Pav Bhaji is the king of Mumbai street food. This is one dish that feeds millions of people around India on a daily basis.
Pav Bhaji is a Maharashtrian fast food which became popular in all over India. Pav bhaji consists of bhaji (a thick potato-based curry) garnished with coriander, chopped onion, and a dash of lemon and lightly toasted pav. The pav is usually buttered on all sides.
Some of the recipes are on my weekly menu such as Pav Bhaji, Chole or Rajma, Paneer, Daal Fry and so on. Being a vegetarian, these recipes are completely nutritious if served with proper well-balanced accompaniment such as brown rice.
Pav Bhaji is our family favorite, including kids. My kids really get excited the day I tell them, there is pav bhaji for the dinner…so I started playing around with the recipe to add more nutrition to it. For e.g. Pav bhaji is already nutritious in terms of fiber, carb, potassium but I love to add high protein in it as well and still keep the taste of Pavbhaji. I sometimes add lentils or beans. One cup of lentils provides about 18 grams of dietary protein, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database. A more reasonable portion size of 1/2 cup of lentils thus contains about 9 grams of protein. Although the protein in lentils is classified as incomplete, meaning it lacks some of the essential amino acids you require to build proteins within your body, eating complete proteins or complementary incomplete proteins – such as brown rice – during the course of the day helps ensure your amino acid needs are met. So to make the meal completely nutritious, serve little bit of brown rice on the side. I would make plain brown rice biryani with Pav Bhaji. Try to add high protein vegetables such as green beans as well.
Pav Bhaji is on our weekly menu and so I have already shared so many videos of Pav Bhaji. Below is the playlist to give you an idea of how it is cooked with different methods. Most of the time, I make quick pav bhaji in pressure cooker but can be made without pressure cooker as well by chopping/shredding vegetables.
To bring natural vibrant color, Beet root in the recipe is the key. These days, I have to keep beet root in my refrigerator through out the year as Pav Bhaji is on our weekly menu in variety of forms.
Since I prepare Pav Bhaji a lot, I have posted many videos of Pav Bhaji with different methods such as Mumbai style pav Bhaji, Tava Pav Bhaji, Dal Pav Bhaji, and so on. Watch all videos in the playlist below.
Most commonly used ingredients in PavBhaji are:
Vegetables – 3 packed cups, cleaned, cut into pieces
Onion – 1 large, chopped
Garlic – 4 cloves, chopped
Tomato – 2 medium, chopped
Everest Pav Bhaji masala pwd – 2 tbsp
Red Chilli pwd – 2 tsp
Turmeric pwd – 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves – 1 tsp, chopped
Butter – 1 tbsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Sugar – a pinch
to serve
Onion – 1 small, chopped
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped
Butter – as much as you like
Making of PavBhaji is really simple
In a pressure cooker, cook the vegetables with half cup water, a little salt and turmeric powder. When cooked, mash the vegetables to a rough paste and keep aside. Use a hand mixer to mash quickly
Heat a kadhai with the oil and half the butter, when hot add the onion and sauté. After a minute add the chopped garlic and sauté till the raw smell goes. Add the pav bhaji masala powder and roast for a minute. Then add the red chilli powder, tomatoes and salt and sauté. Let the tomatoes soften completely, then add the mashed vegetables and mix completely. Add a little water to make a smooth paste and let cook. Check for salt. If the bhaji has less masala powder then add some and let it cook for a minute for some time. Add a pinch of sugar to round off the taste. Top with coriander leaves and rest of the butter and keep covered.
Slit the pav in the middle and apply some butter on both sides. Heat a pan, and roast the pav on both sides. I prepare Masala Pav by adding little pavbhaji Garam Masala to the butter. And use flavored butter to roast the Pav…yummy!
Pav Bhaji just doesn’t have to be served with just Bread Buns but you can make Pav Bhaji Pizza, serve bhaji with Dosa, specially when I prepare Mixed Daal Dosa and so on
Pav Bhaji is perfect if you are hosting Indian party as it is quick and easy to prepare compared to other Indian meal and the most important, pav bhaji is loved by almost everyone.
To go with Pav Bhaji, you can prepare Biryani, or other kind of rice recipe like pulao. Sweet is must for the party. And Gulab Jamun, Jalebi, Mung Dal Sheera would be perfect to serve after Pav Bhaji.
Pav Bhaji Tawa is very popular. If you have little party or get together, you can impress your guests by making Pav Bhaji on Tawa. Keep everything ready ahead of time and just quickly keep cooking small batch of Bhaji on Tawa.
I will tell you why Pav Bhaji should be on your weekly menu.
- It is healthy nutritious
- You can use up some leftover veggies sitting in your refrigerator
- If you happen to make big batch of Pav Bhaji refrigerate for up to two days and make toast or serve with Dosa or freeze for longer and serve in emergency
Now, let’s look at the common recipe of Pav Bhaji but feel free to customize to your family diet.
How to make Pav Bhaji
Ingredients
- Vegetables – 3 packed cups (potato, cauliflower, beans, green peas, carrots and capsicum. Potatoes should be half of the total quantity of vegetables and the rest should be made up of the other vegetables.), cleaned, cut into pieces
- ⅛ cup Beet root for color if desired
- Onion – 1 large , chopped
- Garlic – 4 cloves , chopped
- Tomato – 2 medium , chopped
- Everest Pav Bhaji masala pwd – 2 tbsp
- Red Chilli pwd – 2 tsp
- Turmeric pwd – 1/2 tsp
- Coriander leaves – 1 tsp , chopped
- Butter – 1 tbsp
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Sugar – a pinch
- to serve
- Onion – 1 small , chopped
- Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp , chopped
- Butter – as much as you like
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, cook the vegetables with half cup water, a little salt and turmeric powder. When cooked, mash the vegetables to a rough paste and keep aside. Use a hand mixer to mash quickly. (If you don’t have pressure cooker, cook all the veggies in the regular pot till soft)
- Heat a kadhai with the oil and half the butter, when hot add the onion and sauté.
- After a minute add the chopped garlic and sauté till the raw smell goes.
- Add the pav bhaji masala powder and roast for a minute.
- Then add the red chilli powder, tomatoes and salt and sauté. Let the tomatoes soften completely, then add the mashed vegetables and mix completely. Add a little water to make a smooth paste and let cook.
- Check for salt. If the bhaji has less masala powder then add some and let it cook for a minute for some time. Add a pinch of sugar to round off the taste.
- Top with coriander leaves and rest of the butter and keep covered.
- Slit the pav in the middle and apply some butter on both sides. Heat a pan, and roast the pav on both sides.
Serving:
- To serve, spoon some bhaji, top it with a blob of butter, sprinkle some coriander leaves and some chopped onion, then add a butter roasted pav and the Pav Bhaji is ready to be served. Keep some nimbu on the side to add that extra tang.
