Pav Baji Masala Recipe | Mumbai Pav Bhaji Masala Recipe

Pav Bhaji is one of the popular Indian Fast Food dish from Maharashtrian cuisine. Pav is a Portugal word of bread. Pav Bhaji is a spicy mixture of mashed vegetables along with a generous dose of fresh tomatoes, a dollop of butter, optional toppings of cheese and dry-fruits and fresh fruits, consumed with warm bread gently or crispy fried in butter. Pav means bread. Bhaji in Marathi means vegetable dish. Pav bhaji consists of bhaji (a thick potato-based curry) garnished with coriander, chopped onion, and a dash of lemon and lightly toasted pav. The pav is usually buttered on all sides. More than a snack, its quite a meal. The Bhaji makes a good stuffing which fills our tummy nicely. Most of us are using store bought Pav Bhaji Masala which eases our work. But still some of the NorthIndians prefer to freshly make the masala and add it to the bhaji. Either ways the taste is much similar. I have used the store bought masala. I have also mentioned in the ingredients, how to make Pav Bhaji Masala at home. Lets see how to make this easy and tasty Pav Bhaji Masala

*For Pav Bhaji Masala:
For those who don’t have readymade Pav Bhaji Masala, refer the below table and dry fry all these ingredients and grind it to a nice powder and store it in a air-tight container and use it whenever you want.

Fennel Seeds	1 teaspoon
Coriander Seeds	1 tablespoon
Cardamom	4 pods
Cinamom stick	4
Cumin Seeds	2 teaspoon
Fenugeek seeds	1 teaspoon
Whole black pepper	2 tablesooon
Red Chillies	2

1. Finely chop the onions and tomatoes and keep it aside. Finely chop carrots,potatoes, capsicum  and cauliflower and keep it aside. To this add green peas. Pressure cook the chopped potatoes, capsicum, carrot and green peas 

2. When the veggies are cooked completely mash it well with a veggie masher or using back of your spatula.

3. In a heavy bottomed pan, add oil / butter. Traditionally butter is used which gives a nice flavour to the dish. But you can also use oil. When the oil/butter is hot, add the chopped onion along with a pinch of salt and saute it till they are nicely soft and transparent.

4. Add chopped capsicum and saute them till they are soft and little crispy. Add ginger-garlic paste to the pan and mix well

5. Add chopped tomatoes to the pan. I have used crushed tomatoes. Add Pav Bhaji masala, salt and red chilli powder to the pan and mix well

6. When the tomatoes and onions are fully cooked, add mashed veggies to the pan and give a nice mix. 

7. Add water to make the consistency little thinner. As we have mashed up all the veggies, the mashed veggies tend to absorb water quickly. So if you plan to serve immediately, we can make the consistency thicker. If you are making Bhaji much earlier to serving, then dilute it so that the consistency would get thicker upon cooling. Once the Pav Bhaji is in correct consistency and the masalas and  veggies are blended together, add more butter and switch off the flame. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and mix well

8. Delicious PavBhaji is now ready to serve with Pav, Once you have taken the Bhaji in a serving bowl, do not clean the pan. In the same pan, slit the Pav and spread butter and slightly roast the Pav. In that way the pav would absorb the masala left in the pan.

9. Serve the hot Pav Bhaji with freshly chopped onions and lemon slices and enjoy your dish!!

Pav Baji Masala Recipe | Mumbai Pav Bhaji Masala Recipe