Cooking veggies for bhaji

Rinse, peel and chop the veggies. You will need cauliflower, carrot, potatoes french beans. You can also add veggies of your choice.

Add all the above chopped veggies in a pressure cooker. Also add green peas (fresh or frozen).

Add water.Now turn over the pav and rotate them on the tawa so that the second side absorbs the butter. Add more butter if required.

Pressure cook the veggies for 5 to 6 whistles or on medium flame.

When the pressure settles down on it's own, open the cooker and check if the veggies are cooked well. You can even steam or cook the veggies in a pan. The vegetables have be to cooked completely.

Making bhaji for pav bhaji

Heat a pan. Add butter.

As soon as the butter melts, add cumin seeds.

Let the cumin seeds crackle and change their color.

Then add onions.

Mix onions with the butter and saute on a low to medium flame till the onions translucent.

Then add ginger-garlic paste. You can also crush ginger and garlic

Mix and saute till the raw aroma of both ginger and garlic goes away.

Then add chopped green chilies. mix well.

Now add tomatoes. mix very well.

Then begin to saute tomatoes on a low to medium flame

Saute till the tomatoes become soft and mushy. This takes about 6 to 7 minutes on a low to medium flame.

When the tomatoes have softened, then add capsicum Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add turmeric powder and kashmiri red chilli powder.

Then add pav bhaji masala. mix very well.

Add the cooked veggies. add all of the stock or water from the pressure cooker in which the veggies were cooked. mix very well.

Then season with salt as per taste.

With a potato masher, begin to mash the veggies directly in the pan.

Keep on stirring occasionally and let the bhaji simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.

If the bhaji becomes dry and then add some more water. The consistency is neither very thick nor thin.

Add salt, pav bhaji masala, red chili powder or butter if required.

When the bhaji is simmering, you can fry the pav so that you serve the pav with hot bhaji.

Frying pav for pav bhaji

Heat a tawa or a shallow frying pan. Keep the flame to a low and then add butter.

When the butter begins to melt, add a bit of pav bhaji masala. You can skip pav bhaji masala if you want

Mix the pav bhaji masala very well with a spoon or spatula.

Then place the pav on the butter.

Rotate the pav all over the melted butter so that the pav absorbs the butter.

Now turn over the pav and rotate them on the tawa so that the second side absorbs the butter. Add more butter if required.

You can turn over and toast them more if required. Then remove in a plate and keep aside.

Serving pav bhaji

Now take the bhaji in a serving plate or a bowl. Top it up with one to two cubes of butter. You can add more butter, if you like.

Place a side of finely chopped onions, lemon wedges and finely chopped coriander leaves. Or you can sprinkle onions, coriander leaves and lemon juice directly on the bhaji.

Serve bhaji with the lightly pan fried and buttered pav. Pav bhaji is topped with chopped onions, coriander leaves and the lime or lemon juice is squeezed on the bhaji while eating.