Pav Bhaji, Very popular Indian street food is made out of 2 words. Pav means bread and bhaji is thick vegetable curry cooked in dry spices . It is served with a soft bread roll. Its origins are in the state of Maharashtra. It is full of good nutrients as it includes so many vegetables. It is one of the yummiest way to get veggies into your belly! Specially for the kids!
The dish originated in the 1850s as a fast lunchtime dish for textile mill workers in Mumbai. Pav bhaji was later served at restaurants throughout the city. Pav bhaji is now offered at outlets from simple hand carts to formal restaurants in India and abroad.
Veggies are cooked with spices and oil/butter for long time to get all the flavor out and then boiled veggies are added to it and cooked more to complete the dish. It is served with soft savory bread rolls. You can use the left over bhaji as pasta sauce as well. It tastes so good that way!
While Me and my husband were eating pav bhaji, he said that it was like vegan/vegetarian sloppy joe. I never thought about that before he mentioned it. It is literally vegan/vegetarian sloppy joe!!
Before we had kids, it was just me and my husband. So getting cauliflower for pav bhaji thats just enough for 2 was little too much as cauliflowers are huge in America! So I would just get the biggest one, get bunch of potatoes and lots of peas. I would boil them, mush them and make 4-5 containers out of it which I would frizz. Every time I would want to make pav bhaji, I would just take one container out of the frizzer and use it with freshly cooked veggies along with the spices as I mentioned in the recipe.
This is one our family favorite dish and I make it at-least twice a month! This is one of those dishes that I am very very good at making! So you definitely want to give it a try! I am sure, it will be one of your goto dishes just like my family!
There are many instant pot pav bhaji recipes out there. In all the respect to those recipes, hands down they are all time saving. But I like to cook my spices long enough and then add boiled veggies to it. I personally think there is a difference in taste when you boil away your sautéed spices. It is just a personal preference.
Hope you and your family enjoy it!! Happy Eating!!
Pav Bhaji – Veggie Sloppy Joe
Ingredients
- 2 cup Cauliflower
- 1 Big Potato
- 1 cup Frozen Green Peas
- 1 cup Finely Chopped Onions
- 1 cup Finely Chopped Green Bell Pepper
- 2 cup Finely Chopped Tomatoes
- ½ cup Chopped Cilantro
- 3 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 3 tsp Salt or to taste
- 2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1½ tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Kasuri Methi
- 3 tbsp Avocado Oil
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 1 tbsp Lime Juice
Instructions
- Boil cauliflower and potato. Check the water once the they are boiled. Take some out and keep it a side if there is too much water. The left over water can be used as vegetable broth or can be added to the bhaji at the end to get the right consistency. Mush all the boiled veggies, but do not make a paste. Add in frozen peas while its hot. Keep it aside.
- Take oil and butter in a big pan. Once it heats up, saute garlic on low heat for a minute. Do not brown it.
- Add in finely chopped onions with 1 tsp of salt. Saute on medium heat until translucent. Stirring frequently. Do not burn it.
- Add chopped bell pepper and saute for another couple of minutes while stirring frequently.
- Add chopped tomatoes along with all the dry spices listed above along with 2 tsp of salt. Mix and saute for another 5-6 minutes or until oil starts to seperate. Stir frequently.
- Add boiled mushed veggies to sauted spice and veggie mixture. Mix it very well, making sure the spices are mixed evenly. Cover and simmer the bhaji for 10-12 minutes on low/medium heat, while stirring few times during this step to avoid any burning/sticking at the bottom. The consistency should be like stew, add in veggie broth you saved earlier or water to get the right consistency.
- Add lime juice, chopped cilantro and more butter. Mix it well and taste it, add more salt if needed. Its ready to be served with some soft savory buttery buns, slices onions sprinkled with salt pepper and lime juice along with papad on side!
