Pav Bhaji

Mousi - Let's go shopping this evening. I want to buy a nice Saree for the party.

Me - Hmmm (trying to get some attention).......... sounds a bit difficult for me, I may have friends coming over this eve.

Mousi - Ahhh, come on ....... The Sale ends today, I won't get that extra 10% discount tomorrow. Moreover I like your company. What if we plan for dinner as well along with shopping.

Me - Sounds good to me ..... I have heard of a new Pav Bhaji joint near the shopping arcade. How about trying out some spicy road side food.

Mousi - Road side food (Raising an eyebrow) ..... Ok we can check that out.

Hope you all enjoyed my conversation with my Mousi(Mother's sister). Well we went out and shopped till we dropped. We headed to the Pav Bhaji Junction and I could see people waiting for their turn to taste this new dish in town. We ordered for two plates of Pav Bhaji. I saw the man pour a ladle of the curry to a big iron tawa (pan) to heat it. We perched on the wooden bench on the side of the cart waiting for our turn to taste it. The Pav Bhaji seller greased the Pav (Bread) with a generous amount of butter and handed over the sizzling curry with Pav. We loved the taste of it every bit. Till date I make it a point to visit this spot when ever I get a chance.

Preparation Time - 30 minutes

Serves - 8

Ingredients

Potato - 3 large

Carrot - 2 cups chopped

Beans - 1 cup chopped

Cauliflower - 1 cup chopped

Capsicum - 1

Onion - 1

Tomato - 2

Green Chilli - 4

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Everest Pav Bhaji Masala (Any Store bought) - 5 tsp

Butter - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method of Preparation

1 Cut all vegetables into small pieces (potatoes,cauliflower,capsicum,carrot,beans).Wash and keep aside.

2 Pressure cook all the vegetables by adding a little salt to it. Make sure you add just enough water to cover the vegetables while pressure cooking.

3 Once the vegetables are soft and thoroughly cooked let it cool down. Smash all the vegetables to make a paste out of it.

4 Add butter to a pan and let it melt. Add chopped green chillis and cumin seeds to it. Wait for the cumin seeds to sputter. Add the finely chopped onions to it and fry till golden brown. Add turmeric and red chili powder to it. Now add the finely chopped tomatoes. Keep stirring and frying it till it comes to a sauce like consistency.

5 Add the cooked vegetables and mix well. Add the Pav Bhaji Masala and stir well. Simmer for 10 -15 minutes to see that the curry is of thick consistency and all the spices mix well.Be aware that the mixture can spurt up as it boils, so keep a lid on it while you are not actively stirring it.

Serving Tips

Warm butter on a tawa (pan), and fry the bread (you can get pav bread from any indian store or use the bread of your choice).Sprinkle some pav bhaji masala on the butter if you want a spicier version.

Garnish the bhaji(curry) with finely chopped onions and coriander leaves . Add a dash of lemon juice to make it more tangy.

Add more butter to get a better taste ( come on you can do it ..... stop counting your calories).

Variations

You may add peas to the curry as well. Use frozen cut vegetables instead of chopping vegetables. You can always choose your combination of vegetables, but make sure the quantity of potato is dominant in the curry.

Tit Bits - This dish is staple to Maharastra. The origin of this dish is traced to the heyday of the textile mills in Mumbai. The mill workers used to have lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to physical labor after lunch. A vendor created this dish using items or parts of other dishes available on the menu. Roti or rice was replaced with pav and the curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were amalgamated into just one spicy concoction-the 'bhaji'. Initially, it remained the food of the mill-workers.

This is a great recipe for feeding big groups.