If you have to name your favorite street food, what would it be? We love street food and have a long list of our go-to Indian street foods, but pav bhaji definitely ranks in the top three.
The literal translation of pav bhaji is “bread vegetables”. This dish is a spicy mixed vegetable curry served with buttered & toasted buns. Potatoes, cauliflower, peas, carrots, bell pepper, onions and tomatoes are typical vegetables used in pav bhaji. However, you are more than welcome to experiment with other vegetables.
Using butter in the recipe is highly recommended as butter complements the spicy pav bhaji and who can stay away from buttered bread anyways? Just the thought of scooping delicious pav bhaji with buttery bread makes us drool. Not only is butter used for the bread, but the vegetables are also cooked in butter and then served with another dollop of butter – it’s decadent and so, so good! If you’ve ever seen videos of how pav bhaji is made on the streets in India, you’ll know how much butter is involved.
Our recipe is unique because we have simplified the tedious process of making pav bhaji by cooking all the vegetables together in a pressure cooker. It’s also okay to use frozen vegetables.
Typically, people buy ready-made pav bhaji masala, which is a good option. However, we decided to go one notch up and make our own pav bhaji spice mixture and baked our bread too. Check out our ladhi pav recipe to try with pav bhaji.
Pav bhaji is a versatile dish that could be served at lunch, birthday parties, or when you’re craving some spicy comfort food.
If you make these Pav Bhaji/Spicy Mixed Vegetables, drop a comment and/or give it a rating! We’d love to hear how it turns out. Also, if you make this recipe, make sure to tag us on Instagram!
Pav Bhaji/Spicy Mixed Vegetables
Ingredients
- 3 medium potatoes peeled and cut in chunks
- 2 medium red onions chopped in chunks
- 6 medium tomatoes
- 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 2 green bell peppers cut into pieces (optional)
- 1 cup water
- salt to taste
- 7-8 dry red chilies
- 5 medium garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp pav bhaji masala store-bought or homemade (check out our recipe below)
- ½ cup salted butter or olive oil
Garnish
- 1 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- ½ cup onions diced
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
- We recommend using a large pressure cooker to cook the vegetables faster. You can also use a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
- Place all the vegetables (potatoes, onions, tomatoes, peas, cauliflower, bell peppers) in a pressure cooker along with water and about 2 tbsp salt. Close the lid and place the pressure cooker on high heat. Once the pressure builds, reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. Turn the heat off and wait till the pressure releases completely. If using a large pot, cook for 45-50 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked through.
- While the vegetables are cooking, blend the chili and garlic with a little water until it’s a paste.
- Open the pressure cooker and make sure all the vegetables, especially the potatoes are cooked. If you find large chunks, mash them with the back of a spoon.
- Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pan on medium heat. Add the butter or oil. Add the chili-garlic paste once the butter is hot and sauté it until the paste is fragrant (the chili and garlic should smell slightly toasted) and stops smelling raw – about two minutes. Then add the pav bhaji masala and continue to sauté for another two minutes.
- Add all the vegetables to the pan and mix them well until all the spices are combined well with the vegetables. Add salt per taste and continue to cook for another five minutes.
- To serve, garnish the pav bhaji with cilantro, lemon, and chopped onions. Serve hot with buttered pav/bread.
