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Pav bhaji
Buttery mashed vegetable bhaji with toasted buns and garlic sauce
Mumbai's favourite street food made at home: a rich, buttery bhaji of mashed cauliflower, peas, potato, aubergine, carrot and capsicum, cooked with onions, tomatoes and pav bhaji masala, served with butter-toasted buns. This version adds a spicy garlic and tomato sauce on top. Serve with chopped onions and tomatoes on the side.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For pressure cooking
For the seasoning
For the bhaji
For the garlic sauce
For the topping and buns
Method
0/11 doneStep 1: Put 14 oz cauliflower, 5 ½ oz shelled peas, 2 medium potatoes, 1 aubergine, 2 carrots and 2 medium capsicums in a pressure cooker with 1 cup water. Cook for 3 whistles.
12 minStep 2: Let the pressure drop, then mash the vegetables coarsely.
Step 3: Heat 5 tbsp oil for the bhaji, add 4 medium onions and sauté on low heat until golden brown.
10 minStep 4: Add 5 tomatoes and 1 ½ tsp salt and cook for 5 minutes.
5 minStep 5: Add 1 tsp green chilli paste, 1 ½ tsp ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste and ground turmeric and cook for 1 minute.
1 minStep 6: Add the mashed vegetables and 2 tsp pav bhaji masala and cook for 5 minutes, mashing and stirring.
5 minStep 7: Stir in 3 tbsp butter and cook for 1 minute. Garnish with ⅓ oz fresh coriander.
1 minStep 8: Cut the 12 round buns (pav) in half and spread 4 tbsp butter on both cut sides. Toast them on a griddle, pressing gently with a flat spoon, until golden. Instead of frying, the buns can be grilled.
6 minStep 9: For the garlic sauce, heat 2 tbsp oil and fry 1 onion for 3 minutes. Add 4 tomatoes and cook until tender.
8 minStep 10: Add 3 tsp garlic paste, 2 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp cumin-coriander powder and ½ tsp salt. Take off the heat and blend coarsely.
Step 11: Serve hot buns with a little bhaji and garlic sauce on top, with chopped onions and tomatoes on the side.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 560 kcal
- Protein
- 13 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Fibre
- 11 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pav bhaji take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of cauliflower?
- Broccoli, same weight.
- What can I use instead of medium potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
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