Pav Bhaji

This dish may fall in the fast food category or can be a meal in itself. Although it is more associated with Maharashtra or Gujarat, Delhi makes some pretty awesome Pav Bhaji — no one can beat Delhi when it comes to the wide range of street food available here! For me, it involves memories of that little food corner at Ber Sarai where my friends and I used to hang out (budding journalists hahahaaa) or rushing to Udupi after upcountry/first edition (jaded journalists) to see if they are still taking orders for Pav Bhaji. And who in BS can forget Kid Uncle’s famous combo order of Pav Bhaji and Sprite again and again and again 😛 (Btw, you may often find such names mentioned in my blog, they are just people close to me, friends or relatives, and they are such an integral part of my life that they will keep making special appearances now and then!)
I still remember the first time I made it. The quantity of the bhaji in Udupi was very less, and we were such overworked fellows who hardly got to eat dinner that by the time we would go to the restaurant, it would be “Sorry, pav bhaji khatam ho gaya”. One day I had enough and thought I want my Pav Bhaji and I shall have it. So that’s how I started making it and almost had tears in my eyes when I first tasted it. It was good but I was happy because now I had the recipe and could take second, third helpings or eat it whenever I wanted! In fact, before Beti left BS, I specifically made some for her, Uncle and Rapunzel, stealing moments in the office canteen between editing stories and making pages, cherishing them, knowing that in a few days all of us shall be away from each other. So this recipe is dedicated to the three of you, my friends.

Just some background: “Pav Bhaji” literally means “bread/bun and veggies”, it is quite a healthy dish as boiled potatoes and an assortment of lightly sautéed fresh vegetables are used, until you add… Dun Dun Dun… BUTTER!! Lotsss of it!!! So if you are calorie-conscious, just reduce the amount of butter, but it won’t be the same :(. I guess you can make it as an indulgence now and then. In fact, cakes and cookies have a lot of butter and sugar too, so don’t feel guilty, just eat :).
If you have the time, you can make the pav bhaji masala, for which you will need 50 gms red chili and coriander seeds (dhaniya), and 25 gms cumin seeds (jeera), black pepper (kali mirch), cinnamon (dal chini), clove (laung), dry mango powder (amchoor), 10 gms fennel seeds (sauf), around 4 black cardamom (elaichi) and a little turmeric powder (haldi). Roast all the ingredients (except amchoor and haldi) and grind them when cool. Add amchoor and haldi and keep in an air-tight container. (I know you won’t make it, I don’t either. But I am the Spice Girl remember? http://meghs-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/08/spice-girl.html I like to know what’s in the dish and it helps me recognise the flavours.)

Prep time: 30 min Cooking time: 30 min Serves: 4
Ingredients: (The list looks long, but it has nothing fancy, just the usual stuff you unconsciously put in any Indian dish but here I have to mention each and everything I use.)
Ghee: 1 tbsp
Vegetable oil: 1 tbsp
Butter: ½ cup (if the first three ingredients look intimidating, then sacrifice the poor delicious butter and use about 1/4th cup)
Potatoes: 2 large
Carrots: 2
Peas: ¾ cup
Chopped assorted vegetables like French beans, cauliflower, capsicum/green bell pepper: 1 cup (I had a packet of frozen veggies so I used that now, but you can just use whatever you have in your fridge at that time)
Onion: 1 large
Garlic: 3, 4 cloves
Ginger: A few slivers, or use 1 tsp paste
Tomatoes: 1 large
Water: ½ cup
Chopped coriander leaves: ½ cup
Lemon: 1
Chillies: 2 chopped
Pav Bhaji masala: 2 tbsp
Garam masala: 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Buns/Pav: 8 slit in the middle

Method:
1) Boil potatoes in a pressure cooker or a pan with a pinch of salt.
2) In the meantime, heat ghee and oil in a deep saucepan and fry onions, garlic, ginger and chillies till the onions are translucent.

3) Add chopped tomatoes and stir for around 2 minutes.
4) Add pav bhaji masala and garam masala and mix well for another 2 minutes.
5) Stir in the chopped assorted veggies, carrots and peas and mix well with the masala. Cover it so that the steam softens the vegetables.
6) Take out the boiled potatoes and mash them coarsely. Add them to the vegetable mixture and mix well.
7) Add water and take a potato masher (HUHAAA)

or just hold the spatula at an angle and mash all the vegetables so that the texture becomes like a not-so-smooth paste.

8) Add salt, butter, chopped coriander leaves and juice of half a lemon (or to taste).
9) Let it simmer in an open pan for 2 minutes so that the butter and lemon juice gets infused with the vegetables and you have the desired texture.
10) Serve hot with a small dollop of butter, sliced lemon, finely chopped coriander and onions, and pav/buns toasted in butter.

(I did not have thick pav in Austin, so I used hamburger buns which deflated a little as they were too soft. But it tasted the same and was utterly butterly delicious!)