Nov 20, 2012

Pav Bhaji ( Chats / Street Food)

 Last week we had a Thanksgiving Potluck at work. Every year our company conducts a Thanks Giving Potluck to follow the tradition of Thanks Giving feast. Company will sponsor the Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans as these are main dishes for Thanks Giving. But we are always short of some nice veggi dishes, so to fill this gap I always sign-up for some veggie dishes. In the previous years, I have made Peas Pualo, Semya Pulao, for this event, this year I want to take something spicy and splury. My team members are always on the lookout for spicy stuff and they totally count on me for every potluck at work. So not to disappoint them and to suit this sudden cold weather, I made Pav Bhaji and it turned out superb and delicious.  I have received several emails from people that i don't know saying 'it is yummy', which made my day.
Pav Bhaji
For the people who don't know about this dish here are some details. Pav Bhaji  is a famous street food and a delicacy in the Northern India. Pav means the bread and Bhaji means thick curry, this is always should be eaten with this combination thus making the Pav and Bhaji inseparable and became 'Pav Bhaji'. This dish is made with farm fresh vegetables like Onion, Tomato, Potato, Cauliflower, Carrot, Capsicum, Beans, Beets, Peas (Oh Boy, several veggie servings in this one pot meal). The vegetables get cooked under steam and mixed with spices and gets topped with butter results in this spicy superb Bhaji.  This is always served with slightly toasted buttered pavs to make it complete. Don't forget to serve the red onions and lime wedges on the side for the extra kick. Here is the recipe, Njoy!

Ingredients:
Potato  - 4 medium
Carrot - 2
Cauliflower - 1/2 medium ( or 1 cup florets)
Capsicum - 1
green peas - 1/3 cup
Tomato - 2 ( cluster)
Onion - 1/2 medium
Green chili - 4
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 Tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
salt -  2 tsp
black pepper -1 tsp
PavBhaji Masala - 4 Tbsp ( I have used MDH brand)
sugar - 1 tsp
lime juice - 1 Tbsp
water  - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1Tbsp
Butter - 1 Tbsp
Pavs - (in USA, Hawaiian Dinner Rolls will be perfect for Pavs)

For garnish:
Sliced Red Onions - 1 Tbsp
Lime Wedges - 1 or 2

Preparatory Steps:
Peel and Wash the Potato and Carrot. Chop Potato, Carrot and Cauliflower into medium size pieces. Add the vegetables to pressure cooker along with 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook it (for up to 2 whistles). Mash the Potato, Carrot and Cauliflower until it becomes like soft puree.

Method:
  1. Heat the non -stick pan and add Oil. Add cumin seeds once the oil is hot.
  2. Add chopped onion and green chili.  When the raw smell goes away ( after 2 min), add ginger garlic paste followed by the turmeric powder.
  3. Wait until the oil separates, then add chopped capsicum and green peas. Cook the vegetable for 2 min, or until they become soft.
  4. Now add the salt and black pepper. And add chopped tomatoes. Mix well and close the lid for 2 min and simmer it.
  5. Once the  gravy comes together, add mashed potato, carrot and cauliflower mixture to the pan and mix well together. Now, add Pav Bhaji Masala and give it a quick stir, now keep the flame on high.
  6. Add 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer so that the masala gets mixed into the curry at this moment.
  7. Add the sugar at the end, and top with chopped cilantro. Switch off the heat, sprinkle lime juice on top and add the butter on top.
Serving Tips:
Serve this Spicy Pav Bhaji hot along with butter toasted Pavs ( buns or dinner rolls). For some extra kick, serve the red onion slices along with some lime wedges on the side.


Notes:
  • Today i did not use Green Beans or Beets. Beets will give nice bright color. In case if you add beets, don't add more than one. Adding more will make this bhaji sweet.
  • When you add Pav Bhaji Masala, add little by little, taste and adjust accordingly. The spiciness of the masala depends on the brand you use. So it's always best to add the masala in increments.
  • MDH masala that I have used is not spicy but with tons of flavor, so I had to add almost 3 to 4 Tbsp for the quantity of big pressure cooker size full bhaji.
  • I have used Hawaaian Gold Dinner Rolls as Pavs, they are in slight oval shape than regualr dinner rolls whcih made them exactly look like Pavs that we use in India.

I have linked this to the Street Food of India Event at Rosh's Chef Aldente.

will be back with one more delicacy dish...
until then take care
-Mythreyi

13 comments:

  1. My favourite chat... First item I have learnt to make.. ur recipe looks great! I also prefer MDH
    http://great-secret-of-life.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. inviting clicks.. all time fav..

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  3. KIlling me with ur pav bhaji,wish i get some now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. every one`s fav...Looks yummmmmmm!!!
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

    ReplyDelete
  5. this looks so good and its my favorite :)

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  6. slurrrrrrrrrrrrrp my hot favourite snack.

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  7. Hey, thanks for linking this fantastic recipe to my event - Street Food of India!

    P.S. Would be great if you could link the post to my event page and also like my FB page :) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally forgot to link to your page, Rosh!. I have linked it now :-)

      Delete
  8. butter on top of Pav bhaji makes u feel like having it. Thanks for sharing...

    ReplyDelete

Hi,

Thanks for visiting Yum! Yum! Yum!. I really appreciate your time in dropping a note for me. Your comments are truly motivating and feedback allows me to improve more to bring the best.

Thanks
-Mythreyi

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