Indian Street Food - Pav Bhaji (Bread And Vegetable Curry)

Whenever I go to India, there are definitely a few fast food dishes that I want straight away, one of them is Pav Bhaji. Smelling a street food cart selling pav bhaji with the aromas filling the air just makes me start to salivate. The massive flat tawa (frying pan) piled up with the vegetables and masalas is just a sight to behold.

Anyway, enough of me dreaming away, pav bhaji is a dish that’s so adaptable, you can literally make your own combination of veg so you’ll never miss out on your (at least) 5-a-day.

Originating in Maharashtra and Gujarat, Pav Bhaji has always been part of my life growing up, as my Mum used to make it regularly, but not on a tawa because it wasn’t practical. So, yes, there are other ways of making this yummy dish, and I’ll show you what my Mum showed me 😊

You can pretty much use whichever veg you want to. I’ve used potatoes, which can be substituted with plantain, but I’ve never tried that. Let’s start with what I know and I will try the plantain version and let you know, so what out for the recipe in the future.

Serves - 6 to 8 (depending on how hungry you are 😉

Prep Time - Chopping Veg: 10-15 minutes

Steaming veg - 20-30 minutes (with a pressure cooker - 10 minutes)

Cooking Time - 15-20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 350g potatoes – peeled and chopped into large chunks

• 125g carrots - peeled and chopped into large chunks

• 200g cauliflower - chopped into large chunks

• 350g aubergines - chopped into large chunks

• 100g frozen green peas

• 1 tbsp oil (rapeseed, sunflower or vegetable)

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

• ½ tsp asafoetida

• 200g onions, finely chopped

• 2 green chilies - minced

• 1-inch ginger - minced

• 400g tomatoes, chopped into small cubes + 1 extra tomato chopped for later

• ½ teaspoon cayenne powder

• ½ tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp salt

• 250g spinach, roughly chopped

• 1 bunch fresh coriander, chop leaves roughly and stalks finely, keep separate

• 1 tablespoon pav bhaji masala or to taste

• 125g green pepper, chopped into medium cubes

• 1 lemon, juiced + 1 sliced into wedges

• 2 tbsp butter unsalted (vegan butter if dairy-free)

• Small buns – cut in half

METHOD:

1. Put the potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, aubergines, and peas into a steaming basket and steam until the vegetables are soft. I steamed mine in a pressure cooker for approximately 10 minutes, but you can do them in a pan, each veg separately so they don’t overcook.

2. Once all the vegetables are cooked, mash with a potato masher, but not so that they go creamy, leave small chunks, this adds to the texture. Then, mix them all together.

3. Heat oil in a wok or pan and add the cumin seeds and asafoetida, stir for 1 minute and add the onions.

4. Sauté the onion for 2 minutes over a medium flame until golden then add the chilies and ginger, keep stirring for another minute.

5. Add the tomatoes, cayenne, turmeric and salt, stir-fry for a couple of minutes.

6. Next, add the spinach and coriander stalks and cook for a further 2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.

7. Add the mashed vegetables and pav bhaji masala, thoroughly mix. Taste to test the seasoning, add more salt or cayenne if needed, then add the lemon juice.

8. Finally, add the tomatoes and green peppers, mix and add 1 tbsp of butter and blend this in. The Bhaji is done.

9. To serve, butter the inside of the buns (pav) and toast on a tawa, butter side down, flip over and toast on the other side.

10. Plate up Bhaji, sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with toasted pav and a wedge of lemon.

TIPS:

• If you are dairy-free, use vegan butter.

• Use any vegetables you feel like, or even what’s in the fridge, see how it turns out and let me know.

• If you don’t like any of the vegetables that I have used, just leave them out or replace them with something else.

• Pav Bhaji masala can be bought at the Indian food store, however, you can make your own, look out for my recipe. It’s so much better to use fresh as you don’t know how long the ones in the store have been hanging around for.

• If you have any leftover, you can freeze it, just thew it in the fridge overnight, reheat and eat!

• Or if you want it the next day, I guarantee it will taste better then the day before. Forget beans on toast, I love pav bhaji on toast, you have to try it 😊

I hope you have a go at making one of India’s fav street foods. If you do, please let me know, and if you change it up I’d love for you to tell me how.

Until next time, happy cooking 💖

See method in pictures below: