Pav Bhaji Recipe (Mumbai Street Style)

Method12 steps · about 45 min

1. 1

   Step 1: If using chili paste instead of the initial chili powder, soak the 10 deseeded Kashmiri chilies in ½ cup hot water until soft, then blend thick with only as much retained liquid as needed. Choose stovetop steps 1–9 or the complete Instant Pot method here. STOVETOP: cook the potatoes, peas and optional cauliflower (100 g)/carrot (75 g) with the 1½ cups stovetop vegetable water until fully soft, using a pressure cooker or an ordinary pot. Add extra water only if an ordinary pot needs it. INSTANT POT: skip steps 2–9. On Sauté, heat the base 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter. Sauté the onion (125 g) and optional green chili until transparent; add 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add tomato (125 g), bell pepper and 1 tsp salt and cook until mushy. Stir in the main pav-bhaji masala, turmeric and chosen initial chili powder or prepared chili paste. Add the raw potatoes, peas and optional vegetables with the separate 2 cups Instant Pot water. Scrape the base clean, cancel Sauté, seal and pressure-cook on high for 5 minutes. Allow 5 minutes natural release, then vent the remainder according to the cooker instructions. Open only after pressure fully drops. Mash the vegetables. On Sauté, taste and adjust with extra salt, masala or the optional extra ½ tsp chili powder. Simmer for 3–4 minutes until thick, add kasuri methi and cancel heat. Stir in 1 tbsp of the 2 tbsp serving butter and a little of the coriander garnish, reserving their remainders for step 12. Continue with step 10.

   Uses 1½ to 2 cups (300 grams) potatoes (diced (3 medium or 2 large) ) · ½ to ¾ cup (75 grams) green peas (matar) · 100 g cauliflower, optional · 75 g carrot, optional · 1½cupstovevegetablewaterONLYstoveroute · extra ordinary-pot vegetable cooking water only ifneeded · tendeseededKashmirichiliesONLYpastealternativetoinitialpowder · halfcuphotsoakwaterONLYpaste,blendonlyneededportion

2. 2

   Step 2: For stovetop pressure cooking, cook over medium heat until two whistles and allow pressure to drop fully before opening. Ordinary-pot vegetables should also be completely soft. Mash the cooked vegetables with their retained cooking liquid.

   Uses ONLYstoveroute,samevegetablesfullysoftened

3. 3

   Step 3: For stovetop only, heat the base 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil. Sauté the 125 g bhaji onion until translucent.

   Uses ¾ to 1 cup (125 grams) onions (finely chopped, 1 medium) · 1 tablespoon oil · 1 tablespoon butter

4. 4

   Step 4: Add the ginger-garlic paste (1 tablespoon) and optional green chili (1) to the onion base. Sauté until fragrant.

   Uses samebasetablespoonbutter/oilandchoppedonion · 1 green chili (slit or chopped, leave out for kids, optional) · 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or chopped)

5. 5

   Step 5: Add the bell pepper and sauté for 3–4 minutes. Add the 125 g tomato and initial 1 tsp salt, and cook until mushy.

   Uses samecookedbaseandchosenchili · ½ cup capsicum ((bell pepper) chopped) · ¾ to 1 cup (125 grams) tomatoes (finely chopped, 2 medium ) · 1 teaspoon salt

6. 6

   Step 6: Add the selected initial chili powder or the chili paste prepared in step 1, along with turmeric (¼ teaspoon) and the main 1–1½ tbsp pav-bhaji masala. Fry for about 2 minutes until the raw spice smell disappears.

   Uses ONLYpasteinsteadofinitialpowder,fromsame10chilies · samecookedvegetablesandaromatics · initial1–1½tspchilipowderONLYpowderroute,insteadpreparedpaste · ¼ teaspoon turmeric · 1 to 1½ tablespoon pavbhaji masala powder (use more if needed)

7. 7

   Step 7: Add the mashed vegetables and their retained liquid from step 2. Stir in ½–¾ cup of the separate stovetop consistency water as needed for a thick bhaji.

   Uses samepreparedstovevegetableswithretainedcookingliquid · samebasewithmainmasala,nottoastspices · ½–¾cupstovebhajiconsistencywater

8. 8

   Step 8: Simmer for 3–5 minutes until thick. Taste and adjust with extra salt or main masala if needed. For extra heat or color, add the optional separate ½ tsp chili powder and cook for 3–4 minutes more.

   Uses samecookedvegetables/masala/consistencywater · 0.5 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder · extra salt only to taste cookedbhaji · extra mainbhajimasalaonlyifneeded, distinctfromtoaststock

9. 9

   Step 9: Add the optional kasuri methi (¾ tablespoon) and cook until the bhaji is thick but spoonable. Turn off the heat.

   Uses samefinishedchosenheatroutemixture · ¾ tablespoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves, optional)

10. 10

    Step 10: Slit the eight ready-made eggless pav buns horizontally, keeping one edge attached.

    Uses 8 Pav (buns) (dinner rolls)

11. 11

    Step 11: Heat the shared 1 tbsp toasting butter over low to medium heat and sprinkle in the separate ½ tsp toast masala. Toast all eight slit buns in batches for 1–2 minutes until lightly crisp, sharing the measured butter and masala among them. Watch closely to prevent burning the masala.

    Uses sameeightbunsreadytotoast · 1 tablespoon butter (to toast pav) · ½ teaspoon pav bhaji masala ( powder)

12. 12

    Step 12: Serve the finished stovetop bhaji from step 9 or Instant Pot bhaji from step 1 with the toasted pav from step 11. Divide the raw onion (2 to 4 tablespoon) garnish, lemon (1) and coriander among four servings. For stovetop bhaji, divide the full 2 tbsp serving butter among the plates. For Instant Pot, use only the remaining 1 tbsp serving butter and remaining coriander after the finishing additions in step 1.

    Uses ONLYcompleteIProuteinsteadstovebatch · ONLYstoverouteinsteadcompleteIPbatch · samebunstockaftersharedtoastingfatandmasala · 1 Lemon (sliced) · 2 to 4 tablespoon onions (Chopped finely) · fulltwotablespoonscorianderONstoveORonlyunusedremainderafterIPfinish · 2 tbsp serving butter, stovetop route only; use the full shared stock · 1 tbsp remaining serving butter, Instant Pot route only; first tbsp was used at finishing