Indian Favourite Pav Bhaji

Ingredients:

• 10 medium boiled and peeled potatoes
• 6 large tomatoes
• 150 g cauliflower florets
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1 chopped capsicum
• 3 medium sized peeled carrots
• 3 big chopped onions
• 4 -5 garlic cloves
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger or1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 2 lemons
• some chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 2 -3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 -2 tablespoon oil any except olive or others that have strong flavour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 20 soft buns as needed
• 25 g butter i use amul plus as much as you want to put on the pav salted is preferred
• 2 tablespoons pav bhaji masala or
• 50 g dry red chili
• 50 g coriander seeds
• 25 g cumin seeds
• 25 g black pepper
• 25 g cinnamon
• 25 g cloves
• 4 -5 black cardamom pods
• 25 g mango powder
• 10 g fennel seeds
• 1 star anise if available
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder also called 'hing'

Steps:

• For the masala
• Roast for about 1 minute all the spices separately One after the other in same pan is okIts just to dry them out fully and bring out their flavours Cool these completely
• Grind them together This may make more quantity of masala than needed for this recipe Use 2-3 tbsp for this recipe
• Store in air tight dry containers
• For the gravy Bhaji
• Just blanch together peas cauliflowercarrots
• Mash the potatoes Finely chop and de-seed tomatoes Finely chop capsicum
• Make a paste of ginger and garlic
• In a large thick bottomed deep pan heat oil Add cumin seeds Let them pop a little
• Add the ginger garlic paste sautee for a minute Add chopped onions
• Add turmeric asefoteda and chilli powder Also add half of the pav bhaji masala 1 -1 1/5 tbsp
• Sautee till the onion turns translucent Stir continuously to avoid sticking and burning it
• Drop in the blanched vegetables tomatoes and potatoes and capsicum
• With a hand masher or the back of a big ladle mash up all the vegetables inside the pan Add 1 cup water from the blanching Mash well
• Add some more water if needed to create a thick gravy consistency Mash to bring it all together
• Add salt and remaining masala Also add a dash of black pepper powder if you want more heat
• Check for seasoning
• Let it cook for 10 minutes approximately Stir occasionally
• Put chopped coriander leaves and some butter Cover to keep its flavours
• Heat a flat pan Slit the buns horizontally But not completely keeping the two sides hinged to each other Generously butter the buns on all sides if you wish
• Place them on the hot pan till slightly golden changing to toast all the surfaces in turn It is a must to do this just before serving the dish as these do not taste as good if re-heated
• To serve
• Put some bhaji garnish it with some more coriander if you like butter and squeeze some lemon juice on top place 2 pavs with it and some chopped onion to go with