Pav Bhaji

            Although popularized as Bombay chat item Pav Bhaji, Pav bhaji is actually famous all over India and Hyderabad is no exception.

                                         

       

                       I mostly order for Pav Bhaji whenever I visit Numaish or the annual exhibition held in Hyderabad every year. Traders from all across the country come and sell their products, it was 1st started during the reign of last Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali. Another reason for writing so much about Numaish today, is that an unexpected fire mishap happened this Wednesday night which burned down 250+ stalls which included clothes, dry fruits, toys and what not! Luckily lives were saved but items worth crores turned to ashes. What hurts me is that probably the food stall where I ordered my favorite Pav Bhaji has also become the victim and it is such a sad coincident that I made this Pav Bhaji in the afternoon & the mishap occurred the same night.


                       Well, getting back to Pav Bhaji it is mostly served along with a dollop of butter. Here I have omitted it and also very lightly toasted the pav i.e. bread but you can use as much as butter you like. The butter the better :)


                       Pav Bhaji like other chat items dosen't require much preparation neither there is a need of any sorts of chutneys. It can be made in a jiffy in just three small steps - 1) boil the veggies 2) make the curry with the veggies and 3) toast the pav & just serve. Now let's head onto the detailed recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Pav bread - 1 packet (my pack had 3 pairs)
2. Potato - 1 large
3. Carrot - 1 no
4. Peas - 1/4th cup
5. Onions - 3 nos 
6. Tomatoes - 2 to 3 nos
7. Coriander leaves - few
8. Garam masala - 1 tsp
9. Bay leaf - 1 no
10. Red chili powder - 1 tsp
11. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
12. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
13. Salt - to taste
14. Oil - 2 tbsp
15. Butter - as required
16. Lemon - 1 no

Please note that I have used garam masala in this recipe instead of Pav Bhaji masala as more or less the ingredients are same and that did not alter the taste of my prepared dish however, you can use Pav Bhaji masala if you have it.

Method:

• Pressure cook potatoes peel them and dice into cubes.
• Peel carrot and boil it along with peas.
• Heat oil in a vessel add bay leaf and half of the onion and preserve the rest for serving. 
• When onion turns soft add ginger garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt.
• Add in the tomatoes and cook till pulpy. Mix well.
• Add the potatoes and carrots. Using a potato masher mash the potatoes very well.
• Add little water to get the desired gravy consistency.
• Lastly add the peas and coriander leaves, give a final stir and remove from flame.
• Heat a tawa or griddle. Add a tsp of butter and lightly toast the pav till brown.
• Serve the bhaji with toasted pav finely chopped onion and a wedge of lemon. You can also top the bhaji with a tsp of butter as they mostly do in shops.

 

You may also like Vegetable Oats Kofta, Masala chana chaat, Matar kachori, Aloo bonda and Masala vada from My Mom's Kitchen.

Wish to hear from you...

Happy Cooking!!!