Pav bhaji is a tasty and flavorful recipe that has a delicious taste of spicy mixed vegetables with toasted pav. Above all, this homemade recipe is very famous in Mumbai city. We served it with a soft butter-toasted dinner roll, crunchy onions and lemon wedges.
This homemade pav bhaji is very easy to make for a busy weeknight dinner. Moreover, this tasty Pav Bhaji recipe which everyone wants to eat at home, let’s get some simple instructions for this recipe and describe its making process.
The bhaji of the pav bhaji is thick and full of vegetables like green peas, cabbage, carrot, french beans, cauliflower, potatoes, etc. The pav is lightly toasted in butter, and the bhaji is fried in butter along with the pav bhaji masala. Pav bhaji is a scrumptious food, and its savoury aroma can recognise from afar.
More About Pav Bhaji
The origin of this dish traces back to textile mill workers in Mumbai in the 1850s. They had lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to strenuous physical labor after lunch.
Pav in Marathi means one-fourth, so a quarter of a loaf was equal to a pav. Another story attributes the name to the way the bread was made; the dough was kneaded with the feet or ‘paon’. However, most believe that pav is just a local adaptation of the old Portuguese word ‘pão’ which means bread.
Pav Bhaji Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 gram Cauliflower
- 1 Capsicum (chopped)
- 100 gram Carrot
- 150 gram Green Peas
- 1 cup Cabbage (chopped)
- 4 pcs. Potato Mashed
- 2-3 pcs. Green Chilli
- 2 medium Onion (chopped)
- 4 pcs. Tomato
- 200 gram Beans
- 20 gram Ginger grated
- Coriander Leaves (finely chopped)
Spices
- 1 tbsp Haldi
- Salt (according to taste)
- 2-3 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri Lal Mirch
- 100 gram Butter
- 8 pcs. Pav
Instructions
- In the first step take 4 medium or two larger size potatoes and peel them well. Wash cauliflower florets, carrots, cabbage, beans and capsicum cut into small pieces.
- After the preparation time of bhaji, take a pressure cooker or a pot and add all vegetables. Then pour one and a half cups of water into a cooker for boiling. Only one or two whistles reach on a medium flame in a pressure cooker.
- After one or two whistles of a pressure cooker, the pressure is released from the cooker and open its lid. Now check them and you find that all veggies are soft-cooked and they easily mash well. Keep the mashed vegetables on one side of the table.
- Now is the preparation time for the masala. Heat a pan and pour butter, then add grated ginger & chopped green chilli in it.
- Then add chopped onion. Sauté these chopped onions in a pan till they turn translucent. Now add chopped tomatoes and stir them for 1 min.
- Now add turmeric powder, and stir them for 2 min. then add green peas. mix then well for 1 min.
- Then add red chilli powder and salt and stir for some time. After one min. add mashed vegetables to it and mix them well.
- Then add pow bhaji masala and mix with ½ cup of water. Keep on stirring occasionally and let the bhaji simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. After that turn off the gas.
- Now fry the pav so that you serve the pav with hot bhaji. Slice the pavs.
- Keep the flame to a low and then add butter. When the butter begins to melt, add a bit of pav bhaji masala. You can skip pav bhaji masala if you want.
- Mix the pav bhaji masala very well with a spoon or spatula. Then place the pav on the butter.
- Now turn over the pav and rotate them on the tawa so that the second side absorbs the butter. Add more butter if required.
- Then remove it on a plate and keep it aside.
Video
Notes
Serving Suggestions
- Take the bhaji in a serving plate or a bowl. Top it up with one to two cubes of butter. You can add more butter, if you like.
- Place a side of finely chopped onions, lemon wedges and finely chopped coriander leaves. Or you can sprinkle onions, coriander leaves and lemon juice directly on the bhaji.
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Refrigerate only the bhaji (vegetable gravy without any toppings of onions, coriander and lemon juice) in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.
Now ready for the homemade “Mumbai Shaher ki Pav Bhaji”. Take a bite of your mouth and enjoy this recipe
Frequently Asked Question
India, Maharastra.
There aren’t many health benefits of pav since it’s made of refined flour, which is bereft of any nutrients. Pav is, however, a great source of carbohydrates, and is often consumed as part of the first meal of the day.
Pav bhaji is a spiced mixture of mashed vegetables in a thick gravy served with bread. In short, vegetables in the curry may commonly include potatoes, onions, carrots, chillies, peas, bell peppers and tomatoes. In addition, street sellers usually cook the curry on a flat griddle (tava) and serve the dish hot.
