Pav Bhaji is popular In Maharashtra street food where dinner rolls/buns are served with spicy mashed veggies topped with dollop of butter. Street food doesn’t get better than this!
This Pav Bhaji Recipe is spicy, so flavorful and can be easily made vegan by replacing butter with vegan butter! If you have never had pav bhaji in your life, you are seriously missing out!
Ingredients
For the Bhaji
2 large potatoes, 385 grams, boiled
1/2 head of a small cauliflower, 215 grams, boiled
1/2 of a large green pepper, 135 grams, boiled
1/2 cup frozen green peas, boiled
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter, unsalted, divided
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 medium red onion, 230 grams, finely chopped
2 inch ginger, 24 grams, finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, 20 grams, finely chopped
2 green chilies, finely chopped, adjust to taste
3 large tomatoes, 425 grams, finely chopped
1/3 cup tomato puree, store bought
1.25 teaspoon salt, divided
1.25 cups water, divided
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon pav bhaji masala, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, or to taste
2 teaspoons kasuri methi, also known as dried fenugreek leaves
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
juice of 1 large lemon
For the Pav
12-14 pav, eggless dinner rolls
butter, to toast the pav
pav bhaji masala, to sprinkle
Instructions
Make the Bhaji
Boil the veggies first and keep them ready. I used my pressure cooker to boil them until they were soft and tender.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot on medium heat. Once the butter melts and oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
Add the chopped onions and mix. I like to use my food processor to chop them really fine.
Cook the onions for around 4 minutes until golden brown in color.
Add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chili. Again, I used my food processor to chop them really fine. Cook the ginger-garlic-green chili for 1 minute.
Add chopped tomatoes and mix well. Let the tomatoes cook for 2 minutes.
Add store bought tomato puree, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover the pan and let the tomato cook for 6 minutes until softened and completely cooked.
Add the pav bhaji masala, red chili powder and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. You may also add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar here (optional).
Mix well and then add in 2 teaspoons of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves).
Stir in the boiled veggies and mix. Using a potato masher, mash the veggies until they are completely mixed with the masala.
Add the remaining 3/4 - 1 cup water and mix. I used an immersion blender to blend the veggies to a paste like consistency at this point but this is optional. You may keep them as such.
Cover the pot and set heat to low. Let the bhaji simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Open the pot and add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro.
Then add in juice of 1 large lemon. Let the bhaji simmer for 2 more minutes and then remove pan from heat.
Toast the Pav
To toast the pav, melt butter on a pan on medium heat. Sprinkle some pav bhaji masala on top of the butter and then place the buns on the pan.
Press to toast the pav until crisp and golden brown from both sides.
Serve the Pav Bhaji
To serve the pav bhaji, place ladle full of bhaji in a plate. Top the bhaji with a dollop of butter. Serve with 2 pavs and a side of chopped onions and a lemon wedge.
Recipe Notes
You may add kashmiri red chili powder/degi mirch to get that bright red color in your bhaji!
To make it vegan, replace butter with vegan butter.
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