Mumbai style (pav) bhaji recipe

06 Feb Mumbai style (pav) bhaji recipe

Last Updated on August 10, 2021 by blessmyfoodbypayal

Pav bhaji recipe | mumbai style pav bhaji | how to make mumbai pav bhaji with step wise pictorial and video method is here.

Pav bhaji recipe | mumbai style pav bhaji | how to make mumbai pav bhaji, as the name suggests, is the most famous street food of mumbai. People out their do often cook it in their homes too.

Due to its amazing taste and easy method, it is not confined to the streets of mumbai but streets across the country have accepted it with great charm and enthusiasm. Any why not, it does deserve all applause.

The reason behind its popularity is not just because it is easy to make and tastes awesome, but it is a kind of food that is healthy too whereas most of the street foods comes with a taboo of unhealthiness. Most interestingly, kids too love it and this recipe is a boon for those mothers whose children are usually reluctant in eating veggies.

Being from North india, there’s not much trend in making pav bhaji at homes so we generally have it either in weddings or specially go out to have pav bhaji on road side rehris.

You will find it bit humorous that when we decided to make it at home, we were confused about the exact recipe inspite of the fact that it is considered to be the most easy recipe. Lol. The reason of confusion was that there were many do’s and don’t’s attached to it with respect to its cooking process and some of the ingredients.

Some says, bhaji tastes best when cooked on tawa or kadai. Others have the opinion that pressure cooked bhaji is better than the other one.

Few says, butter, pav bhaji masala and lemon, which are the core ingredients of bhaji, too can be substituted.

Next conflict was pertaining to its colour. Deep red or yellowish, which one to choose?

Thank you Ms. Lata Lala for clearing many of our doubts. A dear friend, a food blogger hailing from mumbai guided us on many small tits & bits. What to add & what not, were the primary concerns.

She suggested that colour is purely one’s choice and she likes only yellowish one but we can go for red coloured pav bhaji as the professionals make it that way. Though the professionals use red food colour but her suggestion to add very less amount of beetroot worked well rather more better and healthier than food colour.

And after consultations, it was concluded not to follow one liner recipe. Meaning thereby, neither wholly tawa or kadai method nor fully pressure cooking but the amalgamation of both.

And yes, the bhaji was never tasted (eaten outside so far) like before.

We followed a method where veggies are boiled in pressure cooker and tadka was made in a kadai so it helped to maintain the balance of taste.

This recipe is the unique mixture of liberty and rigidity at the same time. Liberty to add any vegetable of your choice and rigidity to remain stick to butter, pav bhaji masala and lemon.

It is germane to mention here that feel free to use any vegetables, but don’t compromise on 3 core ingredients mentioned above.

There’s no doubt that you can cook bhaji in oil too & if you are vegan, oil is the only convenient choice in case of non availability of vegan butter. But nothing can replace butter in bhaji.

Butter goes in bhaji 2 to 3 times. Once you begin to cook, second when you are done with cooking and third while serving, a big chunk of butter is must in the middle of piping hot glazing bhaji. So you can well imagine the importance of butter in bhaji.

Coming to pav bhaji masala, let it be clear that don’t think of replacing it with other kind of masala available with you. Bhaji is the expansion of mix vegetables sabzi and it is only pav bhaji masala which creates a line of difference between the two with its distinguished taste and flavour. Without pav bhaji masala, bhaji is nothing but mix vegetables sabzi in mashed form. So stick to pav bhaji masala.

Tongue tingling sensation is must in bhaji and that whizz is supplied by none other than lemon. Though pav bhaji masala too have some astringent glimpses, but addition of lemon takes it to another level which can hardly be acquired through dry mango powder or some other rancid ingredient.

So this post is all about our experience with pav bhaji recipe we cooked for the first time. It was super easy and superbly yum.  Try it and share your views.

If you are a street food lover, then do visit these mouthwatering street food recipes like Nutri kulcha jammu recipe, Chilli soya chaap, kaladi kulcha, kulche chole, atta suji noodles  and soya chaap recipe.

Step wise pictorial method of Pav bhaji recipe

COOKING OF VEGETABLES FOR BHAJI

1. Put all the vegetables in pressure cooker.
2. Add water & salt in it.
3. pressure cook for 3 whistles.
4. When the pressure releases, open the lid of pressure cooker & mash the veggies with potato masher. Keep aside.

FOR BLANCHING TOMATOES

1. Cut a mark X on the bump side of tomatoes.
2. Boil tomatoes in water till they turn soft.
3. Remove their skin & chop finely. Keep aside.

PREPARING BHAJI

1. Add butter in a kadai & let it melt.
2. Add ginger garlic paste & green chillies. Saute till paste changes its colour to light brown.
3. Now add onions but cook them only till they turn light pink and translucent. There should remain a crunch left in them.
4. Add tomatoes and salt. Mix.
5. Cover the kadai with lid and tomatoes cook for 10 minutes.
6. When the tomatoes are seen to be releasing oil, that’s a sign that tomatoes are cooked.
7. Add red chilli powder and beetroot. Mix.
8. Time to add pav bhaji masala. Mix well.
9. Now pour in mix vegetables from the pressure cooker along with some coriander leaves. Mix veggies with the cooked masala.
10. Mash the vegetables one more time for more smooth texture.
11. Cover the kadai and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
12. When the vegetables mixture reaches a consistency that they will start bubbling, it is done.
13. Add butter and lemon juice and mix good. Your bhaji is ready.

FOR TOASTING PAV

1. Put some butter on hot tawa and sprinkle pav bhaji masala over it.
2. Take a pav & cut it from the middle.
3. Toss it over the hot butter from all the sides.

SERVING OF BHAJI

Pav bhaji plate is complete only when it has butter toasted hot pav, piping hot bhaji having a chunk of butter in the middle, finely chopped onions & lemon cut into wedges along with green chilli, though it is optional, on the corner of the plate.

NOTES

1. Blanching of tomatoes is not mandatory to make bhaji. You can simply finally chop tomatoes and cook. We blanched tomatoes because this is the best way to remove skin of tomatoes which gives smoothy texture to a dish. Choice is yours.
2. If you don’t like your bhaji to be red & want it yellowish like other regular Sabji, avoid beetroot. People do use red food colour and beetroot is the best & healthy substitute of red food colour.

Pav bhaji recipe – recipe card

Mumbai style (pav) bhaji recipe

blessmyfoodbypayal

Pav bhaji recipe is basically the mashed mixed vegetable cooked in tomato gravy is the most famous street food of mumbai.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Street Food

Cuisine Indian, Mumbai

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

For cooking Vegetables for bhaji

• 1 cup Cabbage finely chopped
• 1/2 cup Carrot cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup Cauliflower cut into small pieces
• 1/2 Beans chopped
• 1 cup Peas
• 1 cup Capsicum chopped
• 2 Potatoes small pieces
• 2.5 cup water
• 1 tsp salt

For blanching tomatoes

• 4 tomatoes dark red
• Water as per need

For preparing Bhaji

• Boiled vegetables
• Blanched & chopped tomatoes
• 4 tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
• 2 Onions chopped
• 2 tsp Pav bhaji masala
• 1 tsp Red chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 Green chillies
• Handful of coriander leaves
• 1 tbsp Beetroot grated
• Juice of 1 Lemon

For toasting pav

• Pav as per need
• Butter as per need
• Pinch of pav bhaji masala per pav

For serving

• Butter toasted pav
• Bhaji topped with butter
• Chopped onion
• Lemon wedges
• Green chilli optional

Instructions

 

COOKING OF VEGETABLES FOR BHAJI

• Put all the vegetables in pressure cooker.
• Add water & salt and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
• When the pressure releases, open the lid of pressure cooker & mash the veggies with potato masher. Keep aside.

FOR BLANCHING TOMATOES

• Cut a mark X on the bump side of tomatoes.
• Boil tomatoes in water till they turn soft.
• Remove their skin & chop finely. Keep aside.

PREPARING BHAJI

• Add butter in a kadai & let it melt.
• Add ginger garlic paste & green chillies. Saute till paste changes its colour to light brown.
• Now add onions but cook them only till they turn light pink and translucent. There should remain a crunch left in them.
• Add tomatoes and salt. Mix
• Cover the kadai with lid and tomatoes cook for 10 minutes.
• When the tomatoes are seen to be releasing oil, that's a sign that tomatoes are cooked.
• Add red chilli powder and beetroot. Mix.
• Time to add pav bhaji masala. Mix well.
• Now pour in mix vegetables from the pressure cooker along with some coriander leaves. Mix veggies with the cooked masala.
• Mash the vegetables one more time for more smooth texture.
• Cover the kadai and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
• When the vegetables mixture reaches a consistency that they will start bubbling, it is done.
• Add butter and lemon juice and mix good.
• Your bhaji is ready.

FOR TOASTING PAV

• Put some butter on hot tawa and sprinkle pav bhaji masala over it.
• Take a pav & cut it from the middle.
• Toss it over the hot butter from all the sides.

SERVING OF BHAJI.

• Pav bhaji plate is complete only when it has butter toasted hot pav, piping hot bhaji having a chunk of butter in the middle, finally chopped onions & lemon cut into wedges along with green chilli, though it is optional, on the corner of the plate.

Notes

1. Blanching of tomatoes is not mandatory to make bhaji. You can simply finally chop tomatoes and cook. We blanched tomatoes because this is the best way to remove skin of tomatoes which gives smoothy texture to a dish. Choice is yours.
2. If you don't like your bhaji to be red & want it yellowish like other regular Sabji, avoid beetroot. People do use red food colour and beetroot is the best & healthy substitute of red food colour.

Keyword pav bhaji

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Regards

Payal Bali sharma

Shailender Sharma