Street Food - Pav Bhaji with Masala Pav

We were out shopping, on one of our visits to Bombay. Had a look at the new malls, walked near Haji Ali and shopped till we almost dropped out of exhaustion and hunger..
We had heard of this place called Sardar Pav Bhaji which was around the same area, so went straight there. The pav bhaji was really nice, but i must have added on a zillion calories with the butter they add - they have this little refrigerator which is full of 500gm packets of amul butter, and they are very very generous with the butter, which I think we could have easily done without.
The bhaji was mashed really well and had been on the tava, getting cooked and recooked with a whole lot of butter (again), so you get this really nice flavour..
If you can afford to forget about the calories, this is a great place to go to..

I had never really made pav bhaji at home - its easily available here and I always thought it would involve too much effort.
Had a little of all these veggies at home, so finally made it and it was a nice spicy meal

This recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal's website and has a few different ingredients from thre regular recipes i have seen - gives it a nice spicy, tangy taste.



What you need -

1/2 cup peas
2 carrots
1 cup cauliflower florets
2 onions chopped
1/2 cup capsicum
2 tomatoes
2 potatoes
1 inch piece ginger
1 green chilli
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1/4 turmeric powder
1/2 tsp black salt
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp pav bhaji masala
2 tbsp butter
2 red chillies (Kashmiri ones if you have them)
2-3 garlic pods
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

Masala Pavs -

8 Pavs / Buns
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp pav bhaji masala
pinch of salt

What you do with it -

Steam all the vegetables. I put it in the microwave with half a cup of water and cooked for 7 mins
Make a paste of red chilly and garlic
Heat butter in a large pan
Add onions and capsicums, green chilli and ginger to the same pan and cook for 1 min
Add the chilly garlic paste & cook till onions turn golden brown
Add the tomatoes & cook till oil separates
Add the pav bhaji masala, salt, black salt, chilli powder & turmeric powder
Cook for 1-2 mins
Add cauliflower, carrots, peas and potatoes
Mash using a potato masher or a large ladle
Stir and mash adding little water (as needed) and cook till done
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice

For the pavs -

Cut the pav in half horizontally
Heat the butter and add the salt and pav bhaji masala
Spread it over the inside of the pavs
Roast the pavs on the tava till it turns a bit brown

Serve pav bhaji with chopped or sliced onions and wedges of lime and a dollop of butter