Butter Pav Bhaji Masala

It happens with me all the time, I have the food portraits and recipe ready in my draft and Facebook page from so long but it do not get posted due to the introduction part. I feel I should write something about the dish but never get the time and patience to sit, think and type. And then many of them gets posted without any intro as and when I feel its high time for them to hit 'lime light' ;) Now Pav Bhaji belongs to the same category, when one of my friend and fb page member asked to post the recipe I just guaranteed her 'will do asap' and I guess it is at-least more than a month now. As I always say better late than never and here it comes for you dear Rishin and my dear readers and friends :-)

I had Pav Bhaji for the first time in Mumbai almost five years back and I immediately fell in love with it. My hubby who was brought up in Mumbai always gets nostalgic as he talk about this dish and Pav Bhaji had been one of our Family favorite as the little ones also love it. Pav Bhaji can be eaten as a snack or as a heavy meal, but for us it is mostly our Friday night dinner. 'Pav/Pao' is a small loaf of Indian bread and 'Bhaji' is actually the thick potato based vegetable curry garnished with chopped coriander leaves onion and butter cubes. Bhaji Masala can be cooked quick if you do the pressure cooker method as I did, it take less than an hour even if you cook veggies on stove top. Now that sounds great right, a full meal in less than an hour is always great for the lady in the kitchen I'm sure. Now check out the recipe and try it out and Enjoy the delicacy!!!!!

Ingredients:-

1. Potatoes Chopped into cubes - 3
2. Green Peas - ½ cup
3. Chopped Carrots - ¾ cup
4. Chopped French Beans - ½ cup
5. Cauliflower florets sliced - 1 cup
6. Water ~ 3 cups
7. Onion Finely chopped - 1 +  ½ (to garnish)
8. Tomato Chopped - 2
9. Ginger, Garlic finely chopped - 1 tbsp each(or fresh ginger garlic paste) 
10. Capsicum deseeded and chopped fine -  ½ of a capsicum
11. Green Chilies finely chopped - 4
12. Vegetable Oil ~ 2 tsp(Can use butter instead which adds up a great aroma and flavor)
13. Turmeric power -  ½ tsp
14. Chilly powder -  ½ tsp
15. Dry Mango powder - 1 tsp
16. Cumin powder -  ½ tsp
17. Coriander powder -  ½ tsp
18. Pav Bhaji Masala powder - 2 tbsp(use less/more according to quantity of veggies used)
19. Salt to taste
20. Coriander leaves chopped ~ 3 tbsp(for masala and few to garnish)
21. Fresh Lime/Lemon juice from one Lime/Lemon
22. Butter as required to Garnish and toast the pav
23. Ladi Pav/Inidan Pav bread as required 

Preparation Method:- 

• Rinse chopped cauliflower florets in warm water by adding a pinch of turmeric powder and salt.
• Pressure cook potatoes, green peas, french beans, carrots and cauliflower florets by adding water and salt for one or two whistle and let it cool down completely.
• Meanwhile heat up another pan/wok/kadai, pour oil. When the oil is hot enough add onion, salt and saute for few minutes till they turn translucent. 
• Add chopped ginger-garlic, green chilies and saute till the raw smell is gone. Add capsicum and saute well for a while say two-three minutes till they become pale green.
• Add tomatoes and saute till they are soft, break the tomatoes, mash with the spatula and saute well again

•  Add Turmeric power, chilly power, pav bhaji masala powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder and saute well to mix everything.
• Now from the cooked veggies crush/mash few potatoes and veggies with a spatula/spoon. Add this to the onion-spice mix and stir well to blend more veggies.(Veggies should be beaten and mashed with out any big veggie bites but not to a paste form. It should be in tiny bites not pasty).
• Simmer the heat to medium and let it cook for another five-seven minutes to get a thick gravy. Add some cilantro/coriander leaves, stir well to mix and take off the stove.

• Move to a serving bowl, squeeze and drizzle some lemon/lime juice on top, garnish with chopped cilantro, onion and butter cubes.

• Now toast both sides of the pav in butter just before ready to serve. Enjoy it warm with Pav bhaji Masala.(Usually all sides of Pav is toasted in generous amount of butter which adds taste, I suggest you to use butter according to your tolerance. You know how much butter can be served to your family rather than me, so use your judgement :-) )

Notes :- 

1. If you don't have store bought Pav bhaji Masala don't worry, either use garam masala instead and add 1 tbsp dry mango powder.(or make garam masala at home with cardamom, cloves,cinnamon sticks and fennel seeds)
2. Check out the ingredients lists and direction method on the label printed in the pav bhaji masala pack because you might not need to add all the spices mentioned if the store bought pav bhaji masala already have all blend of spices. Adjust the spice level according to your taste.
3. Usually Pav Bhaji Masala have slight sour taste, you can adjust it either by adding more tomatoes, dry mango powder or Lime/Lemon Juice but make sure not be too sour. We love it with a dash of lemon just before serving :-)