Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Pav Bhaji -Medley of Spiced Mashed Vegetables With Toasted Buns

Yet another Tuesday and its time for Sweetnick's Antioxidant Rice Foods 5-A-Day.The earlier recipes I submitted for this event were Cauliflower Tomato Curry ,Uthappams and Bisi Bele Bath which is a rice dish with loads of vegetables.Actually I have started looking forward to this event as it really encourages me to think of recipes which include a lot more vegetables than usual.So this got me thinking as to what dish I should prepare which had atleast 4 to 5 vegetables,no,actually more than 5 and that's when Pav Bhaji, the quintessential Mumbai street food,immediately came to my mind.Can you guess how many veggies went into making the bhaji(vegetable)?Well, not 5 or 6 but 10 ..yes,you heard right,its 'TEN' vegetables!If that were not enough,the spice mix which give this dish its unique flavour, the pav bhaji masala,is a mix of more than 20 odd spices.And the herbs that liven up the pav bhaji even further are ginger,garlic,turmeric and coriander leaves.
Among the ten vegetables required to prepare the bhaji , eight were sitting in the fridge and I only had to buy some bell peppers, beetroot and the most essential ingredients of this dish, Pav Bhaji Masala and Pav (bread).You can prepare the bhaji without beetroot too but its just that I wanted to bring in that extra color to my version of the bhaji..:).Probably cant compare it to the authentic 'pav bhaji', the mumbai street food vendors churn out but it was very colorful,flavorful,satisfying and comforting medley of spicy veggies,not to mention nutritional,I have cooked and eaten this past week.


Ingredients:

For Bhaji:
2 onions chopped finely
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chillis slit length wise
1 capsicum finely chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
1 small cup each of chopped mixed vegetables (french beans, carrots, cauliflower, beetroot,potatoes,green peas,cabbage)
3 tsps pav bhaji masala (any good brand,I used Everest)
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 lemon juice
2 tbsps chopped fresh coriander leaves,onion rings and lemon wedges for garnish

8 pavs (buns)with butter to shallow fry the pavs


Pressure cook all the vegetables except onions,capsicum and tomatoes.Once they are cooked till soft,mash them with a masher while they are hot.Dont drain away the left over water from the cooked vegetables.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and add onions. Fry till the onions turn golden brown in colour. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry for 2-3 minutes.Now add the bell peppers and fry for another 2 minutes.
Add pav bhaji masala,red chilli pwd,turmeric pwd,sugar and salt.Stir to combine and then add the tomatoes and fry till oil separates.
Add the mashed vegetables and stir to combine.Add a cup of water and adjust salt, let it cook on slow fire for 20 minutes.Turn off heat and add butter and lemon juice.Combine.
Garnish with onions rings and chopped coriander leaves.
Serve this bhaji with hot pavs lightly toasted in butter.

Note: Bhaji can be prepared with even 2-3 vegetables like carrots,peas,cauliflower or bottle gourd.You can serve this bhaji with plain bread or roti too.

That sure was a lot of Indian street food fare we have had the past week..aloo tikki , corn bhel
and Pao Bhaji.Couldnt ask for more luring foods to treat my taste buds especially a dish like pav bhaji...:)

,,,,,

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

aaah! pav bhaji! This has to rank as one of my favorite foods of all time! especially when eaten hot from the street vendors. I really miss the authentic pav and can't get it anywhere here in the US. Your version looks delicious!

Thanks for visiting my blog and for the nice comments. I have moved my blog from holyjalapeno to http://saffronhut.blogspot.com. Stop by sometime!

GourmayMasala said...

who says street food can't be delicious AND nutritious. Nice touch of adding beetroot. I've got to try it!

Kitchenmate said...

Sailu! Really healthy version. I always love to use more vegetable in my cooking. We could try recipe not with the real pav, but only with the hamburger bread:(
Good work again sailu!
--Karthi

BDSN said...

wow in the first place i thought u added red food coloring to ur bhaaji but after reading i knew it was all the beetroots play...Hey Sailu is onion a BULB or a vegetable?

sailu said...

SH,I guess your not alone in the US who misses pav bhaji..:(

Absolutely,GM,healthy and nutritious comforting Indian street food..Pav Bhaji offers all that.

Thanks,KM..:)

I love color,BDSN..:)
To answer your question if onion is a bulb or a vegetable..I guess its both ..a bulb which is cultivated or grown as a vegetable.

Ashwini said...

Mmmm my mouth is watering. Nice touch to the otherwise oily stuff!

Tanuja said...

wow colourful my all time fav street food u have a good collections keep up:)

lost in thoughts said...

Hi Sailu,

The Pav bhaji looks yummilicious...its been ages since I had a proper Mumbai pav bhaaji.

Is there some way you can fax it to me :).

Sonali

sailu said...

Thanks Ashwini and Tanuja.

Oh,Tin,what a wonderful warm thought...:)

Absolutely delicious,Melissa..:)

Sonali,the fax is on its way...:)

KA said...

Pav-bhaji, one of favorite foods!! This is the first dish that I made all by myself which was perfectly eatable :-)

Meenal Mehta said...

wow, 10 veggies ..looks wonderful and wholesome ..

Susan Voisin said...

Hi Sailu-- I have enjoyed your blog so much. I wanted to let you know that I made the Pav Bhaji and your Pesara Pappu Kattu last night, and they were both so delicious! I made a few changes, mostly because I don't eat ghee or oil, and I was wondering would you mind my posting the adapted recipes on my blog--with a link to your original ones, of course?

Thanks for the beautiful recipes and photos. Your blog is a real treasure.

sailu said...

KM,its an extremely simple recipe that even an 10 year old can make.

Susan,thank you so much for your kind words and I am so glad that you enjoyed Pav Bhaji and Pesara Pappu Kattu.Both are full of nutrition and healthy....if we lessen the oil/ghee content a bit ...:)
Sure you can blog about the adapted recipes.

jasmine said...

It looks wonderful--I read the cauliflower recipe...I think I'll try it this week.

j

FooDcrazEE said...

wow! its so healthy...maybe i ought to try and cook some Indian dish for my chinese friends here in Malaysia

Anonymous said...

yumm yummm im trying this outt!!! :D gud one! nice blog u got here :D

rums said...

wow! i love pav bhaji, your post reminded me of the hot pav bhajis we'd devour outside our office opposite VT station in b'bay.

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious - great photos too!

DiaKL said...

aaaaa everything looks so delicious, when I visit India someday I want to taste all these delicious foods :)

sailu said...

Yes,Shanti,try it with beets.Adds a lot of color..:)

J,cauliflower tomato curry is a very simple recipe and goes great with rotis too.

Oh,yes..FC,you can say it again..its even more healthy if go slow on the butter...:)

Thanks for dropping by,Fonzter.Do try it.You will love it for sure.

Rums,nothing to be the Mumbai street hawkers food especially Pav Bhaji!

Thanks,rorie.

Dia,you should visit India and you sure are going to be captivated by its culinary delights ,that you would find it hard to leave India..:)

Raniandraja,thanks for dropping by and am off to check out your post.

rokh said...

this is sounds yummy. good for me to make my dear eat more veggie.

I Am Gluten Free said...

I am new to your blog......I've included a link to your blog on mine. I am a newly diagnosed Celiac (can't eat gluten) and Indian food has so much to offer for me. I will be visiting your blog often! Thanks!

Ellen