Paav Bhaaji (Bread and Mashed Vegetables with Indian spices)

Come Weekend and your tummy starts craving for something other than the regular foods you eat at home. I remember bugging my Mom asking her to make all kinds of Chaats or special items on weekends and sweet as she was, she would always make something special for us. One of my most favorite things of all that was Paav Bhaaji. OMG! This is something I would love so much that I would eat it for all my meals for that day. I just couldn't get enough.. because my home town (Solapur,Maharashtra,India) has one of the best Paav Bhaajis and whenever I passed the famous chaat corners, I would stop to gorge on more of it! Even today, this is a favorite in my family and is made very frequently and we never get bored of it. Over the years I have changed my style of making this and today I am sharing the one that tastes the best, exactly or even better than the one sold at your local chaat corners!! So read on.. :)

Ingredients:

For the bhaaji:

Boiled potatoes mashed- 2 cups

Boiled mixed vegetables, roughly mashed (a mix of Cauliflower,Capsicum,Green peas) - 2 cups 

Large onion, finely chopped - 1

Large Tomatoes, finely chopped - 2

Salted Butter - 2 tb sp

Oil - 2-3 tb sp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 t sp

Turmeric Powder/Haldi - 1 tsp

Asofoetida/Hing - a pinch

Red Chilli powder - 1 t sp

Everest Paav Bhaaji masala - 2 tb sp (+ more for serving)

Lemon juice - 2 tb sp

Chopped onions and coriander for garnish - as per you need

Salt - to taste

Bread:

Butter - 1-2 tb sp 

Kashmiri Red chilli powder (optional) - while heating the bread

Ready made Paav/Dinner Rolls as per your need

Method:

- Heat oil in a big deep and wide pot. Add cumin seeds and allow to splutter.

- Add onions and saute till translucent. Now add turmeric powder, hing and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell of gg goes away.

- Now add the chopped tomatoes and rest of the spices and cook covered, till the tomatoes are well done.

- Next add the mashed veggies and add the butter and cook covered for at least 10 - 12 minutes.

- All the vegetables should be well mixed with all the spices. Mash them with a masher if required. Now turn the heat off and add the lemon juice and mix well.

For serving:

- Cut the bread into half and heat a flat pan. Add butter to it and sprinkle some Kashimiri red chili powder and quickly place the bread on it. Heat the bread on both sides for a minute or so.

- Now this trick will actually make your Paav Bhaaji taste exactly like the street vendors or professionals. Just before serving, heat 1/2 tb sp of butter on the same flat pan and sprinkle little Paav Bhaji masala and also red chili powder (if desired). Mix for a few seconds (take care not to burn it) and add one serving of the Bhaaji and saute for a minute. Serve hot with the Paav and garnish with onions, coriander leaves and a blob of butter.

Tips:

- The serving tip I gave above really makes a lot of difference and takes the dish to a whole new level. A trick I learned watching the Paav bhaaji valas on their thelas.

- This dish is also something that tastes better the next day, so you can make a little extra and enjoy it the next day, even for breakfast!

Healthy Twist:

- Use olive oil instead of  Veg oil while preparing the Bhaaji. Skip butter wherever I mentioned it and just dry heat your breads.

- Try to replace the regular bread with multi grain breads or even with your traditional rotis. Apart from the butter and the white bread, everything else is really healthy about this dish.