- Fennel seeds – half teaspoon
- Cinnamon stick of ½ inch
- Dry mango powder or Amchur powder – half tablespoon
Dry roast all the above spices in a pan until they turn aromatic, and blend them all into fine powder. Pav Bhaji Masala, with readily available spices, is ready. Now, let’s walk you through the steps involved in making street-style pav bhaji.
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Pav Bhaji Recipe
The first step while preparing any dish is to assemble all the required ingredients in one place. This will help you stay organized and speed up the cooking process. Here’s the list of ingredients you need for cooking pav bhaji.
Ingredients:
- Potatoes – two to three or 300 grams
- Green peas – ¾ cups
- Cauliflower florets – one cup
- Diced carrot – half cup
- Chopped tomatoes – one cup
- Dices onions – one cup
- Chopped green chillies – two to three
- Diced bell pepper – half cup
- Ginger-garlic paste – one tablespoon
- Pav bhaji masala – one and a half teaspoon
- Red chilli powder – one teaspoon
- Salt, oil, and butter, as required
- Kasuri methi – one teaspoon
Make sure you rinse all vegetables properly before chopping them.
Method:
- Take a pressure cooker and add carrots and cauliflower florets. Later, add potatoes and green peas to it. Next, add around one and a half cups of water to vegetables and close the lid of the cooker.
- Cook these vegetables on a medium flame and allow one to two whistles of the pressure cooker.
3. Release the pressure from the cooker. Later, remove the lid and mash the cooked vegetables.
4. Now, It’s time to prepare masala gravy. Take a pan and add one tablespoon of oil and one tablespoon of butter to it.
5. add chopped onions to the pan. Fry them well until they turn translucent. Later, add ginger-garlic paste and finely diced green chillies. Stir well and make sure not to burn.
6. Now add diced bell peppers and saute them well for approximately three minutes. Next, add salt and tomatoes and cook them until they turn slushy and soft.
7. Once tomatoes turn slushy, add the prepared pav bhaji masala and garam masala. Fry for two to three minutes. However, you can skip using red chilli powder if you don’t want a spicy bhaji.
8. Take mashed veggies and add them to the pan. Later, add a half or more cup of water and mix all well. Allow the gravy to simmer.
9. At this stage, you can put an extra one teaspoon of red chilli powder to give a deep red colour to the gravy. Feel free to taste the prepared gravy and check for the salt. If required, add salt accordingly.
10. Finally, take Kasuri methi, crush it to make coarse powder, and add it to the mixture in the pan. Cook the pav bhaji gravy until it gains a light thick consistency.
Bhaji is ready. You can finely chop coriander leaves and garnish the dish. Now, it is the time for bread rolls or pav to toast.
- First, take a bread roll and cut it horizontally. Take a pan, add butter to it, and place bread rolls on it. If you wish to have spicy pav, you can make masala with butter. Just fry bread rolls for one to two minutes.
Take a clean plate and a bowl. Transfer the prepared bhaji to a bowl, place fried pav’s on the plate, and serve the dish with lemon wedges and finely chopped onions.
Conclusion
If you try preparing pav bhaji using the above recipe, expect a street-style taste. So, try it at least once and enjoy mouth-watering Mumbai-style pav bhaji at home.
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