Pav Bhaji is a famous Indian street food from Mumbai and consists of buttered rolls (pav) served with a hot and spicy mixed vegetable stew (bhaji), topped off with a generous dollop of butter. It is the ULTIMATE Indian street food and the best part is that its a great way to use up all your leftover veggies! Traditionally, the main vegetable is potatoes to give it the creamy luscious texture, we’ve opted to use a lot of cauliflower to match that creaminess, and we have to admit it, you can’t tell the difference.

The veggie mixture is traditionally served with eggless rolls (pav) – you can easily use hamburger buns, Hawaiian rolls, we’ve even eaten it with naan. The KEY to serving it regardless of what type of bread you serve it with a giant dollop of butter, don’t skimp on it, it makes the dish!

Tips & Tricks

• The flavors develop overnight and the veggies will continue to soak up the spice, so don’t be afraid to go bold with your spices when you’re cooking it.
• This a great recipe to use up leftover veggies – while we didn’t use any, peppers or zucchini would be a great addition.
• You can also use an Instant Pot for this recipe, cook your onions, tomatoes spices on sauté mode as described below and then add your veggies and switch to pressure cook mode and cook on high for 8 min. Once pressure releases, mash veggies and simmer briefly & serve.

Recipe Information

• Prep time: 20 min
• Cook time: 45 min
• Yield: 4 entree servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium cauliflower broken into florets
• 1 medium potato peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed veggies of choice – we used peas, carrots, green beans and corn
• 1 red onion diced finely
• 3 jalapeños deseeded and diced finely
• 2 tomatoes chopped or 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1 cube frozen crushed ginger 
• 2 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder 
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1.5 tbsp Kitchen King or Pav Bhaji Masala (Everest and Badshah brands are great)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp butter + more for serving
• Hamburger buns 
• Lime wedges, diced red onion and chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions

1. Place cauliflower, potato and frozen veggies in a pot, cover with water and bring to boil – lower to medium and cook till veggies are soft, let cool.
2. Alternatively, you can use a pressure cooker – after 1 whistle lower and cook on medium for 20 min, let cool.
3. Sauté red onion and jalapeños in oil; add ginger and garlic and cook over medium heat for ~5 min.
4. Add spices: chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, pav bhaji/kitchen king masala and salt and continue to cook until onions become translucent, another ~5-7 min.
5. Add chopped tomatoes and 1 tbsp of water, cover and cook to let tomatoes soften – at least 10 min.
6. Meanwhile, mash cooled veggies with a potato masher and add to onion/tomato mixture.
7. Adjust seasoning based on taste – don’t be afraid to add extra chili powder or masala, as the mixture continues to cook, it will soak up the spices.
8. Add 2 tbsp butter and cook on low heat for additional ~5 min and turn off.
9. Flavors continue to develop overnight so this is a great dish to prep in advance.
10. To serve – toast buns on a pan with some butter and serve with a side of bhaji garnished with onions, jalapeños, lime and an extra dollop of butter!