If like me, you have a
spouse who loves home cooked food and if like me you enjoy cooking for him then
you will understand the reason behind this post.
But before that, if you’ve
unsuspectingly believed all that I’ve written above, then S would be happy to
nudge you in the right direction. Firstly I don’t really enjoy cooking – not in
the boring everyday cooking way. I rather like the oh so cool, ‘cooking when it
fancies me’ – kind of way. Yeah there it is…out in the open. Sigh. Secondly, I
do enjoy cooking for him…but er… if it agrees with what I’d like to eat myself.
Read – chocolate oozing brownies, cupcakes, sweets, roast chicken sandwiches,
pasta etc etc. Well, I hide behind ‘my love to cook for him’ excuse every time,
but he is no soul mate for nothing. He sees through me…every time. Hmph! Anyway, it sounds kinda nice on the blog I
must say, that I enjoy cooking for him. And I make up to him by tweaking a
recipe so that the finished product is something that he will indeed love and
at the same time, I would love too.
That brings me to the Pav Bhaji recipe that I
made yesterday for him…and oh yeah…for me too. Only all the recipes that I came
across on the net did not have as much vegetables in it that S’s benevolent
stomach could hold. So I had to come up with my own recipe after scouring the
net for one. It didn’t help that one recipe suggested using cabbage in the
recipe. Cabbage? For a delicious pav
bhaji recipe? Nope. Not for me. Nor him. (Please ignore that I put myself first
there. Let’s get a move on)
So if you’re indeed
looking for a Pav Bhaji recipe, then why not try this sometime. It has got tons
of vegetables and some to keep your vitamin levels of the day intact. Keep your
eyes steadfastly out of the ‘butter’ and ‘ghee’ part though, as I do have a
penchant to follow that part of the recipe to the T.
Pav Bhaji
Serves: 4, I think. Well,
how would I know what the normal number of pavs you stuff into your mouth
should be? So be a judge of it yourself people.
Ingredients:
Pav buns : 8 nos. (of
course, S and I finished 6 of those easily. But let’s just say, its two per
person okay? We are not in a glutton contest friends. That happens only in my
house).
Onions : 4 small (I am not
giving the weight here, because I DON’T have a weighing machine yet. I hope you
don’t expect me to confess my failings in the kitchen. Not yet. This is only my
first recipe blog. There is time enough for those. Moving on).
Tomatoes: 4 medium (S
loves the sour taste of the tomatoes but I had only 4 then. Continue reading to
find out what I put for more of those sourness)
Ginger garlic paste – 1
tsp (I used the Hommade packet so I don’t know the ratio of ginger: garlic.
Please don’t shoot me yet).
Cauliflower, finely
chopped – 1 big bowl (okayyyy…fine…a big bowl is actually er…a bowl that can
hold half of a finely chopped small cauliflower (discreet cough) or well…a
500ml cup).
Peas – 1 cup (ah this I
know…a 250ml cup)
Carrots – 2 medium sized
Potatoes – 4 medium sized,
boiled and mashed with the carrots.
Green Capsicum – 1 medium,
finely chopped
Tomato/ Bolognese Pasta
sauce, ready made (yes, I am not bonkers.) – 2 tbsp. (believe me it is yummy and a bit of a fusion really)
Pav Bhaji masala (our good
old Everest masala) – 2 tbsp (I like it masaledar)
Green chillies – 2 small,
chopped finely
Chilli powder (just in
case…but then you might not be as brain fried like S and me. He is a hot
blooded Telugu male who likes his food..well…hot.) – 1tsp. Feel free to leave
this spice if you think you’ve already got all that spice into your dish. How?
Well won’t you be tasting in between?
Salt – ah this I’ve been
meaning to write for ever – as per taste. Ha!
Butter – yes you heard me
– I don’t know how much . I think I’d have scraped and put about 4 tbsp for the entire
gravy and then 2 more tbsps for the pavs. But I am not going to shoot you for using more of it. Be my guest. It’s
your arteries folks. And it’s a free country! Ah…you could also use oil instead
of butter. But then you do know that all evil things are yummy. So choose wisely.
Water – 1 cup to 2 cups
Accompaniments:
Onion – chopped finely
Lemon - quartered
Coriander leaves – a bunch
of those. As much as you want.
Whew…that’s the
ingredients. How do people write recipes? This is so much of hard work, really.
Method:
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil or butter in a thick
bottomed pan.
2. Add finely chopped onion to it and sauté till
it is transparent. (That’s the difficult part guys. Patience needed here)
3. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a
minute or until the raw flavor disappears!
4. Add finely chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt
and allow to cook until tomatoes are soft. I generally leave it on low flame
for 5 minutes to get that consistency.
5. Use a masher and coax the tomatoes to lose
their shape and become one nice red paste.
6. To this, add the finely chopped cauliflower
florets, peas, capsicum and green chillies and leave it for 3 minutes to cook.
Don’t worry they’ll get cooked before the gravy is done.
7. When it is done, add the mashed carrot and
potato and mix well. At this point your gravy looks a little boring. But we’ll
soon be rectifying this by adding the masalas.
8. Add the pav bhaji masala and the chilli powder
and salt. Mix well.
9. Now the red colour seeps in. Have I forgotten
something? Yep. The pasta sauce (tomato based). We should be adding it the moment
the raw flavor of the masalas ah…disappears. (I know I know this is just not a
culinary term but then I need to remind you that this is my first attempt at
writing a recipe any way).
10. Add the pasta sauce and mix well.
11. Pour in the water to this thick mixture.
12. Adjust the salt.
13. Add a tablespoon of butter (more, if you have
did not start with butter originally!) and mix well.
14. S and I like a bit of texture in the bhaji, so
I did not mash the vegetables too much. If you like it smooth, work away with
that masher. It’s a good exercise anyway, for all that butter you’re adding
into this recipe.
15. Once the gravy achieves a desired consistency
(by desired I mean…runny, not so runny, cake batter like – which I must say is
the desired consistency for S and I) garnish the gravy with lots of coriander
and remove from flame.
16. Assembling the dish – cut the pav buns
horizontally into 2 (but they’re strictly one. It shouldn’t mess with our above
mentioned portion size)
17. On a hot tava, put a big tablespoon of butter
and as it sizzles and melt, quickly place the pav buns over it. I manage to
keep 4 buns cut horizontally. Er...that’s eight.
18. Once the pav buns are crisp, remove and place
it gently on the plate. Admire it if you must but do not, I repeat…DO NOT delay
in serving.
19. Serve with a side of freshly cut onions and one
of the quartered lemon.
20. Thank me when your loved one plants a big
sloppy kiss on your cheek for serving such deliciousness.
 |
| Pav Bhaji |
Pav Bhaji
Serves: 4 (2 pavs each)
Ingredients:
1. Onions: 4 small
2. Tomatoes: 4 medium
3. Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp
4. Cauliflower, finely chopped : 1 big bowl
5. Peas – 1 cup (250ml cup)
6. Carrots – 2 medium sized
7. Potatoes – 4 medium sized, boiled and mashed
with the carrots.
8. Green Capsicum : 1 medium, finely chopped
9. Tomato/ Bolognese Pasta sauce, readymade : 2 tbsp
10. Pav Bhaji masala (Everest masala): 2 tbsp
11. Green chillies: 2 small, chopped finely
12. Chilli powder: 1tsp.
13. Salt: as per taste.
14. Butter: 4 tbsp
15. Water – 1 cup to 2 cups
Garnish
with coriander leaves
Accompaniments:
Onion – chopped finely
Lemon - quartered
Method:
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil or butter in a thick
bottomed pan.
2. Add finely chopped onion to it and sauté till
it is transparent. Now add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute or
until the raw flavor is gone.
3. Add finely chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt
and allow it to cook until tomatoes are soft. Use a masher and coax the
tomatoes to lose their shape and become one nice red paste.
4. To this, add the finely chopped cauliflower
florets, peas, capsicum and green chillies and leave it for 3 minutes to cook.
Don’t worry they’ll get cooked before the gravy is done.
5. When it is done, add the mashed carrot and
potato and mix well.
6. Add the pav bhaji masala and the chilli powder
and salt to the mixture.
7. Once the raw flavor of the powder is gone, add
the pasta sauce and mix well.
8. Pour water into this thick mixture.
9. Adjust the salt.
10. Add a half a tablespoon of butter and mix well.
11. You could leave the gray at this juncture with
a bit of mashing or if you like it smooth, work away with that masher.
12. Once the gravy achieves a cake batter
consistency garnish the gravy with lots of coriander leaves and remove from flame.
13. Assembling the dish – cut the pav buns
horizontally into 2.
14. On a hot tava, put the remaining butter
and as it sizzles and melts, quickly place the pav buns over it.
15. Once the pav buns are crisp, remove and place
it gently on the plate.
16. Serve with a side of freshly cut onions and one
of the quartered lemon.
Comments
My modest contribution to keeping the pav bhaji in our house slightly healthier is to substitue whole wheat bread toasted with a bit of low-fat butter for the pav. Does not taste as good as regular pav but much better than you think it would taste
@Ani- The wheat bread option is really good ani. But the low fat butter just doesn't taste like anything at all ;) Must try the bread sometime.