Homestyle Bombay Pav Bhaji
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Homestyle Bombay Pav Bhaji is a street-side recipe you’re sure to love! A loaded tomato and potato mish-mash, topped with a dollop of butter and served with hot buttery buns. You’re in for a treat for brunch!
Pav bhaji is near and dear to my heart, and I think all North Indians will agree on this! I like to call pav bhaji an “Indian sloppy joe” because I really think it is! Although this is meatless, you have a thick and rich gravy and you serve it up on some toasted bread! I’ve never actually had a real sloppy joe’s, but I’m sure the satisfaction of enjoying it is exactly the same as indulging in some pav bhaji!
You’ll see that this recipe is actually incredibly easy! I’m keeping it very simple here by mainly focusing on the tomato and potato goodness! As I’ll discuss later in this post, there are many variations that you can experiment with by switching up the ingredients. But here we’ll stick to the basics, and this is my favourite way to prepare pav bhaji!
Pav bhaji can be enjoyed as a fantastic brunch or as a satisfying dinner. Growing up, no matter what time of day you’re having pav bhaji, you’re going to fall in love with this recipe and want to make it again!
What Is Pav BHaji?
Pav bhaji simply translates to “pav,” which is the bread that’s served, and “bhaji” refers to the curried vegetables. Pav bhaji is a popular street food item served in North India. The main flavour profile comes from the tomato-rich gravy with some mashed potatoes! We’re also going to be adding some traditional Indian spices.
As mentioned earlier, you can add a variety of veggies to your pav bhaji. However, on the streets, the main focus is in the potatoes and in onions. I’ll be preparing mine in a similar fashion in this recipe!
Tips for Making the Best Bombay Pav Bhaji
Butter is your best friend when it comes to pav bhaji, so don’t skimp out on it.
Pav bhaji is great to hide lots of veggies in a delicious dish. If you want, add in cauliflower, and more peppers to really get the veggies in for stubborn eaters, adults or children!
Deggi mirch is great to add lots of bright red colour to the dish without as much spice. So don’t feel the need to add red food colouring to this street side favourite.
A potato masher is a must to get that classic smooth texture. Don’t use a food processor, the texture will not be as desirable.
Butter both sides of the buns/pav and warm lightly, there is no need to toast the buns any longer.
Serve with fresh slices of lemon or lime and sliced onions if desired.
Most of all, enjoy this treat!
Ingredients for Pav Bhaji
Here’s what you’ll need to prepare an excellent pav bhaji:
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Onion
Green pepper
Butter
Garlic paste
Cumin seeds
Green peas
Water
Salt
Lemon wedge
Cilantro
Buns (to serve)
How to Make Homemade Pav Bhaji
To prepare the potatoes and peas
1.Boil the potatoes and peas in a pressure cooker. If using an Instant Pot, slice potatoes in half, insert a trivet to the pot and add the potatoes and peas directly on the trivet.
2. Set the Instant Pot to Sealing mode and cook in Steam mode for 11-12 minutes. Let pressure release naturally.
3. Peel the potatoes and transfer both potatoes and peas to a large bowl. Lightly mash the potatoes and peas and set aside for use later.
To prepare the pav bhaji
1. Heat 2 Tbsp of butter in a pan and once molten, add cumin seeds and onions. Sauté until onions become soft and turn a light golden brown.
2. Add garlic paste and green pepper and sauté until peppers have softened, and rawness of the garlic has cooked off.
3. Add tomatoes, salt and half of the deggi mirch. Mix well and continue cooking until tomatoes cook down and become soft. Stir ever so often to ensure they don’t stick to the pan and burn.
4. Add the mashed potatoes and peas and mix well to combine. Then, make a well at the center of the pan and add 2-3 Tbsp of butter. Add the rest of the deggi mirch and mix in with the butter.
5. Cook the spice until fragrant, about 30 seconds and then mix in with the bhaji.
6. Add water, about 1/2 Cup at a time until you have a wet consistency. Mix well and then start mashing the bhaji with a potato masher until completely smooth.
7. Turn heat to low and simmer, add more water if required to match the consistency of your liking. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
8. Sprinkle with pav bhaji masala and mix well. Let bhaji simmer while you prepare the pav.
9. Heat a tawa pan on medium low heat and add 1-2 Tbsp of butter and let it melt. Slice the pavs in half and add to the pan. Coat each side with butter, adding more as necessary to complete butter the pav. Toast lightly, until pavs are warmed through.
How to Serve Pav Bhaji
Top your pav bhaji with a generous dollop of butter on top! Add a squeeze of lemon juice and top with a lemon wedge. Finish with some freshly chopped cilantro, and your pav bhaji is complete and ready to indulge in!
Breads to Serve with Pav Bhaji
You can use many breads to serve your pav bhaji. “Pav” is actually a type of bread, which is a type of bun. Now, I don’t get pavs here in Canada, so there are other options you can serve with! Here are some ideas:
dinner rolls
burger buns (as I do here!)
sliced bread
potato rolls
Pav Bhaji Variations
I kept my recipe very simple to make with minimal ingredients. However, if you’re looking to add more vegetables to your pav bhaji, here are some ideas of vegetables you can incorporate:
cauliflower
eggplant
beetroot
cabbage
carrot
broccoli
Was there a vegetable I missed in this list? Let me know in the comments if you prefer your pav bhaji with veggies or plain! I’ve also seen cheesy pav bhaji! I’ve never tried it myself, but Instagram pictures definitely make my mouth water! I’m a sucker for going by what I know and the tradition, but perhaps one day I’ll try adding cheese to my pav bhaji and see how it goes! If you’re not already following me on Instagram, I recommend that you do because you’d be first to see when I do add some cheese to my pav bhaji as I share all of my cooking experiments and recipe sneak peaks in my stories and posts!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE Homestyle Pav Bhaji HERE:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!
Homestyle Bombay Pav Bhaji
Ingredients
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1/2 Cup green peas
- 10 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 Tbsp garlic paste
- 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
- 1 large tomato, finely chopped
- 1 - 2 Tbsp deggi mirch
- water as needed
- salt to taste
- 1-2 Tbsp pav bhaji masala
- cilantro for garnish
- lemon wedge for garnish
- Pav/Buns to preference
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes and peas in a pressure cooker. If using an Instant Pot, slice potatoes in half, insert a trivet to the pot and add the potatoes and peas directly on the trivet.
- Set the Instant Pot to Sealing mode and cook in Steam mode for 11-12 minutes. Let pressure release naturally.
- Peel the potatoes and transfer both potatoes and peas to a large bowl. Lightly mash the potatoes and peas and set aside for use later
- Heat 2 Tbsp of butter in a pan and once molten, add cumin seeds and onions. Sauté until onions become soft and turn a light golden brown.
- Add garlic paste and green pepper and sauté until peppers have softened, and rawness of the garlic has cooked off.
- Add tomatoes, salt and half of the deggi mirch. Mix well and continue cooking until tomatoes cook down and become soft. Stir ever so often to ensure they don’t stick to the pan and burn.
- Add the mashed potatoes and peas and mix well to combine. Then, make a well at the center of the pan and add 2-3 Tbsp of butter. Add the rest of the deggi mirch and mix in with the butter.
- Cook the spice until fragrant, about 30 seconds and then mix in with the bhaji.
- Add water, about 1/2 Cup at a time until you have a wet consistency. Mix well and then start mashing the bhaji with a potato masher until completely smooth.
- Turn heat to low and simmer, add more water if required to match the consistency of your liking. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
- Sprinkle with pav bhaji masala and mix well. Let bhaji simmer while you prepare the pav.
- Heat a tawa pan on medium low heat and add 1-2 Tbsp of butter and let it melt. Slice the pavs in half and add to the pan. Coat each side with butter, adding more as necessary to complete butter the pav. Toast lightly, until pavs are warmed through
- Serve Pav Bhaji immediately, topping the bhaji with more butter, chopped cilantro, along with the pav and wedges of lemon
Nutrition Facts
Calories
433.17Fat (grams)
31.74Sat. Fat (grams)
18.72Carbs (grams)
34.73Fiber (grams)
4.98Net carbs
29.75Sugar (grams)
5.91Protein (grams)
5.96Sodium (milligrams)
575.95Cholesterol (grams)
76.77Nutrition info is an estimate.
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Welcome to Cooking With Anadi. This platform is all about making cooking exciting and finding new ways to bring classic flavours and recipes at your service. Join me in my personal journey in the world of cooking. Hope you have a great ride!
