Monday 15 January 2007

Mumbai Pau-Bhaji- Best Recipe EVER!

I have made many pau-bhajis in my time...for me, it is the ultimate way to start off the weekend, a perfect meal for a football game night, an impromptu dinner when I am running late or as a take along for beach parties and picnics. I have also experimented with different masalas and ways to get that *perfect* bhaji flavor...but to no avail. Until....I browsed through Nupur's blog -'One Hot Stove'. There was a section on street foods that particularly caught my interest. She talks about the famous Mumbai Pau bhaji and how she learned to make it the right way! I knew I had to try it...and so I did. It was PERFECT in every way! The great thing about this is that there are no onions in it..yep, that's right, no onions are used to saute the pau-bhaji- they are used only as a garnish. All the flavors come from the tomatoes and garlic......The recipe is amazingly easy...and the taste, well to quote my husband K , " this is the best Pau-bhaji that you have made in all the years that we have been married"......Need I say more, Ladies and Gentlemen?

So, on with the recipe, just to let you know, I did make some changes to suit my family's tastes.You can add or omit ingredients of your choice. Click on Nupur's blog link above to get the original recipe.....

1 large cauliflower, 1.5 cup peas, 1 large potato, 1 green bell pepper-chopped, 1 medium jalapeño-chopped, 1/2 cup chopped eggplant, 5 or more juicy Roma tomatoes, Olive Oil, Ginger-Garlic paste, salt, Pau-bhaji Masala- I use a mixture of Baadshah and MTR brands.

Cook the cauliflower, peas,potatoes and eggplant in the pressure cooker until soft. Set aside.
In a large pan, heat some oil and add the chopped bell pepper. Saute for some time, around 5-6 minutes. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and jalapeño, cook further until the raw smell is gone. Now add the chopped tomatoes to this mixture. Cook until the tomatoes and bell peppers have almost formed into a paste. Add the pau-bhaji masala now and saute some more....Now add the cooked veggies. Add the salt, have a taste, and adjust the masalas to your liking. Cook for 5-10 minutes more and serve hot with paus and sliced onions/cilantro on top......enjoy it like I do - with a fizzy soda on the side.

31 comments:

Saju said...

yum Trupti!! I can wait to try this!

Anonymous said...

Truptiben...great dish... as you know...i posted one recently too...everyone in the family loves Pav Bhaji. Will try your recipe next time...and like you said...its so easy to make...thanks for sharing...take care ben...

USHA said...

Hi Trupti,

Thats really looking awesome....thanks for sharing ...

Seema Bhat said...

Trupti, your write up saying this is the best pav bhaji you have ever made is really tempting me to try this out soon . Thanx buddy.

Anonymous said...

Pav Bhaji without onion!!!!!!! WAH!!!! And your words say it all...... next time I am gonna try it this way!!!!!

www.mykhazanaofrecipes.wordpress.com

Sia said...

pic is really tempting me to the core... and this weekend i am surely gonna give it a try... cool... pav bhaji w/o onion!!!! i am gonna give it a try based on K's comment;) so he is responsible for the consequence... he he he...
and girl... i am feeling much better now... only prob is i have passed the flu virus to K:) so taking care of him:)
hugs
sups

FH said...

YUMMY!! I love Pav Bhaji! Thank you for your version.Looks great.

Anonymous said...

If your husband said that, it must be darn good! I am going to bookmark this. Mumbai Pau Bhaji on the menu next..

Sri said...

Trupti will be trying this version too..picture is tempting too. Thanks for the recipe. :)

Nidhi said...

Hey Trupti,
Pav-Bhaji looks very yummy and colorful...very nice pictures too!
It reminds me of being in India and eating Pav-Bhaji on a road side stall...yum.. :)
Enjoy, Nidhi.

Bong Mom said...

Great recipe Trupti and looks just like the ones in the eat outs, I love Pau-Bhaji and eat it when ever I get a chance to go the famous Indian street in NJ, though have not tried yet.
I had also asked Seema of RecipeJunction for the recipe once and she had obliged
Now I have two recipes to try out :)

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

And please do not forget to top up with grated cheese with lots and lots of butter to add richness. Cooking in olive oil is news to me. You must also treat pau with little bhaji and butter. On the frying pan just add small amount of cooked bhaji and butter, open up and spread pau and keep it for sometime and then just enjoy with Paticha Kanda (onion) and few drops of lime juice.

http://harekrishnaji.blogspot.com/2006/09/pau-bhaji.html

swapna susarla said...

hi trupti

i also follow the same version.i am a fan of this..

Manjula said...

I am from the South and have no idea of what a perfect paav bhaji is.
Thanks buddy for introducing me to a new kind of paav bhaji

Manasi said...

Oooohhh! My mouth is watering! I just love Pav - bhaji... infact it was the first dish I started my blog with! I wish I could have soem right away!

Anonymous said...

Never tried bhaji without onions. Eggplant does add that extra bit of flavor and texture doesnt it? I add a bit of cabbage in my recipe too. Thanks for the post. I know what to make this onionless weekend:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Trupti,
I am a non gujrati married to a gujrati.So your site is a great help.Tried your broccoli methi curry and it was amazing.Was attracted to it bcos of the quantity of methi seeds which i believe are very good for the system.You must also try Nupur's pani puri, my 5year old wants to have it all the time.would love to see more traditional authentic recipes from you.It's a great help to people like me.

Anonymous said...

Looks mouth-watering! Can't believe it's without onion! Will definitely try!

Menu Today said...

Pav Bhaji without onion looks great trupti. Nice picture. thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Since you have said its the best pav bhaji you ever made, I would definitely give it a try your way...
Thanxs for sharing
Sushma

Kajal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kajal said...

It looks yummy! I will try your recipe soon ! :)

TNL said...

Saju: Do try it and post if you can!

DilipBhai: Yes, I saw your pau-bhaji too! It looked great....do try this one without onions..

Usha: Thanks!

Seema: No problem....try it out and see..I think you and your hubby will like it.

Coffee: Yep!!bahu mast lage che..tu try karijo.

Supriya: ooh...caught the bug eh? hope you and your K feel better soon! Hugs.

Ashaji: Thanks...hope you will give it a go!

Gini: yeah, he said it the next morning too...so it was a *hit*..do post when you try it!

Sri: yeah this is so good Sri. Let me know if you try it.

Nidhi: eating at a road stall was so much fun wasn't it?

Sandeepa: yeah..whenever I visit NJ, I'll go to Edison to eat at one of the fast food places...it's so much fun to shop over there!

Harekrishanji: oh yeah...the butter..it adds a wonderful taste of its own! I cook in Olive oil for health reasons...it does make a nice subtle difference in the flavor too!

Swapna: I like pau-bhaji a lot too!! do post your version sometime.

Manjula: oh wow...then you MUST try this..let me know!

Manasi: come over to my place, and we'll have some...while chatting about Enid Blyton and Jeeves!!

Hema: I like to add eggplant too..some people don't like it..but I agree with what you said...I don't think I have added cabbage yet, but next time, will try that for a change.

Anonymous: thanks so much for your comment! I love to read such feedback, and will definitely post more traditional recipes!

Vani: oh yeah...you don't even miss the onion in this one.

Menu today: thanks!!! hope you will try this.

Sushma: let me know if you like it!

Kajal: thanks for dropping by, Hope you will like this!

Viji said...

Very nice Trupti. Will try soon. Viji

Anonymous said...

yum..I made pav bhaji twice last week.It is simply irresistable with Amul Butter.Anytime, anwyhere.i love this dish

Sweta Gandhi-Shah said...

Hi trupti, if instead of the Jalapeno, you use dried red chilli, boil it in water for some time and then make a paste of it, then add that instead of the green Jalapeno, you'll get the lovely red color of the true "raste" ka pav bhaji.

Preety said...

Found some wonderful collection of recipes on your site and pav bhaji looks yummy i am gonna try it for sure on this weekend...Do you have any good recipe for khaman dhokla??...Thanks for stopping by at my place..Do let me know how your Banana carrot loaf turned out..

http://preetyskitchen.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Hi, trupti
I tried it. it was delicious! thanks
Daxafoi.

s said...

without onions..now that sure is intriguing..wanna try it out

Charishma said...

looks mouth watering,nice click,gonna try out
charishma
http://cheriesstolenrecipes.blogspot.com/

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