Pav bhaji
Mumbai’s street dish: a spiced vegetable mash cooked on a griddle with lots of butter, served with toasted soft rolls. It was created to feed textile workers in the small hours.
Ingredients
- 3 boiled potatoes
- 1 small cauliflower, boiled
- 100 g peas
- 1 green pepper
- 2 onions and 3 tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of grated garlic and ginger
- 2 tablespoons of pav bhaji masala (or garam masala with paprika)
- 100 g butter
- 8 soft bread rolls
- Chopped red onion, coriander and lime
How to make it at home
- Melt half the butter in a large frying pan and fry the onion, garlic, ginger and pepper.
- Add the tomato and spices and cook until it breaks down.
- Add the potatoes, cauliflower and peas and mash everything in the pan with a masher, adding water until you have a thick purée.
- Split the rolls and toast them on the griddle with butter.
- Serve the bhaji with a knob of butter, red onion, coriander and lime, with the rolls on the side.
The trick: Don’t be shy with the butter: in Mumbai it’s half the dish.