Pav Bhaji – is a fast-food dish from India consisting of a thick and mashed vegetable curry (bhaji) topped with butter and chopped red onions and coriander leaves and served with a soft grilled buttered bread roll (pav) along with lemon wedges. Its origins are in the state of Maharashtra. One of the most popular street foods from India! Not just delicious, it’s loaded with lots and lots of vegetables which makes it a healthy lunch or dinner!
You can cook the Bhaji ( curry ) in an instant pot or you could use the pressure cooker to pressure cook the veggies to a mashed consistency and then add it to the curry. When I make Pav Bhaji at home I love to add these vegetables – potatoes, green bell peppers, peas, cauliflower, and carrots. I would say potatoes are a must for making this Bhaji but for others, you could probably use whatever you have at home.
You could use store-bought dinner rolls for the pav. Just don’t compromise with the butter you use on the bhaji and for grilling the pav. I’m sure this will be on your menu list every week! Here you go with the recipe!
Ingredients:
Assorted vegetables- 1 cup (green bell peppers, peas, cauliflower, beetroot, and carrots)
Potatoes- 3 big
Onion- 1 large chopped fine
Tomato paste- 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp
Kashmiri red chili powder- 1 tsp
Red chili powder- 1 tsp
Corriander powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala- 1/4 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Fennel powder- 1/2 tsp
Aamchor powder- 1/2 tsp
Chat masala powder- 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter – 3 tbsp
Oil- 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves- 3 tbsp
Topping:
Chopped onions
Butter
Chopped coriander leaves
Lemon wedges
Serving:
Pav buns
Method:
- Pressure cook the potatoes and assorted vegetables to a nicely mashed consistency.
- In a pan, add the butter and oil. When hot add the cumin seeds. When the seeds start to splutter add the onion and sauté them till translucent for 2-3 mins. Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté well till the raw flavor goes off.
- Now add the tomato paste and all the masala powders and cook covered on low flame till you see oil oozing out. Once done add the mashed cooked vegetables and mix well. Check for salt and adjust the spices to your taste.
- Add chopped coriander leaves and set aside.
Now to serve, slit the pav buns into halves and grill the buns on Tava. Serve these buns with the bhaji topped with chopped red onions, chopped coriander leaves, and a dollop of butter with lemon wedges on the side, and enjoy.
Note: For making bhaji in the instant pot, do not pressure cook the vegetables.
Switch the instant pot to sauté mode. Just follow the instructions from steps 2 to 3 and then add the chopped vegetables and potatoes and one cup of water and pressure cook in the instant pot on manual mode High on 15 mins or till done. ( make sure the pressure knob is on the SEALING position) . Then grill the pav on tabs and serve as mentioned above.