Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Pav Bhaji

You don't have to be a mumbalite to love Pav bhaji, for those readers to whom these terms sounds like words from alien language Mumbai is the financial capital of India.The city also houses India's Hindi film and television industry, known as Bollywood.......largest in the world in terms of ticket sales and number of films produced and Pav Bhaji is one of the very famous street food from that city, popular through out India.

I don't think I have ever met any Indian who doesn't like Pav Bhaji. As it's not only tasty but you also get full dose of veggies in one shot (also a multi-day dose of fat/butter if you make it the typical way street vendors make it over there). I use to make bhaji at home & bring burger/buns/pav whatever best I can get my hands on from the grocery store. But if you like pav bhaji, you know how important pav is in this dish. Couple of months back while browsing thru my papers I found a piece of paper with the recipe for home made pav in it......I'm sure I must have noted down this from "Greh Shobha" magazine. It's an Indian magazine and my MIL has a big collection of it, so when ever I visit her, one of my favorite thing to do is read all those magazines and many a times note down few recipes also. So, I gave it a try and they came out good......decided, no more bread buying for bhaji.....I have made few changes in terms of flour. Here goes my version of pav bhaji :

What U need for Pav :
  • 1 cup all purpose flour( i use maida)
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour(regular atta can be used)
  • 1 cup bread flour
  • 1 Tblsp. active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1cup luke warm water
  • 3 Tblsp. oil
  • few drops of milk

What U need for Bhaji :
  • 1 large potato
  • 2 green bell peppers(capsicum / shimla mirch)
  • 2-3 carrots
  • 1/2 cup peas
  • 1/2 cup cauliflower
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 -3 medium size tomato, chopped
  • 2-3 green chillies, chopped
  • 2 Tblsp. tomato paste
  • 3-4 tsp. pav bhaji masala (i prefer MDH)
  • salt
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric(haldi)
  • oil / butter

What U need for final dish :
  • handful of chopped red onion
  • handful of chopped cilantro
  • Amul butter lots of it OR as little as you want(or any butter U like)
  • lime/lemon pieces

What u do :
For Pav :
Add yeast & sugar to luke warm water, let it sit for 5-7 min. till it get little foamy. In a big bowl take flours add salt, yeast water & oil. Knead it to a soft dough. Take another clean big bowl grease it & keep the dough in it covered with plastic wrap. Leave it at warm place for 2 hours or so till it gets almost double in size.

Once double in size punch down the dough, knead it again & make around 8-9 same size balls. Arrange them next to each other in greased mould, I used Pyrex dish for that. Let them rest again at warm place for another hour. Heat oven at 350 degree F brush the dough balls with milk & bake for 15-20 minutes. Once the golden brown crust forms on the bread that means pav's are ready. Take out of the oven & mould let it rest & cool.

For Bhaji :
Steam all veggies except onion & tomato with very little water, salt & turmeric. Once done, mash them using potato masher or back side of serving spoon. Now take a big pan/karahi, heat some butter(I use half butter, half oil) & saute onions in it. Later add tomato paste, chopped tomatoes & green chillies. Let everything cook. Add pav bhaji masala, after a minute or so add mashed veggies & let everything simmer for at least 15-20 minutes. If  looks too dry add few spoons of water.

How to serve :
Cut each pav horizontally into two parts, top & bottom. Put some some butter on to the hot griddle/tava & toast pav's on it(cut side down). Now to serve put pav with the butter toasted side up in the plate & next to it put a serving of bhaji, sprinkle some lime juice, chopped red onions, cilantro & lots of utterly butterly delicious Amul butter(India's most famous butter).

Note : Bhaji tastes much better if you make it at least few hours ahead of time. One can easily control the amount  of butter used in this dish & it still tastes good.

I wanted to send it to Champa's "Baking with Book-Breakfast event" but never got a chance to complete it in the month of April. But still it's on it's  way to champa of Bangalore Baker for her weekly baking event.

19 comments:

Ms.Chitchat said...

Enjoyed the pav bhaji,true it is an universally accepted and loved dish :):)Ur version is superb,loved the clicks too.

Sushma Mallya said...

Home made pav looks so perfect,done it well and nice recipe for bhaji too, one of my fav but i usually buy pav from outside...must try it at home soon...

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Oooooooooh my ver fav one..looks super delicious..

Vrinda said...

Lovely that too with Hmade pav,havn't tried making pav at home,thanx for sharing....

FH said...

Give it to me anytime, I will sit and polish off the whole thing! :D

Champa said...

Looks good. Thanks for the entry.

Rachana said...

I love pav-bhaji... and home-made pav looks really perfect.

Hari Chandana P said...

my fav pav bhaji.. looks soo tempting and delicious.. lovely clicks.. thanks for sharing!!

Ash said...

Oh! yummy pav bhajis again... We just cant get over them right???? I still remember that evening I hogged on two plates of the same..... And did not dare eat anything else for that day..... ;-) Hugs)))

Ash...
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

i too made homemade pav with bhaji last week...wil post my version soon...wanna hav the whole dish..looks so yum

Unknown said...

i do want to try pav at home..yumm..

tasteofbeirut said...

As I was reading this I was picturing myself roaming the streets of Mumbai eating it! How fun that would be! This looks like a great dish with all the vegetables and that turmeric, that is so good for you they say! Great of you to make the bun as well.

Hamaree Rasoi said...

It seems to be a great looking pav bhaji preparation. I loved the way you have made home made pav. Looks yummy.

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Sarah Naveen said...

simply delicious..

sangeeta said...

I love paav bhaji n make it from scratch too. It is so satisfying to be able to indulge yourself to a healthy version of your favoritest street food.
Saw your comments on Amrita's blog n got to knot you are a crochet hooker too....come on n show some of your work here as well.

Padmajha said...

I have never made the pav at home .Your version looks easy.Must try.The clicks are delicious..

Spice said...

Thanks everyone....

Rima said...

That is amazingly delish!

Malar Gandhi said...

Yeah...who could resist this dish, truly universal appeal:)