Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is a flavorful, spicy, and buttery Indian street food. Mashed vegetables are cooked in a thick gravy with loads of butter and spices. Later bhaji is garnished with coriander leaves, lime, onions, and dollops of butter. Piping hot bhaji is served with some toasted ladi pav or dinner rolls….Yum!

The origin of pav bhaji is from the state of Maharashtra. This dish was served on the streets of Mumbai as a fast food for textile mill workers for lunch. It became so popular amongst everyone and slowly it was prepared in various states of India. Pav bhaji was later served in most of the restaurants in all over India. 

I remember the day, when I first ever tasted it on the streets of Mumbai with my friends and fell in love with the dish. I simply loved the tangy, spicy, and flavorful dish so much that I started eating the same at different vendors when I was in college. 

I never made pav bhaji at home until we moved to Hyderabad in 2002 for my husband’s work and started missing Mumbai pav bhaji. I decided to make the dish at home. Recreating the dish at home with the same taste and aroma was very difficult. 

We did not have any internet facilities at that time and finding a cookbook for a particular recipe was not that easy either back then. After a couple of years I was fortunate to watch good television cooking shows of world famous chefs Tarla Dalal and Sanjeev Kapoor. I really learnt a lot from them other than what my mom or grandma taught me. 

After experimenting over and over again with a few variations, by using different brands of masalas, I finally found out the perfectly tasting pav bhaji recipe to share!

I strongly recommend you to use Amul butter (Indian butter) and Everest pav bhaji masala. 

I usually make a big batch of pav bhaji so my family can enjoy it for a couple of days and it tastes even better the next day in my opinion. What do you think?

Ingredients

• Potato
• Cauliflower
• Green peas
• Green bell pepper
• Yellow onion
• Red onion
• Garlic
• Tomato
• Beetroot
• Coriander leaves
• Lime
• Kashmiri red chili powder
• Pav bhaji masala
• Salt
• Butter
• Oil
• Ladi pav

Pav Bhaji Recipe Step By Step Recipe

Indian Pressure Cooker Method

In a pressure pan, combine potatoes, cauliflower florets, beets, green peas, garlic, and 1.5 cups of water. 

Pressure cook the veggies for 4 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally.

Instant Pot Method

In the inner pot of an instant pot, combine all the veggies mentioned above with 1.5 cups of water.

Close the lid on your Instant pot, making sure the valve is set to sealing.

Turn on the MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK button (High Pressure) and set the timer to 15 minutes.

Let the pressure naturally release (NRP) for 12-15 minutes. 

Mash the cooked veggies with a potato masher and set aside. 

In a blender jar, add tomatoes, make puree, and set aside.

Making Bhaji

In a pan, heat 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil. Now add Kashmiri red chili powder.

Transfer the yellow onions, sauté for 2 minutes, and cover them with a lid for 3 minutes. 

Next, add green bell peppers, mix, and cover them with a lid for 3 minutes. 

Add pav bhaji masala and sauté for a minute. 

Transfer the tomato puree and mix, add 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tbsp butter, mix it well, and cover the pan with a lid. 

Let the tomato puree cook well for about 10-12 minutes on low heat stirring halfway through. 

Next, combine the mashed veggies to the tomato puree, ½ – ¾ th cup water, 1 tbsp butter, and mix. Taste the bhaji at this point and adjust the water consistency and salt according to your wish.

Cover the pan with a lid. Let the bhaji cook well for about 10-15 minutes on low heat stirring in between. Taste the bhaji at this point and adjust the consistency and salt according to the taste.

Toast The Pavs/Bread

Divide the pavs into 2 equal parts in the center. 

Heat the skillet on medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of butter, a tbsp of bhaji, spread it with a spoon, and toast 2 pavs from both sides for 30-40 seconds. Repeat the same steps with the remaining pavs.

Serving The Dish

Serve the pav and bhaji with some dollops of butter, red onions, coriander leaves, and some lime. 

Tips For Making Pav Bhaji

• For the best tasting authentic pav bhaji, do not skip adding the butter in the recipe. It gives the bhaji an amazing flavor.
• Pav bhaji masala adds so much flavor in the bhaji, I will highly recommend using the Everest brand pav bhaji masala or the Badshah masala for this recipe.
• Mashing the cooked veggies when they are still hot is very important as they get perfectly mashed. Mash them very well for a smoother texture. If you like your bhaji a little chunkier, do not mash it completely. 
• Do not make the bhaji very thin or too thick. Once it cools down, it tends to become thicker. 
• Serve the pav bhaji after 30-45 minutes. Once the spices settle, it enhances the taste of bhaji even better. 

Variations

• In an authentic pav bhaji recipe, usually beetroot is not added. I like to add a little to give the bhaji a very beautiful red hue but it’s completely optional. Do not add too much beetroot either or the bhaji will be more on the sweeter side. 
• You can use a ready-made tomato puree for this recipe instead of fresh tomato puree for a deeper red color to the dish.
• Amul butter gives an amazing taste to the dish but you can use any kind of salted butter. If you are adding unsalted butter make sure to adjust the salt in the dish. 
• Kashmiri red chili powder gives a beautiful color to the dish. You may add ¼ tsp regular red chili powder in the recipe. You can soak 2 dry Kashmiri red chillies in some hot water for 15 minutes and blend them with the tomatoes.
• Instead of serving pav bhaji with ladi pavs, you can use burger buns or a regular sandwich loaf. Check out my perfectly soft and fluffy homemade ladi pav recipe for more authentic pav bhaji. 

How To Store Pav Bhaji?

It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days in an airtight container.

You can freeze the bhaji in a freezer safe container for 3 months. Defrost the bhaji in the refrigerator for a few hours/overnight and then reheat it on a stovetop. 

How To Serve Pav Bhaji?

It tastes very good with a dollop of butter, red onions, coriander leaves, and lemon. You may add some grated cheese just before eating as per your likings. 

1-2 days old pav bhaji tastes the best as all the flavors are infused in the bhaji very well. If the leftover bhaji is not sufficient to serve to 1 extra person, then add 1 small mashed boiled potato, ¼ to ½ tsp pav bhaji masala, salt, and 3-4 tbsp water. Cook it for 5-10 minutes and serve 🙂 

It makes a perfect dish to serve for large gatherings as a main dish along with some curd rice, lemon rice, or garlic rice. Serve some appetizers like rava dhokla, spinach bread rolls, vegetable puffs, samosa, or mixed pakora.

Spread some butter, bhaji, and some grated cheese on the prepared dosa for pav bhaji flavored dosa. 

Melt some butter on a skillet, add ¼ cup bhaji, mix it with a spoon, and toast 2 slices of bread to serve as an after school snack. 

Make an open faced sandwich by spreading some butter and bhaji on a slice of bread. After that, add some shredded cheese and  toast the bread by covering it with a lid on a skillet until the cheese melts down a little on low heat.  

DID YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE? 

If you’ve tried the Pav Bhaji recipe then don’t forget to rate it. 

I will love to hear from you! 

FOLLOW ME

Facebook|Instagram|Pinterest 

Did you try this recipe?

Follow @lifeisforfoodblog on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag it #lifeisforfoodblog

I love to know what you are making!