Pav Bhaji
Vegetables cooked to collapse, mashed on the griddle with butter and spice, and served with soft rolls fried in the same pan.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 45m
- Total
- 1h 5m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Scale
Units
Method
| 4 tbsp | 1 Fry until soft 10m | 2 Cook the masala until the oil separates 18m | 4 Add the boiled vegetables and their water 5m | 5 Mash on the heat until nearly smooth, 10 minutes 12m Mash directly in the pan over low heat. The mashing and the cooking happen together. | 7 Serve with the fried pav, extra butter and raw onion 3m | |
| 2 | ||||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 3 tbsp | ||||||
| 2 tsp | ||||||
| 2 tsp | ||||||
| 4 | 3 Boil until completely soft 20m | |||||
| 200 g | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 cup | ||||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||||
| a large handful | ||||||
| 8 | 6 Split and fry cut-side down in butter and a little masala 5m | |||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
- 1
Fry until soft
10m- butter 4 tbsp
- onions 2
- ginger-garlic paste 2 tbsp
- green peppers 1
- 2
Cook the masala until the oil separates
18m- from 1 Fry until soft
- tomatoes 4
- pav bhaji masala 3 tbsp
- Kashmiri chilli powder 2 tsp
- salt 2 tsp
- 3
Boil until completely soft
20m- potatoes 4
- cauliflower 200 g
- carrots 2
- frozen peas 1 cup
- 4
Add the boiled vegetables and their water
5m- from 2 Cook the masala until the oil separates
- from 3 Boil until completely soft
- 5
Mash on the heat until nearly smooth, 10 minutes
12m- from 4 Add the boiled vegetables and their water
- butter 2 tbsp
- lemon juice 2 tbsp
- coriander leaves a large handful
Mash directly in the pan over low heat. The mashing and the cooking happen together.
- 6
Split and fry cut-side down in butter and a little masala
5m- pav rolls 8
- butter 2 tbsp
- 7
Serve with the fried pav, extra butter and raw onion
3m- from 5 Mash on the heat until nearly smooth, 10 minutes
- from 6 Split and fry cut-side down in butter and a little masala
- red onion 1
Mash in the pan, not in a bowl
The texture is the point of this dish, and it comes from mashing the vegetables directly in the hot masala over low heat. Water keeps evaporating while you work, so the bhaji concentrates as it smooths out. Mash separately and add it and you get a wetter, blander result.
Notes
- Boil the vegetables in as little water as possible and keep the water — it goes into the bhaji.
- The butter is not a garnish. This is a street-food dish and it is meant to be rich.
- Fry the rolls in the same pan so they pick up the leftover masala.