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Pav Bhaji Vegetable Curry With Dinner Rolls

Pav Bhaji  Vegetable Curry with Dinner Rolls is a common street food of Mumbai, the city known as the business and finance capital of India, inviting millions to come and try their future. It is the needs of the old mill workers in and around Tardeo, that led to the creation of this epic street food that is loved by the poorest to the millionaires in India. Sardar Pav Bhaji at Tardeo holds the creation genius behind this super delicious dish that is curry based, has vegetables and is accompanied by bread. The key ingredient in the Sardar Pav Bhaji is the loads of Amul Butter used for the richness in the recipe. Its just sinful to not only eat the butter in your dish, but watch it melt alway in front of you! Almost a quarter stick per serving!!  The nearby theaters gave the Pav Bhaji more prominence, as people would often go there for dinner after watching a movie. The rate of Pav Bhaji has gone from 12 Rs to more than 100 Rs. now. More interesting information on Sardar Pav Bhaji can be read at Sardar Pav Bhaji This place also has been mentioned in Trip Advisor as well as as the top 10 places to visit for yummy street food in Mumbai. No wonder it still has about 30 minutes waiting. The place has remained the same in terms of size and scale since I started visiting 20 years back!! And I took my daughter to visit this place and it has made it to  her list of places to visit in Mumbai, every time she makes a trip to Mumbai!

The Pav Bhaji Vegetable Curry with Dinner Rolls is spicy with buttery gravy and garnish of lemon, coriander and shallots and a grilled butter roll to accompany. This makes it a wholesome, spicy, filling and one meal recipe that we had over the last thanksgiving! Hope that hints how important and how well appreciated is this recipe in our family!

Recipe makes for 4-5 people

Time to Cook 1 hours

Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients

  •  5 cups of chopped cauliflower
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped green bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped orange bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots

 

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  • 3/4 cup green peas
  • 5 potatoes

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  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  • 1 can of tomato puree/sauce(Hunt brand)
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped onion
  • 3-4 garlic pods
  • 1 1/2 inch ginger
  • 4 thai green chillies

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  • 1 cup oil
  • 1 big bay leaf
  • 2 tbsp pav bhaji masala(Everest Brand)
  • 1 tbsp garam masala(Everest Brand)
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 3 tsp black salt
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/8 tsp asafetida powder
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup frozen butter(Amul brand)
  • Dinner rolls or pav from Indian Store
  • 2 cups of water or more if needed.

Method

  • Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker with about 4 cups water upto 5-6 whistles on medium high flame.
  • Soak the cauliflower in water and a pinch of salt for 15-20 min.

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  • Cool and skin the potatoes  and cut into cubes.
  • Boil the drained cauliflower, carrots, peas(if fresh) and capsicums to upto 3-4 whistles on medium high flame.
  • Heat the oil in a big deep pan
  • Add the bay leaf and asafoetida.
  • When the bayleaf turns brown, add the ginger and chillies and saute for a 2-3 min.

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  • Add chopped onions and garlic and saute till golden brown.

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  • Once the onions are golden brown add the potato cubes, and boiled vegetables.
  • Add tomato puree, fresh tomatoes, salt, frozen peas , red chilli powder, turmeric powder, pav bhaji masala, garam masala, and water and  butter. lemon juice and simmer for about 20 minimum with occasional stirring so that it does not stick at the bottom.  Once well cooked, you can blend it with potato masher, or hand blender.

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  • Grill the dinner rolls or pav in butter and serve the warm Bhaji with the Pav( Dinner Rolls)

Pav Bhaji Vegetable Curry with Dinner Rolls

  • Garnish  the Bhaji with with onions, fresh coriander, wedges of lemon/lime and added butter and serve them warm.Pav Bhaji Vegetable Curry with Dinner Rolls

 

Tips

The reason to soak the cauliflower for a few minutes in salt water, is so as to remove tiny insects that may be inside the cauliflower( following the Jain principle of least harm possible). Also it is always better to cut the potatoes in half and then pressure cook it.

I once observed someone using a Ragu’s tomato paste also as a base sauce gravy!

Jain Version-Replace potatoes with equal amount of boiled and grated raw bananas. Also replace carrots with red/orange bell peppers if possible. and add another cup of water to get enough liquidity and garnish just with coriander and lemon

Instinct Factor

Add brinjals, or any other vegetables to make it your version of Pav Bhaji Vegetables Curry and butter it up to the extent your instinct indicates !!

The consistency is neither thick nor thin- somewhere in between, so blending will be based to your liking. Generally I like to see some parts of vegetables rather than it be all blended.

Feel Factor

To recreate a recipe that is was invented in 1850 by Sardar Pav bhaji in Mumbai, is like trying to re-create a Mona Lisa in my home!! Needless to say that any version of Pav Bhaji Vegetable curry with Dinner rolls will bring a much wider smile than that of Mona Lisa! But am pretty happy that having lived next to that area for a long period and having visited often to this place, I was able to come close to the flavour that I remember of Pav Bhaji from this place. I often end up cooking this dish, when I have sudden guests, and I can only cook one meal. In that case it has to be Pav Bhaji Vegetable Curry with Dinner Rolls, as just throw in the vegetables and make a curry and accompany with bread!