Vegetarian Pav Bhaji (Mumbai Street Food)

I tried this on a cruise I was just on and learned it was Mumbai street food.  Well, I fell in love with it and haven't been able to stop thinking about it.  Quite honestly, probably the best dish I tried on the cruise ship and it was at the buffet!  I'm only sorry I didn't ask if I could get the recipe.  I didn't have it on buns, just ate it plain.  My son had it on the buns though and loved it as well.  They used brioche buns and toasted them on a flat top grill with butter.


I perused a lot of recipes and then decided on this one.  I had to google to learn that a capsicum was a bell pepper and brinjal was eggplant.  I didn't use peas either.  In their place I used some green beans.  As for the Asafoetida powder the recipe called for, I subbed it with some onion and garlic powder.   I found an Indian spice store (Thanks Minky May!) near my house.  They didn't have Pav Bhaji Masala, but they had all the ingredients for it, so I just bagged what I needed and made the powder myself. Lastly for the "ghee", I just used unsalted butter.

It looked like the idea was to boil the veg until tender and soft and cooked through.  So, I got that all ready in a dutch oven with water just to cover.  I measured about a teaspoon of kosher salt and put it in the water.  Here's what vegetables I used for mine:

• 1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into thirds
• 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 small Japanese eggplant, cut into 1 inch rounds
• 2 small carrots, sliced into 1 inch rounds
• Handful of fresh green beans, ends removed and chopped into pea size pieces
• 1 medium red bell pepper, sliced in 1 inch pieces

I covered and brought to a boil, and simmered until done.  I drained and reserved 1 cup of the cooking water to make sure it mashed it easily.  I added a little butter (2 tablespoons) while mashing too.

I ended up using my immersion hand blender and pureed it until smooth.  The masher wasn't getting the peppers and eggplant skin done.  It tasted quite good when finished.  I set aside and went about making the gravy.

I heated some butter and avocado oil in a non-stick skillet.  I fried onion & garlic powder, diced onion, minced garlic and finely diced ginger (recipe didn't ask for ginger, I added that on my own) until soft.  

Next I added the peeled, grated beet.  I actually chose this recipe as they used beet to give the red coloring in it.  I added grated carrot and finely diced red pepper.  

I cooked until well incorporated and broken down.

The chopped tomatoes went in (I got these from the farmer's market yesterday) and the Pav Bhaji spice.  I added extra red chili powder as I wanted a good "kick" to this.  I added kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and chopped cilantro. 

When it was very soft, about 15 minutes (tomatoes were cooked, and the house smelled sooo good!), I stirred this mixture into the mashed veggies.  I had so much veggie mixture that the color was not red enough.  I should have doubled the "gravy".  I ended up using some Mexican achiote (annatto) to give it more color it that it needed, but it wasn't enough - too many veggies, so something to remember next time.  I heated this on low until ready to serve.

I toasted buttered brioche buns under the broiler.  I piled some Pav Bhaji over and garnished with a squirt of lemon juice, red onion and cilantro.  

For myself, I just had a bowl, same garnishes and I snuck a piece of jalapeno cheddar toast with it.  That bread made me have zero willpower against eating it.

Let's be honest, I'm sure it is nothing like you would get off a street food cart in Mumbai, though I'd like to experience that!  It wasn't even like what we had on the cruise ship, though the flavor was close and I hit the "spiciness" right on, but the pureed texture was not.  I couldn't get the red color the "gravy" had either.  Nevertheless, it was very good.  No complaints - we ate it up.  We enjoyed it a lot and there is a whack of it left to re-invent it into other dishes for the coming week...I can use it in fish tacos, methinks!