Pav Bhaji - the staple mumbai food...

Pav Bhaji

Pav bhaji reminds me of comfort food... every nook and corner of bombay streets had a pav bhaji guy but u would go to that one place where u have been having pav bhaji for ages together...

my favourite place - canon, opp VT station; acheja - ghatkopar and mulund; the road side thela at chembur station, sadguru at chembur station... yummy!! nostalgic talking abt bombay streetfood and my favourite spots... :D




last nights dinner was cause our friend Himanshu was back in dubai and more so important, he was getting food from home... like they say in hindi "Ma ke haat ka khana" .... :D yummy...

anyways,  so with the baingan ka bharta still on the cards, the street food came to my mind... and trust me once street food comes to your mind, its pretty difficult to get it out... :) so the gruesome task of making the pav bhaji started.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes,boiled and mashed - 4 medium
2. Tomatoes,chopped - 4 medium
3. Onions,chopped - 2 medium
4. Green capsicum,chopped deseeded - 1 medium
5. Cauliflower,grated - 1/4 small
6. Green peas,shelled - 1/4 cup
7. Ginger,chopped - 1 inch piece
8. Garlic - 8-10 cloves
9. Oil - 3 tablespoons
10. Green chillies,chopped - 3-4
11. Pav bhaji masala - 1 1/2 tablespoons
12. Salt - to taste
13. Butter - 3 tablespoons
14. Pav - 8 or bread will do... 
15. Fresh coriander leaves,chopped - 1/4 cup
16. Lemons,cut into wedge - 2

Preparation:

1. it helps to get all the veggies cut,boiled, smashes, grinded etc in place so that u can focus on making the dish... for amateurs likes me, makes a lot of sense not to parallel process with cutting and cooking, i have burnt a lot of things like that... :D 
2. what needs to be done before hand is:
1. potatoes boiled and smashed
2. onions chopped fine, i grind it. saves u from tearing up 
3. garlic peeled, ginger, green chilles - grinder
4. peas soaked, softened and grinded
5. cauliflower - grated. 
6. capsicum - chopped fine
3. start as always with the oil in the pan, heated for roasting onions... 
4. add the onions and roast them till they are light brown
5. add the garlic, ginger and chillies into the onions and cook for a minute so that the ginger and garlic are roasted and dont smell like raw stuff.. :D (ull get used to it once u cook 2 indian dishes.. the smell becomes familiar) 
6. add the tomatoes and cook it till they are soft and can be crushed with the back of your spoon. the recipe said take 3/4th the tomatoes, i put all of them, then cut a little more to add at the end... :D 
7. add the peas, cauliflower, capsicum, potatoes and mix well. 
8. add water so that theres enough to boil and theres a small layer of water on the top of the veggies mix
9. lower the gas/heat and let it simmer. 
10. add the pav bhaji masala and salt and stir.
11. let it cook and reduce till the water is evaporated and the pav bhaji looks like a nice gravy!! :) 
12. butter, onion and dhaniya on the pav bhaji are optional, i leave it to the individual taste of the person eating..
13. roast the bread in butter and enjoy... :D 

Half eaten pav bhaji plate

Tips:

1. The potatoes and tomatoes can be of equal quantities. 
2. Onions half of that
3. The rest of the veggies are just to add the flavour and variety, their quantity can be 1/4 of the potatoes or even less. these proportions worked well for me. 
4. Everest Pav Bhaji masala is the saviour of the day. i likes it.
5. its the pav bhaji masala that gives the pav bhaji masala.
6. grind the peas, ginger, garlic and green chillies.... makes life so much more easy and less chopping... :D i love my grinder... 
7. the street vendors make it so easy.... 5 mins or less u have a plate of AMAZING pav bhaji and steaming buttery pav ready. trust me, its not easy to make. i have a new found respect for them. :D and will cherish every bite of my pav bhaji when i eat it next in bombay. 
8. pav bhaji makes a grt sandwich mix the next day. thats lunch for me today!! :) 

Original recipe: http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/bombay-pavbhaji.aspx