Pav Bhaji

Pav bhaji - a very famous chaat item. Pav means salt bread and bhaji means a thick vegetable gravy. It's available in every streets of Mumbai. There are different types of pav bhaji - paneer pav bhaji, mushroom pav bhaji, dryfruit pav bhaji, jain pav bhaji,etc.etc... But I love the one prepared using the basic method. So hurry up...

To serve 4 people you will need

Potato - 3 medium sized, boiled,peeled and mashed
Ripe tomato - 2 medium sized, finely chopped
Onion - 1 big, finely chopped
Carrot - 1/2, cubed and boiled
Cauliflower florets - 1 cup, boiled
Green peas - 1/4 cup, boiled
Capsicum - 1 medium sized, chopped
Tomato paste - 2 tbsp
Pav Bhaji Masala - 2 tbsp
Chaat masala - 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 3 tbsp, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil - 4 tbsp
Butter - 3 tbsp

Method

Heat oil in a kadai. (Normally the chaat corners' chef use a big tawa to prepare pav bhaji, don't try it in your kitchen. Those guys are professionals, and if we try to imitate them then we will get No Bhaji instead of Pav Bhaji :-)....) Add onions and saute till it turns pinkish. Now add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.

Add tomatoes, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower and peas and mix it thoroughly.

Cook the vegetables under medium flame for 5 minutes with lid on. After that mix in the mashed potatoes.

Now add 1 cup of water and mix it well (If you have the stock drained after boiling the vegetables then use it instead of water).

Close the kadai using a lid and cook it for 10 - 15 minutes under low flame. After that using a masher, mash all the vegetables finely ( if you are using a non-stick kadai then use plastic or wooden mashers).

To the vegetable bhaji add pav bhaji masala, chaat masala, salt, coriander leaves and tomato paste. Tomato paste play a vital role in colouring the dish. If you don't have tomato paste, then use one more tomato. Mix it nicely under medium flame for 5 minutes.

Finally add butter and let the butter melt and give a final stir and serve hot.

Serving Technique:

Take pav, slit it and toast it in a tawa using butter.

Serve Pav bhaji alongwith chopped onions and lemon wedges. Oh looks so yummy...