Pav Bhaji

I’m new to Indian cuisine, but I’ve made this about 6 times. The last time, i finally did everything according to the directions and it’s personality came out. When you get the interplay between savory, hot, sour, and sweet correct it really sings. Don’t skip the cilantro. Don’t skip the lemon juice. Do serve the dinner rolls. It’s a powerful dish and the rolls moderate it. Serve with a pat of butter on top.

I stuck very close to this recipe and it was wonderful. Mine came out dry and unsaucy (unlike the photo) so I added a quarter stick of butter and some heavy cream and mashed the veggies.

Completely delicious! A few key tips: use Small potatoes or it’ll be way too much and taste more like aloo gobi. I used 4 very small white potatoes. It’s important to cook the spices in the oil/onion/tomato paste before adding the vegetables. A food processor will give you the best texture of boiled vegetables but I just mushed mine with a wooden spoon long enough that it still turned out great. Also, skipping the butter and lemon on top or serving it with pita bread or rice is ridiculous and not what it was designed for, so don’t be surprised if it’s not good that way.

I had to improvise on this recipe based on items on hand, but also did much of what reviewer omen63 suggested because it sounded like more like the Pav Bhaji I’ve had before. What I ended up was simply scrumptious! Here were the mods I did by choice. I used one 10.5 oz can of tomato puree instead of whole tomatoes, and a can of green beans instead of cabbage, Based on spices on hand, I used garam masala instead of pav bhaji masala. I boiled and mashed the potatoes, cauliflower, and carrots, and mashed the green beans in with them. I sprinkled in some red chili pepper flakes for added heat while sauteing the onions, garlic and chilis. I had no fresh ginger, and forgot about the ginger paste I had on hand, so did without. Didn’t miss it. I didn’t have fresh cilantro, but sprinkled in about a Tbsp of dried cilantro. The peas were the only vegetables I left intact. The end result was very similar to what I had before and was excellent! I know this takes away the spirit of the “pav,” but I like this served over wild rice.

Not like the ones you get on streets of India, so I asked my Indian friend and she had some suggestions: Substitute cabbage with green beans. Boil carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, peas and green beans beforehand. Saute onions and garlic in butter/vegan butter. Add tomatoes/puree and spice and stir for another minute or 2. Add spice (PB masala) ginger/chillies and freshly chopped cilantro (1 cup) and stir for another minute. Add all pre-cooked, lightly mashed veggies, salt, and lemon juice. Cook on lowest heat for about 10 minutes, check seasoning and add lemon juice, spice, and salt according to taste. Cook on lowest heat for 20 more minutes to allow the flavors to sink in. Viola! Tasted pretty close to what I had on the streets of India!

Perhaps this is a style of Indian food my husband and I are not used to. We make a lot of Indian dishes and were surprised to find this one extremely bland, with the overabundance of potatoes giving it a flat, starchy flavor that buried the spice. Also, the texture never turned into anything like the photo shows. We added more tomatoes, extra chiles, and finally tried chicken broth. But it was a disappointment, and we ended up grabbing a pizza instead. Too bad; we were excited to try it…

This is a great recipe!! But I would add green peppers, saute them with the onions, same quantity as the onions, 1 cup. It adds more flavor to the dish.

I made the recipe as posted and it needs some serious tweaking for next time. First it is very bland for the amount of vegetables in the ingredients. More chilis more masala. I would also exclude the cabbage or fry it earlier because it takes longer to cook. There needs to be a mix of oil and ghee(Indian butter)/butter and a cup of water. The kahzana spice packets from the Indian store work best from my experience.

I skipped the cauliflower, carrots, and cabbage and added green pepper. I also substituted chili powder for the chopped chilis. I used any tomatoes I had around instead of the plum tomatoes. Hamburger buns worked well as the pav. This came out very well. I love the pav bhaji masala!

This recipe was pretty good, but it needed a little more flavor. I halved the recipe (there were only two of us) but used all the ginger and all the masala. I never ended up with the gravy that looked so appetizing in the photo so I added some tomato sauce and more spices, then some broth. all in all, I ended up with a bland stir-fry. I will probably try this again, but will seriously doctor the recipe.

being an indian,i know that using fresh bread will make it much.it is a good chaat item if you add cheddar cheese

This was awesome. It’s a little much for four servings; it was actually more like five or six.

i didnt like it, my family thought it was ok. the mash potatos just ruin it.

yum yum yum I made this one day ahead of my indian feast to let the flavours marry but you really don’t need to!! I did not serve this with buns but made puri instead. A hit!!

I’ve eaten a lot of really great Indian food over the years, but this was a welcomed surprise. I didn’t have the energy to seek out the spice mix it called for, so I simply mixed together more or less equal parts caraway seeds, coriander seed and star anise, ground them up and toasted them on the stovetop in a cast iron skillet. I also through in about 1/2 tsp of curry powder and another 1/2 of turmeric. Oh, and I added about a tablespoon of tomato paste. Instead of dinner rolls, I served it with paratha, which I can get frozen at the local intl market.

Yummy recipe. I used garam masala instead of Pav Bhaji masala. Taste just as good.

I give this recipe 5 stars because while I didn’t like it, I think it’s because I am not use to eating Indian food. It was much too spicy for me. I made this along with the Roomali Roti bread that’s on this site. I had my oldest daughter take the leftovers (there was alot) to the Indian store where I had purchased the spices. They ate it for lunch and said I had made it better than some Indian women could and that it was delicious. So the recipe must be worth 5 stars and tasty to those with the right tastebuds.

iits a very delicious recipe.even though a bit hard to make the end result satisfied me.

I used a couple of tablespoons of butter instead of the oil, and just a couple of teaspoons of the masala. I’m glad I didn’t use any more because it was pretty hot. My husband seemed to like it a lot, though. It’s a great way to disguise leftover vegetables!

My family loved this recipe. Our suggestion is that next time we will try warmed wheat pita bread instead of dinner rolls. This dish is great topped with additional fresh chopped roma tomatoes. The prep time was stated as 20 minutes, however, the chopping of veggies took longer than that. Perhaps the recipe author used a food processor? We found the amount of food to serve more than 4, perhaps 6.