Pau or Pav Bhaji
Pau Bhaji
Ritika Gupta
As I understand it, the word Pau or Pav comes from the Portuguese word Pão, which means bread, probably a sweet bread. Pau Bhaji is a popular street food of Mumbai (Bombay) where a roll of bread is served with a spicy bhaji, a vegetable dish, not to be confused with pakorae or bhajia of northern India. You can use any seasonal vegetables, there are no fixed rules. You can use Pau bhaji masala mix or the spices as given below. Serves 4-6
Here is another explanation for the word Pao from reader Chitra Rajyashree; "when I was growing up in India, the 'bread-vallah’ would come to the back-door and call out 'pao'. I asked my mother why they call this bread 'pao' and she told me that it is because it took one 'pao' of dough to make it - a 'pao' was 1/4 of a 'seer' pronounced 'sayr’ in the old Indian system of weights and measures. It is approximately 250 gm. in metric weights.
1 seer = 4 pav (just under 1 kg.)
1 pav = 4 chataak. (just under 250 gm.)
1 chatak = 5 tola = 58.32or 60 gm.
1 tola = 12 masha or 11.67 or 12 gm.
1 masha = 8 ratti or 0.97 or 1 gm.
Ratti (Gunja seeds or Abrus precatorius)
Ratti = 0.11 gm. or o.6 carats
Ingredients
250- 300 gm mixed vegetables, finely chopped. Choose from cauliflower, carrots, sweet corn, peas, green peppers, brinjals/aubergines, beans etc.
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 large onion, peeled and chopped finely
1 small piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped/grated/crushed (optional)
4-5 tomatoes, finely chopped or a 240 gm. tin of tomatoes
1 tbsp. tomato puree (optional)
1 tsp. chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1/2 tsp. fennel powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
1/2 tsp. cumin powder*
1/4 tsp. cinnamon powder*
1/4 tsp. clove powder*
1/4 tsp. black cardamom powder*
Salt to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon (or use 1 tsp. mango powder/amchoor)
*use 1 tsp. garam masala powder if you do not have these
To serve
1-2 soft bread buns per person, sliced into halves. Burger buns are good. You can use crisp bread rolls, if you prefer
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp. finely chopped coriander leaves
3-4 green chillies, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, de-seeded and finely chopped
Instructions
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds. As soon as the crackle, add onion and ginger and fry until onions are lightly browned.
Add tomatoes and cook until softened and mashed.
Add tomato puree, chilli powder, and all other ground spices and salt to taste.
Meanwhile, steam all chopped vegetables in a steamer or in pressure cooker, under full pressure for 2 minutes. Drain.
Add steamed vegetables to the mix from step 3 and cook on medium heat, until soft, mashing vegetables a little towards the end. The finished dish is a mix of small vegetable chunks as well as mashed vegetables. You may need to add water if it becomes too dry during cooking. It should be semisolid mix that can be spread on a bread bun, without running out of it. This takes roughly half an hour.
Add lemon juice/mango powder. Adjust seasoning. It should be hot and spicy.
To serve, toast the bread bun halves a little, scoop bhaji on one half, topped with chopped onions, coriander leaves, chopped tomatoes and green chillies.
Dot with dresh butter on top of the hot bhaji just before serving.
Serve immediately while still hot.
Alternatively, you can serve toasted bread roll halves, with the bhaji on the side. People can eat by breaking off bits of bread and scooping the bhaji with it.
Notes
Pav Bhaji Masala or spice mix is available at most Indian grocers. You can also use Chana masala mix.
Gujarati people sometimes add a teaspoon of sugar to the bhaji towards the end of cooking.
