Pav Bhaji is one street food dish which is an Indian favourite. From the normal street hand cards to some of the biggest restaurants, everyone sells them. It is simple yet packed with too many flavours and spices. Pav bhaji is basically pav plus bhaji. Pav are like soft bread pieces highly popular in Maharashtra. On the other hand, bhaji is a thick veggie curry. When both of them are eaten together, the taste becomes even better.

Pav bhaji as a meal is an amazing evening snack and dinner meal. It is very easy to make too. All you need is several ingredients put together and a perfect blend of spices. Some people make the bhaji using a kadhai while some may also use a pressure cooker to make the same. You can easily spot a person selling this amazing dish on Mumbai's busy streets.

Pav Bhaji: Step by Step Recipe

In case you wish to make a wholesome plate of pav bhaji at your home today. Here is the recipe you can follow step by step:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Cuisine: Authentic Indian
Course: Street food/ Snacks
Ingredients required for the bhaji: 
3-4 Tomatoes (chop them finely)
½ capsicum (chopped)
¼ cup of peas
1 onion (chop it finely)
2-3 potatoes (Mashed)
2 tablespoons of Butter (1+1)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 ½ teaspoon of  pav bhaji masala (1+½) 
¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 ¼ teaspoon of red chilli powder (1 + ¼)
2 teaspoons of dry fenugreek leaves (1+1)
3 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander leaves (2+1)
½ lemon juice
1 teaspoon of ginger and garlic paste
Some Water

This is to toast your pav:

A packet of pav bread (around 8 pavs)
½ teaspoon of red chilli powder
½ teaspoon of pav bhaji masala
4 teaspoons of chopped coriander leaves
4 teaspoons of butter

Pav Bhaji: Step-by-step recipe to make bhaji

Step 1:

Bring out your Kadai and first add a tablespoon of butter. Let it heat and melt. Follow this step by adding your finely chopped tomatoes and capsicum. Also, add in your peas as well as mashed potatoes. Sprinkle about half a teaspoon of salt and saute this entire veggie mixture for about two minutes. After two minutes, add around half a cup of water and mix the mixture well.

Step 2:

Cover your pot/Kadai for about ten minutes and let it boil. After ten minutes, remove the lid and begin mashing the veggie mixture. While mashing, ensure that you leave behind no lumps.

Step 3: 

It's no time to add in your spices! Add in the red chilli powder. In case you do have the Kashmiri variety, please go with that. Add turmeric, pav bhaji masala and the fenugreek leaves as well.

Step 4:

Finally, add some coriander leaves and saute your mixture well. You have to make sure that all your spices are cooked properly. Once done, make some space in the middle of your kadhai. Do this by sticking your mixture to the sides of the pan/pot.

Step 5:

Add about one tablespoon of butter to the space created. Again add some chilli powder and pav bhaji masala. Also, add some fenugreek leaves and chopped coriander leaves again. Add your chopped onion and also ½ a lemon juice with a teaspoon of ginger garlic paste. Saute the entire mixture really well. 

Step 6:

In case you feel your is too thick for your liking, you add another half cup of water for a liquid consistency. Most of the time a lot of lumps remain back. Therefore, mash the mixture well while it's boiling. Try getting a better consistency.

Pav Bhaji: Step-by-step recipe to roast your pav

Step 1: Start by heating half a teaspoon of butter in a pan. Add your pav bhaji masala, some coriander leaves and a pinch of the red chilli powder. Take a set of two pavs first and slice them from the middle. 

Step 2: Place the top as well as the bottom onto the pan and roast it well. Ensure that both sides of each have gotten roasted well. While roasting your pav, Always make sure you use enough butter. If not, it would not really help the taste of your pav.

Set your plate

Whenever you serve pav bhaji, it is incomplete without two other things on the plate. That is some freshly chopped onion and a small piece of lemon. People also tend to garnish their bhaji preparation with some fresh coriander leaves. Some also love to add an extra amount of butter on top of the bhaji. However, all these additions and options are entirely upon you and your liking. Pav bhaji is meant to be served hot and spicy. It tastes the best only when done in that manner. A lot of people have concerns over the amount of butter used while making pav bhaji. However, it is this butter which brings out the best taste in both bhaji and the pav.

Points to note: 

There are different brands which sell pav bhaji masala available in the market. However, some people may choose to make this masala powder at home. This masala is made by grinding various types of spices together. 

On the other hand, people often find that the colour of the bhaji is extra red. This is because of either Kashmiri red chilli powder or red food colour usage.

Pav Bhaji: Nutritional Information

Here is the nutritional information if consuming around one cup of bhaji with 2 pavs: 

Calories: 390 Calories
Carbohydrates: 63g
Protein: 12 g
Total Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 5 g
Trans Fat: 0.2 g
Sodium: 589 mg 
Dietary Fibre: 9.4 g
Total Sugars:  11 g
potassium: 813 mg 
Cholesterol: 50 mg

In Conclusion

All in all, pav bhaji is a very simple dish to cook. In fact, this dish is mostly cooked on spot by street vendors. They often prepare the first half of the recipe and keep their veggies cooked. Pav bhaji is half made when you have all your ingredients ready. After this, all that you must be careful about is using your spices correctly. 

Did you find this pav bhaji recipe easy? Is there something special that you add while making bhaji? Let us know in the comments section below!

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