Recipe Contest Winner: Pav Bhaji

January 10, 2019

Congratulations to our member
Erik Treasuryvala for his Pav Bhaji Masala and Pav Bhaji recipes.

Erik says – Pav Bhaji has its origins in the civil war of America in the 1860s. Read more here…

Erik is a member of the Facebook Parsi Cuisine (PC) group and regularly shares his creations with us. I am very impressed by his diligence and ability to create such mouth-watering foods. We wish Erik many successes in his cooking ventures.

 

 

Home made Pav bhaji Masala

Ingredients for 240 ml cup
2 small Black cardamoms or badi elaichi
2 tbps Cumin (Jeera)
4 tbps Coriander seeds (Dhaniya)
2 tsp peppercorns
3/4th tbsp fennel seeds (saunf)
6 red chillies
2 inch Cinnamon or Dalchini
6 cloves or Laung
1 tsp amchur powder (dry Mango Powder)

Method
1. Dry roast all the ingredients one after the other on a medium heat on a pan till they turn flagrant.

2. Add dry mango powder/ amchur powder to the hot pan to get a good aroma 

3. Cool the ingredients completely then powder in a blender if needed seive it

4. Store in airtight container.

Who Invented The Famous Indian Dish Called Pav Bhaji?

Pav Bhaji has its origins in the civil war of America in the 1860s. Because of the civil war, there was a huge demand for cotton. Due to this, the traders at the Bombay cotton exchange used to be very busy especially during the night when new cotton rates used to be telegram-ed from America. Thus they used to return home late and the annoyed wives would not serve them food. So to solve this problem the street vendors used to collect the leftover bread from the Jesuit priests and mix all the vegetables, mash them together and used to eat them with the bread and butter. Thus pav (bread) bhaji (vegetables) was born.

Thus from the humble beginnings, the street of Bombay to being a household item in the entire nation Pav Bhaji has come a long way.

Here are 5 different variants of pav bhaji 

1. Jain Pav Bhaji -no onion, no garlic version of the regular pav bhaji made using raw bananas instead of potatoes and mashed peas. This is available in Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra.

2. Kathiawar Pav Bhaji – region has local spices added to it, giving it a very distinct taste, and it is usually washed down with a glass of buttermilk.

3. Kada Pav Bhaji – is the same as regular pav bhaji except that the vegetables in it are not mashed up i.e. the chopped and cooked vegetables are kept intact, whole.

4. Punjabi Pav Bhaji – is loaded with whole spices (garam masala), excess butter and often accompanied by a glass of ‘lassi’. 

5. Kohlapuri Pav Bhaji – variation where red chilli powder is substituted by Kolhapuri kanda lasun chutney to make it a more spicy, garlicky version of the pav bhaji.

Pav Bhaji Recipe

by Erik Treasuryvala

Ingredients

2 medium potatoes approx 1.5 cups chopped
1/2 cup green peas 
3 cups chopped cauliflower 
1/2 cups chopped carrot
1 large onion chopped
1 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup chopped capsicum
1 teaspoon red chilly powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
1 teaspoon ready made pav bhaji masala powder or homemade – see above
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt to taste
Butter for serving
2 tablespoons concentrate chopped coriander leaves
Pav (soft buns) for serving

1.Chopped potato, cauliflower, carrot & green peas into a 2-3 liter capacity pressure cooker. Add 1/2 cup water & salt to taste.

2.Close the pressure cooker with a lid & cook over medium flame for 2-whistles. Turn off the flame. Open the lid after pressure releases naturally; it will take around 5-7 minutes.

3.Mash the boiled vegetables gently with potato masher or using the backside of a large spoon until little chunky texture. You can mash cooked veggies into a texture you like – with small chunks or smooth with no chunks at all. The texture of your bhaji would depend on how you mashed the veggies.

4.Heat 2-tablespoons oil & 2-tablespoons butter together in a pan over medium flame. Add chopped onion & ginger-garlic paste. Sauté until onion turns translucent. 

5.Add chopped capsicum, chopped tomato & salt. Sauté until tomatoes & capsicum turn soft.

6.Add 1½ teaspoons red chilli powder, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1-teaspoon cumin-coriander powder & 1-teaspoon readymade pav bhaji masala powder. Stir & cook for a minute.

7.Add 3/4 cup water, mix well & cook for 2-3 minutes. Add boiled & mashed vegetables & 1-teaspoon lemon juice.

8.Mix well and cook for 4-5 minutes. Taste for the salt at this stage & add more if required. Turn off the flame. Add chopped coriander leaves & mix well. Bhaji is ready for serving.

9.Cut the pav buns horizontally into halves. Heat grill over medium flame. Add a tablespoon of butter & place halved pav buns over it. Grill both sides until light brown spots appear, it will take around 30 seconds for each side to turn light brown. Transfer to the plate. Grill remaining pavs.

10.Transfer prepared bhaji to a serving bowl & garnish with a cube of butter. Serve hot with butter Grilled pav, sliced onion & lemon wedges.

I thank Parsi Cuisine to give me this platform to share my Recipes & my Pics & Posts related to Food.

Let’s Share our recipes & have a learning growth to our favorite connection food. You can find Erik Treasuryvala on facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/etreasuryvala/

 

Bon Appetite

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5 thoughts on “Recipe Contest Winner: Pav Bhaji”

  • Oh yum! What an absolutely delicious sounding recipe! One question, do I need to find black cardamom or will green work too? I will definitely be making this (or asking one of my friends to make it for me)! Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Fiesta Friday! 🙂

  • I absolutely adore pav bhaji! However, I always buy ready-to-use pavbhaji masala – have never tried making it at home. Thank you for this beautiful recipe for pav bhaji and home-made masala. 🙂

  • Thank you for the compliment and for dropping a line here. You made my day!

    Pav Bhaji is a craving we all get onece in while – right?

  • Yes, green cardamom will work as well. Black cardadom pods are larger than the green ones and a little stronger in flavor. Use more of the green cardamom.

  • Wow – stronger cardamom 😀 I’ll use the green for now but I will look out for the black ones! Thank you

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