Pav Bhaji (Mumbai Street Food Spiced Mashed Vegetable Curry with Bread)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 50 min
- Level
- Easy
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 8
About this dish
At Mumbai street stalls, potatoes, cauliflower, and green peas are mashed and cooked down with tomato and pav bhaji masala, then scooped up with soft rolls toasted in butter.
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It is less a curry than a spread, thick enough to pile onto bread. The rolls are toasted only on the cut sides, soft outside with a crisp, buttery face.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Cut the 300 g potato and 150 g cauliflower into small pieces, then add them with 100 g green peas to a pot of water.
Boil over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables crush easily. Reserve the vegetable cooking water for adjusting the consistency.
- 2
Melt part of the butter in a wide pan, then add the 120 g onion.
Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the edges turn translucent and the onion smells sweet instead of sharp.
- 3
Add the 250 g tomato and 2 tablespoons pav bhaji masala to the onion base.
Cook over medium-low heat for about 6 minutes, scraping the pan, until the tomato thickens and a little butter separates at the edges.
- 4
Add the boiled vegetables to the pan and press them with a ladle or masher.
Keep the heat medium-low and mix for about 5 minutes, breaking large pieces down until the bhaji turns creamy and thick.
- 5
If the bhaji becomes too stiff, loosen it with small splashes of the vegetable cooking water.
Simmer over low heat for 3 more minutes, stirring frequently so the thick mash does not catch on the bottom.
- 6
Split the 8 soft rolls and toast the cut sides in the remaining butter.
Serve immediately with the hot bhaji when golden and lightly crisp.
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