Pav Bhaji Recipe

Pav bhaji is a fast food dish from Maharashtra, India, consisting of a thick vegetable curry (bhaji) fried and served with a soft bread roll (pav).

The dish originated in the 1850s as a fast lunchtime dish for textile mill workers in Mumbai. Lucky guys. Pav bhaji has many variations in ingredients and garnishes but is essentially a spiced mixture of mashed vegetables in a thick gravy served hot with a soft white bread roll, usually cooked on a flat griddle (Tava).

Most famous street food. My love for chat items started from my school days, still continuing. I used to prepare pav bhaji with readymade masala powder. But from now onwards, my own homemade pav bhaji masala powder. Easy to make and when you want to eat healthy this is the better option.

Pav Bhaji Masala Powder: 

You can store this powder in an air-tight container. The measurement I have mentioned below can be used for preparing pav bhaji 3-4 times for serving for 2. 

Ingredients 

• Dry red chilli - 8 nos 
• Coriander seeds - 3 tsp 
• Cumin seeds - 2 tsp 
• Fennels seeds - 1 tsp 
• Black peppercorns - 1/4 tsp 
• Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch 
• Green cardamom - 2 nos 
• Cloves - 4 nos 
• Dry mango powder - 2 tsp 
• Black Salt - 1/2 tsp 

For Powder 

1. Dry roast all the spice ingredients mentioned above in low flame except dry mango powder and black salt
2. After the spices roasted well, add dry mango powder and black salt 
   
3. Remove from heat (It's enough to roast 2 minutes after adding dry mango powder and black salt) 
4. Allow it to cool down 
   
5. In a mixer, add the roasted ingredients and grind into fine powder 
6. Store it in air-tight container 
   

Bhaji Recipe :

Ingrediants : 

• Chopped Ginger garlic - 2 tsp 
• Chopped onion - 1 no 
• Chopped tomato - 2 nos 
• Chopped capsicum - 1/4 cup 
• Boiled vegetables - 1/2 cup (Potato, carrot and peas) 
• Pav Bhaji Powder - 3 tsp 
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp 
• Butter - 2 tsp 
• Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tsp 
• Lemon slices 
• Salt for taste 

For Bhaji: 

1. In a flat pan or tawa, add butter and fry chopped ginger and garlic (If you don't like to add chopped ginger and garlic you can add ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp) 
2. Add chopped onion and cook soft 
   
3. Add chopped capsicum and cook for a while 
4. Add chopped tomatoes and close with a lid and cook for 10 minutes 
5. Tomato should mash completely 
   
6. Add boiled vegetables to the tomato mixture 
7. With a potato masher, mash all the vegetables 
8. Add pav bhaji masala powder 
   
9. Add red chilli powder just to get that bright red colour 
10. Add 1/4 cup of water and cook for 3-4 minutes 
    
11. Add salt required for the bhaji (While adding salt, remember there is black salt in the masala powder) 
    
12. Add coriander leaves and butter mix well 
13. Remove from heat 

Pav Bhaji Arrangement: 

• Slit the pav with one side intact and toast in pan with butter 
• In a plate, pour in hot bhaji masala 
• Serve with Chopped onion and coriander leaves topping 
• Butter slice on the top with a lime slice 

Squeeze lime over the bhaji, dip in the pav and enjoy Pav Bhaji !! 

Red Bell Pepper / Capsicum Chutney

One of the biggest problems I face in my adukalaii is to select side dish for idli or dosa. Why always the usual chutney or sambar? I like bell pepper a lot whereas my husbandman is not that much interested in those recipes. Then came an idea to use bell pepper in chutney :) 

Best to serve with hot idlis, dosas or baji. No spice powders in this chutney only spice ingredient is dry red chilly and ginger. I add a small size of ginger in my chutneys this gives amazing flavour and good for digestion too. 

Health benefits of capsicum include relief from cancer, peptic ulcer, menopausal problems, low risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It has anti-inflammatory, analgesic properties and may also provide relief in pain related to arthritis. These peppers contain high amounts of vitamin C and vitamin.

                                     

Vitamin C has many beneficial effects on the immune system. It helps in repairing damaged brain tissues, reduced risk of oxidative stress, paediatric asthma, cancer and improved bone health. Vitamins in the capsicum chilli pepper are shown to have an antioxidant effect on cell tissue which may improve skin and ageing. This bright red colour of the bell pepper brings out the colour of the chutney. You can also you green or yellow bell peppers. I chopped them in cubes since will roast it and grind. 

Ingredients : 

• Bell Pepper - 1 cup 
• Chopped onion - 1 no 
• Chopped tomato - 1 no
• Ginger slices - 3 nos 
• Dry red chilly - 6 not 
• Urad dal - 2 tsp 
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp 
• Curry leaves - 2strings 
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp 
• Salt for taste 
• Coconut oil - 2 tsp 

For Roasting: 

• In a pan, add 1 tsp of oil and half of urad dal and roast till brown 
• Add dry red chilly and curry leaves (1 string) 
  
• Add ginger slices and onion, and fry these till transparent
• Add chopped bell peppers and cook in low flame for about 3 minutes 
  
• Add chopped tomato and salt required 
• Cook till tomato mash well and remove from heat 
  
• Cool down this and grind into fine paste. If needed add a little water.
  

For Tempering: 

• In the same pan, add remaining oil and temper with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves 
  
• Add the ground paste and cook on low flame for 2 minutes 
• Just before you remove from heat add asafoetida 

               

Crab Curry Recipe

I like cooking crabs. My mom cooks crabs with lots of perfection. It took lot of practise for cleaning and cooking crabs. I modified my mom’s recipe. This is spicy gravy goes well with rice, served with rasam. Fresh crabs are best for cooking. I start to clean crabs when the gravy is half way, my mom often says that shouldn't keep cleaned crabs for long time. 

I prefer cooking sea foods in earthen pot/ Manchatti. Earthen pots have unbelievable benefits. Heat and moisture circulate through the pot during cooking, unlike with metal or enamel-lined pots. Moreover that earthy taste and aroma is unmatchable. Cooking in clay pots is said to give you all the calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, sulphur and several other compounds that our body. Clay pots are also alkaline in nature so they mix well with acidic food to perfectly balance out the PH level of what you cook making it healthier. 

Its up to you to use earthen pots. You can cook this recipe in any heavy bottomed pot. This is spicy gravy with freshly grounded paste and spice powders. If you feel, cant take so much spiciness. You can reduce the spice powders according to your taste. Crabs need to be cooked in spicy gravy. Crab is basically seafood with mild sweetness. 

Cooking Time : 30-45 minutes 

Serves :  3 

Ingredients : 

Crab - 2 nos (Big crab) 

Dry Red Chilli - 4 nos 

Bay Leaf - 2 nos 

Cinnamon Stick - 1 no 

Star Anise - 2 no 

Green cardamom - 2 no 

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp 

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp 

Chopped onion - 1 no 

Ginger slice - 1 inch 

Garlic - 3 nos 

Chopped ginger and garlic - 2 tsp 

Chopped Tomato - 1 no 

Green chilly - 4 nos 

Grated Coconut - 2 tsp 

Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tsp 

Chilly powder - 1 tsp 

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp 

Coriander Powder - 2 tsp 

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp 

Curry Leaves - 2 string 

Coconut Oil - 4 tsp 

Salt for taste 

For Roasted Paste : 

• In a pan, add 1 tsp of coconut oil and add cumin and fennel seeds 
• Add half of chopped onions
  
  
  
• Add ginger and garlic, and roast for couple of minutes 
• Add dry red chilly and aroma spices ( Bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, star anise) 
  
• Add green chilly and roast in low flame 
• After 2 minutes, add coriander leaves and grated coconut 
• Roast till coconut changes to brown color
  
• Cook down this and grind into fine paste with little water 

For Crab Curry : 

• In a manchatti, add remaining coconut oil 
• Add chopped ginger and garlic, and curry leaves 
  
• Add remaining chopped onion and fry till soft 
• Add chopped tomato and fry in low flame 
• Once the tomato mashes well, and oil will start to separate. Now add the grounded paste and mix well 
  
• After 2 minutes, add chilly powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. 
• Cook this base gravy for 5 minutes till the raw smell disappears 
  
• Add water required for the gravy (1/4 Cup is enough) 
• Add cleaned crabs and cover the manchatti with a lid and cook for 10 minutes 
  
• Blue crab will change to red colour 
• Add chopped coriander and serve hot with rice 

This gravy is best served with white rice, idli or dosai. Don't add more water, because crab will leave water while cooking.