Chaat, the word itself will take you to a different world where your diet resolutions stand no chance. Chaat is everyone’s favourite, we can’t resist having it at any time of the day. Though restaurants do serve chaat, street vendors chaat touch our souls. Since I was brought up in a place called Sowcarpet in Chennai where there was a strong Marwari community from Rajasthan, street food was a part and parcel of my childhood. Even now, those flavours linger in my palette, and I’ve tried to reproduce them in this recipe. Hope I did them justice.
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In India from North to South, East to West, Chaat has become an integral and inevitable part of the cuisine.
Though Chaat needs no introduction to Indians, I would like to enlighten my non-Indian readers. Chaat, is a street style fast food, it can be a bite or a whole meal, initially originated as a layman’s food, a quick and handy grab before they kick start the day or end it. Now, Chaat has flourished across cities and even countries.
What’s Pav Bhaji? – pav refers to the soft buns and bhaji refers to the mashed veg curry. Creamy, smooth spiced up mashed veggies drizzled with chopped onions, coriander leaves, lemon wedges, and dollops of butter, served piping hot as an accompaniment to warm buttery, tawa tossed soft buns. I know how you feel drooling after reading its description, the same way I’m.
Simplicity and ease in this recipe makes your life easy, especially when you have a fussy eater who says no to veggies in any form. You’ll be amazed at the rate they gobble this Bhaji. Trust me…🥰.
This is prepared like any other Indian gravy with an onion-tomato base geared with ginger-garlic paste, what makes it more unique and exceptional is the inclusion of Pav Bhaji masala.
This masala can be homemade or store-bought. Here, I went with store-bought as many prefer it. People opt for ready-made rather than toiling in the kitchen for an extra hour. Pav bhaji masala is a blend of spices like bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, black and green cardamom, fennel seeds, star anise, stone flower, nutmeg, mace, peppercorns along with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dry chillies, dry mango powder, black salt, and turmeric powder. You’ll doze off halfway through reading the list, I swear…😅😅.
In short, it’s an amalgamation of garam masala powder with chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, black salt, and dry mango powder. If you want neither store-bought nor painstaking homemade, then try this short cut of amalgamation of spice powders, I mentioned above, but be mindful of the ratio you mix the powders.
It is highly flexible as it can be eaten at any time of the day, and for any meal. I made it vegan, lactose-free by substituting normal butter with vegan plant extract butter.
To show the versatility of this bhaji, let me help explore a few fusion treats, thus unwinding your creativity which leads to a land of gastronomic bliss. Are you thrilled to travel with me to the Fusion land? 😉😍😍.
1) Pav Bhaji Fondue– a Swiss fusion of fondue with bhaji, where Swiss cheese is replaced with Maharashtrian Bhaji, dipped in with toasted pav chunks.
2) Bhaji Club Sandwich– a Brit fusion of bhaji with bread. Bhaji is sandwiched between bread slices along with sliced fresh veggies and flavour enhancer like any chaat chutneys Garlic chutney, Green chutney, Sweet dates tamarind chutney.
3) Bhaji Cheese Dosa– a South Indian fusion of Dosa with bhaji. Dosa smeared with bhaji, then drizzled with onion, coriander leaves, and finally with cheese and dollops of butter.
You can also try my other chaats like Sev puri aka Sev Batata puri, Dahi Papdi, and Dahi Sev puri
Don’t forget to visit my kitchen secret page. My Kitchen Secrets saves you when you are puzzled with leftovers. Most of the recipes in this blog have variations, twists, and a surprise package in the kitchen secret which will definitely make you awestruck…😲. You’ll visualize in Kitchen Secrets how the leftover of that recipe transforms into an unimaginable dish. Unleash your creativity and explore beyond the limits.
Now let’s get into the recipe…😍
For Pav Bhaji:
Prepare the chilli garlic paste by soaking the deseeded Kashmiri red chilli whole in hot water for at least an hour.
Drain the chillies after the soaking time and grind it along with 10 garlic cloves with little water.
Grind into a smooth paste.
Take a pressure pan add the chopped veggies mentioned above,
Then add 2 cups of water with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt.
Pressure cook the veggies for 6-8 whistles.
Once the pressure settles and cools down, mash the veggies (refer notes). Keep it aside.
Take a deep bottomed pan or a kadai, add vegan or normal butter, once it melts, add a tsp of cumin seeds.
Once it crackles, add chopped onion, slit green chilli, saute for 2 minutes with salt. Then add ginger garlic paste, close, and cook for a minute.
Now add ground chilli garlic paste, stir it and then close, cook for a while with a tbsp of water in medium flame.
Then add chopped tomatoes, sauté. Close and cook for 5 minutes in medium flame.
Now the tomatoes must have turned mushy. Add the chopped capsicum, sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add Kashmiri red chilli powder and pav bhaji masala, combine well and then cook with lid for 4-5 minutes maintaining the same flame.
Finally, add mashed veggies, stir well, adjust the consistency if it’s too thick by adding water. (Refer notes)
Add a tsp of sugar.
Then add crushed Kasuri methi, close, and cook for 5 minutes on low flame.
Switch off the flame, add a dash of lemon juice.
Garnish with coriander leaves and butter.
According to method 1, heat a tawa, add a dollop of butter, add pav bhaji masala and stir it in low flame to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Then place a slit pav, toss it on both sides to coat the spiced butter evenly.
Following method 2, add butter to heated tawa, then add bhaji, stir for a while.
Then place a slit pav, toss it on both sides to coat the buttery bhaji evenly.
Prepare pav following methods 1 or 2 according to your choice, then serve it with piping hot bhaji, accompanied with chopped onions, coriander leaves, and lemon wedges, topped with butter generously (optional).
For Pav Bhaji Fondue:
Take a small bowl, mix butter, pav bhaji masala, Kashmiri red chilli powder, and dry herbs thoroughly.
Smear this mix onto the pav, all sides.
Then cut each pav into 8 equal parts.
Toss these cut parts in a hot tawa or air fry it (as I did).
Take the required quantity of bhaji in a mixer jar, then pulse it 10 times, to get a creamy, puree sort of consistency.
Transfer this to a heated pan, add shredded Mozzarella cheese or vegan cheese.
Stir it till the cheese melts to a stringy consistency.
Pour this creamy cheesy bhaji fondue into a fondue pot with a burner down to keep it hot.
Indulge into the melt-in-mouth bhaji by dipping in the air fried or toasted pav chunks with the fork given.
For Bhaji Club Sandwich:
Smear butter to 3 slices of bread on both sides. Toast the bread slices on a hot tawa. Toast 2 bread slices only on one side. Then remove it from tawa.
Toast only the third slice on both sides. Sprinkle pav bhaji masala on both sides while toasting.
Now apply Sweet dates tamarind chutney on the well-toasted side of 2 bread slices.
Arrange sliced onion, tomato, and cucumber to one of the chutney smeared bread slices. Drizzle some pav bhaji masala to it.
Keep the both sides toasted bread slice on top of it, generously apply the bhaji.
Then layer with remaining sliced onion, tomato, coriander leaves.
Finally, top up with shredded mozzarella cheese or vegan cheese. Close with the last slice of bread.
Now toast this club sandwich on a heated tawa with more butter.
Crunchy, spicy, Indianised Club Sandwich is ready to serve. It’ll be your kids’ lunch box-friendly food.
For Bhaji Cheese Dosa:
Make a Dosa with the Ragi dosa batter/plain batter on a non-stick pan. Keep in low flame.
Close and cook it for a minute or 2, till the dosa looks cooked on the open side.
Apply bhaji on to the dosa.
Sprinkle chopped onion, coriander leaves, coloured capsicums, butter.
And finally with the required quantity of cheese if you desire it in your dosa.
Close and cook till the cheese melts. Flip the dosa and transfer it to a plate.
Crispy, flavored dosa is ready to serve with more bhaji or onion chutney, coconut coriander chutney.
Recipe card
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Cuisine: Indian, Maharashtra
Category: Chaat, Tiffin, Curries
Serves: 6
Author: Manimala
Ingredients:
For Chilli garlic paste:
Kashmiri red chilli whole – 6 deseeded
Garlic cloves – 10
For Bhaji:
Potatoes – 2 cups
Cauliflower – 1 cup
Carrot – ½ cup
Red Capsicum – ½ cup
Peas – ½ cup
Beetroot – ¼ cup
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Salt – to taste
Vegan butter/butter – 3 tbsp +1 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Chopped onion – 1 cup
Green chilli slit – 2
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Chopped tomatoes – 2 cup
Chilli garlic paste – 5 tbsp
Chopped green capsicum – ½ cup
Kashmiri red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Pav bhaji masala – 3-4 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Sugar – 1 tsp
Kasuri methi – 2 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves – handful chopped
For Garnish:
Chopped onion – as required
Chopped coriander leaves – as required
Lemon wedges – as required
For pav:
Method 1-
Butter – 2 tsp
Pav bhaji masala – 1 tsp
Pav – 1
Method 2
Butter – 2 tsp
Bhaji – 1 tbsp
Pav – 1
For Pav Bhaji Fondue:
Pav – 2
Vegan butter – 1 tbsp
Pav bhaji masala – 1 tbsp
Kasmiri red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Dry mix herbs/ Kasuri methi – 1 tsp
Bhaji – 1 cup
Shredded Mozarella Cheese/ Vegan cheese – 1-2 tbsp
For Bhaji Club Sandwich:
Butter – 1 tbsp
Bread slices – 3
Sweet dates tamarind chutney – 1 tbsp
Bhaji – ¼-½ cup
Sliced onion – 1 tsp
Sliced cucumber – 1 tsp
Sliced tomato – 1 tsp
Pav bhaji masala – 1 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves – handful
Shredded Mozarella Cheese/ Vegan cheese – 1-2 tbsp
For Bhaji Cheese Dosa:
Ragi Dosa/Plain dosa batter – as per requirement
Vegan butter/Butter – 1 tbsp
Bhaji – ¼ cup
Chopped onion – 1 tbsp
Chopped coloured capsicum – 1 tbsp
Chopped coriander leaves – 1 tbsp
Shredded Mozarella Cheese/ Vegan cheese – 2 tbsp (optional)
Instructions:
For Pav Bhaji:
- Prepare the chilli garlic paste by soaking the deseeded Kashmiri red chilli whole in hot water for at least an hour.
- Drain the chillies after the soaking time and grind it along with 10 garlic cloves with little water to a smooth paste.
- Take a pressure pan add the chopped veggies mentioned above, then add 2 cups of water with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt.
- Pressure cook the veggies for 6-8 whistles.
- Once the pressure settles and cools down, mash the veggies (refer notes). Keep it aside.
- Take a deep bottomed pan or a kadai, add vegan or normal butter, once it melts, add a tsp of cumin seeds.
- Once it crackles, add chopped onion, slit green chilli, saute for 2 minutes with salt.
- Then add ginger garlic paste, close, and cook for a minute.
- Now add ground chilli garlic paste, stir it and then close, cook for a while with a tbsp of water in medium flame.
- Then add chopped tomatoes, sauté. Close and cook for 5 minutes in medium flame.
- Now the tomatoes must have turned mushy. Add the chopped capsicum, sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add Kashmiri red chilli powder and pav bhaji masala, combine well and then cook with lid for 4-5 minutes maintaining the same flame.
- Finally, add mashed veggies, stir well, adjust the consistency if it’s too thick by adding water. (Refer notes)
- Add a tsp of sugar, then add crushed Kasuri methi, close, and cook for 5 minutes on low flame.
- Switch off the flame, add a dash of lemon juice, coriander leaves, and butter.
- According to method 1, heat a tawa, add a dollop of butter, add pav bhaji masala and stir it in low flame to make sure it doesn’t burn.
- Then place a slit pav, toss it on both sides to coat the spiced butter evenly.
- Following method 2, add butter to heated tawa, then add bhaji, stir for a while.
- Then place a slit pav, toss it on both sides to coat the buttery bhaji evenly.
- Prepare pav following methods 1 or 2 according to your choice, then serve it with piping hot bhaji, accompanied with chopped onions, coriander leaves, and lemon wedges, topped with butter generously (optional).
For Pav Bhaji Fondue:
- Take a small bowl, mix butter, pav bhaji masala, Kashmiri red chilli powder, and mix herbs thoroughly.
- Smear this mix onto the pav, all sides. Then cut each pav into 8 equal parts.
- Toss these cut parts in a hot tawa or air fry it (as I did).
- Take the required quantity of bhaji in a mixer jar, then pulse it 10 times, to get a creamy, puree sort of consistency.
- Transfer this to a heated pan, add shredded Mozzarella cheese or vegan cheese.
- Stir it till the cheese melts to a stringy consistency.
- Pour this creamy cheesy bhaji fondue into a fondue pot with a burner down to keep it hot.
- Indulge into the melt-in-mouth bhaji by dipping in the air fried or toasted pav chunks with the fork given.
For Bhaji Club Sandwich:
- Smear butter to 3 slices of bread on both sides.
- Toast the bread slice on a hot tawa. Toast 2 bread slices only on one side. Then remove it from tawa.
- Toast only the third slice on both sides. Sprinkle pav bhaji masala on both sides while toasting.
- Now apply Sweet dates tamarind chutney on the well-toasted side of 2 bread slices.
- Arrange sliced onion, tomato, and cucumber to one of the chutney smeared bread slices. Drizzle some pav bhaji masala to it.
- Keep the both sides toasted bread slice on top of it, generously apply the bhaji, then layer with remaining sliced onion, tomato, coriander leaves.
- Finally, top up with shredded mozzarella cheese or vegan cheese. Close with the last slice of bread.
- Now toast this club sandwich on a heated tawa with more butter.
- Crunchy, spicy, Indianised Club Sandwich is ready to serve. It’ll be your kids’ lunch box-friendly food.
For Bhaji Cheese Dosa:
- Make a Dosa with the Ragi dosa batter/plain batter on a non-stick pan. Keep in low flame.
- Close and cook it for a minute or 2, till the dosa looks cooked on the open side.
- Apply bhaji on to the dosa. Sprinkle chopped onion, coriander leaves, coloured capsicums, butter, and finally with the required quantity of cheese if you desire it in your dosa.
- Close and cook till the cheese melts. Flip the dosa and transfer it to a plate.
- Crispy, flavored, healthy Ragi dosa or plain dosa with cheese bhaji is ready to serve with onion chutney, coconut coriander chutney.
Notes:
- Here, as I mentioned above, I used store-bought pav bhaji masala. If you are particular to prepare it at home, use my shortcut method of mixing all the powders to prepare it instantly.
- Like mixing garam masala powder with chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, black salt, and dry mango powder. Manipulate the quantity as per your requirement. Keep in mind as we are adding Kashmiri red chilli powder also, adjust the quantity of it if you are replacing store-bought pav bhaji masala with this instant method.
- This red chilli garlic paste imparts a deep red colour to the bhaji, resembling the street style bhaji.
- I also added Beetroot (cut into small pieces compared to other veggies, as it takes more cooking time) and red capsicum to add more colour to the bhaji.
- Don’t skip adding Beetroot, red capsicum, and chilli garlic paste which contributes deep colour to the bhaji. In a way, you skip adding artificial colours which are hazardous to health.
- Choice of veggies, I leave it to you. Apart from the veggies I mentioned, you can add mushroom or paneer or cheese to make a variation in it.
- Mashing the veggies can be according to your requirement. You can mash it well for a smooth bhaji or if you want your veggies to be seen here and there, mash it partially.
- This dish has to be generous with butter right from bhaji to pav. If you are vegan or lactose intolerant, feel free to use vegan butter and cheese.
- Adjust the water after adding the mashed veggies and final additions as it tends to thicken as it cools down. It’s supposed to be served piping hot with warm pav, so maintain the consistency accordingly.
- Here, I toasted pav in 2 methods, one with pav bhaji masala, other with bhaji. You can serve plain pav, by just toasting with only butter.
- For pav bhaji fondue, simply puree the bhaji and heat with cheese till it melts. This results in a creamy, cheesy, bhaji, which looks luscious when you dip in the masala pav.
- If you don’t have a proper fondue set, serve the hot bhaji fondue in a deep ceramic pot and consume it immediately. Use a normal fork or fruit fork to dip in the pav chunks.
- For fondue pav, I toasted with a special spice mix. You can simply toast with butter and red chilli powder also. I used dry mix herbs; you can alternatively use Kasuri methi.
- Similarly, for Club sandwich, there are no hard and fast rules. You can sandwich the bhaji with any veggies, condiments, and chutneys. You can make it in an air fryer, sandwich maker, or griddle pan.
- For bhaji cheese dosa, again layering can be with any spices, herbs, and with or without cheese, all taste heaven with this bhaji.
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