Pav bhaji is one of many popular street foods from Mumbai, sold on the beach in Juhu where my cousins grew up but now popular throughout India. Here's a street vendor making pav bhaji like a pro. Take note of how much butter he adds at each step. I can hear my mom cringing at the fat content. "Add a little bit of butter, now add some more.."
My mom would make this at home every once in a while and it was always a
treat for us because we got to eat white bread smothered in butter and
it counted as Indian food. My sister and I even created a pav bhaji
handshake for the occasion where her hands were the pav, mine was the
bhaji, and my other hand ate the whole thing. And then we would sing
"Pav Bhaji, Pav Bhaji Khaana Nahi" to the tune of Pardesi from Raja
Hindustani while laughing uncontrollably. Pav (pronounced like paoh) means bread and bhaji means vegetables. It's basically a vegetable sloppy joe, only it actually has flavor. My favorite part is that as long as you have some potatoes, you can basically just throw in whatever vegetables you have lying around and want to get rid of. It's kind of a garbage disposal dish in that way.
Honestly, this recipe is more of a guideline based on what I did today. You can change the ratios, you can add eggplant, sweet potato, chickpea, bell pepper, beet, cabbage - really any vegetable you have on hand. Don't worry about it if you don't have one or two of the ingredients or spices. I mean it's basically just mush so no one will ever know. Generally, Indian food is meant to follow certain rules or grandmothers will yell at you and babies will cry. People in different parts of the country fight over this shit. You Bengalis put chana in pani puri?! You must be some kind of monster! Not with pav bhaji. It's virtually fool proof - no one will yell at you if your pav bhaji is different than theirs because it all looks the same.
You can eat it like a burger with the bhaji between the buns, but most people eat it like they eat most Indian food: tearing apart a piece of the bread and using it to pick up the rest of the food. Also, this dish tastes better the day after so make sure you have leftovers!
Ingredients:
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 half head of cauliflower, cut into large pieces
1 carrot, cut into large pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen peas and/or chopped green beans
1 medium onion, chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped green chilies
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 cups fresh or canned chopped tomatoes
Handful of cilantro, chopped
Salt
Lemon or lime juice
Pav- dinner rolls or burger buns (preferably whole wheat), cut in half
1 tablespoon butter (I'm using Earthbalance)
Spices:
Pav Bhaji masala
Danajeeru (Cumin+Coriander Powder)
Lal marchu (Chili Powder)
Haldi (Turmeric)
Fennel seeds
If you don't have Pav Bhaji masala, try a combination of these spices:
Amchoor (Dried Mango Powder)
Ground elaichi (Cardamom)
Ground cloves
Cinnamon
Black Pepper
1. Boil the potatoes, cauliflower, carrot, peas and green beans together in a big pot until extremely soft and mushy. Use a pressure cooker if you want the job done faster
2. In the meantime, drizzle oil into another large nonstick pot at medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and green chilies and saute for a few minutes. Then add all the spices based on your own taste (but don't be afraid to add a good amount!). Stir for a bit, taking care to add a bit more oil if the mixture begins to dry out.
3. Now add the chopped tomatoes to the onions and let it simmer for a few minutes. While it is simmering, start mashing the boiled vegetables until they are as mushy as you can mash them. Add the mash to the tomato mixture along with salt and cilantro and stir until combined. Let it simmer for two more minutes, adjusting the seasoning and adding water if needed. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice
4. Take your pav and grill it on a skillet along with some butter (or substitute Earthbalance or oil to make it vegan). Serve with the bhaji and enjoy!
