INDIAN FAVOURITE PAV BHAJI

Indian Favourite Pav Bhaji image

Indian fast food/ street food item. Pav- bun, Bhaji- a spicy preparation of various mashed veges, served with a dollop of yummy butter!! :P Hot and delicious! together they taste perfect! Refrigerates well. We make a bigger than required batch for next day too!

Provided by ExoticMJ

Time 40m

Yield 1 batch, 10-12 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 28

Ingredients

10 medium boiled and peeled potatoes
6 large tomatoes
150 g cauliflower florets
1/2 cup green peas
1 chopped capsicum
3 medium sized peeled carrots
3 big chopped onions
4 -5 garlic cloves
1 inch piece fresh ginger (or1/2 teaspoon ginger powder)
2 lemons
some chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 -3 teaspoons chili powder
1 -2 tablespoon oil (any except olive or others that have strong flavour)
1 1/4 teaspoons turmeric powder
20 soft buns (as needed)
25 g butter, i use amul. plus as much as you want to put on the pav (salted is preferred)
2 tablespoons pav bhaji masala, or
50 g dry red chili
50 g coriander seeds
25 g cumin seeds
25 g black pepper
25 g cinnamon
25 g cloves
4 -5 black cardamom pods
25 g mango powder (optional)
10 g fennel seeds
1 star anise (if available)
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder (also called 'hing')

Steps:

For the masala:.
Roast for about 1 minute all the spices separately. One after the other in same pan is ok.Its just to dry them out fully and bring out their flavours. Cool these completely.
Grind them together. This may make more quantity of masala than needed for this recipe. (Use 2-3 tbsp for this recipe).
Store in air tight, dry containers.
For the gravy (Bhaji):.
Just blanch together peas, cauliflower,carrots.
Mash the potatoes. Finely chop and de-seed tomatoes. Finely chop capsicum.
Make a paste of ginger and garlic.
In a large thick bottomed deep pan heat oil. Add cumin seeds. Let them pop a little.
Add the ginger garlic paste, sautee for a minute. Add chopped onions.
Add turmeric, asefoteda and chilli powder. Also add half of the pav bhaji masala (1 -1 1/5 tbsp).
Sautee till the onion turns translucent. Stir continuously to avoid sticking and burning it.
Drop in the blanched vegetables, tomatoes and potatoes and capsicum.
With a hand masher or the back of a big ladle, mash up all the vegetables inside the pan. Add 1 cup water from the blanching. Mash well.
Add some more water if needed to create a thick gravy consistency. Mash to bring it all together.
Add salt and remaining masala. Also add a dash of black pepper powder if you want more heat.
Check for seasoning.
Let it cook for 10 minutes approximately Stir occasionally.
Put chopped coriander leaves and some butter. Cover to keep its flavours.
Heat a flat pan. Slit the buns horizontally. But not completely keeping the two sides hinged to each other. Generously butter the buns ( on all sides if you wish!).
Place them on the hot pan till slightly golden changing to toast all the surfaces in turn. It is a must to do this just before serving the dish as these do not taste as good if re-heated.
To serve:.
Put some bhaji, garnish it with some more coriander if you like, butter, and squeeze some lemon juice on top, place 2 pavs with it and some chopped onion to go with.