Pav Bhaji dedicated to Hannah

Pav Bhaji

Hannah, this pav bhaji (PB) recipe is for you. Hannah is my daughter’s friend from school who is totally ‘fida’ about this dish. She keeps asking me for the recipe so she can then pester her Mom - Micki to cook it for her. This is a toned down (spice levels) quick and easy recipe, made with pav bhaji masala powder available from the Indian store - read my cooking mantra blog. It’s a great dish for any time and for school lunches.

Some tips before we begin. This is one of the few dishes where I use butter to cook along with vegetable oil, but I always use light butter made from buttermilk that’s low fat and has low calories. Making pav bhaji masala powder from scratch is doable but I avoid it.

Let’s make cooking easy and fun. You can even do away with the garnish. Me thinks, it’s the combination of butter, potato and tomato that makes the dish so tasty. If you are thinking healthy, add boiled, mashed cauliflower and peas with the potatoes.

Ingredients
2 large russet potatoes (boiled and mashed)
Optional – use 1/2 cup boiled and mashed cauliflower and peas (and use 1 potato instead of 2)
1 large onion (chopped)
3 large juicy red tomatoes (chopped)
1 medium sized green pepper (capsicum)
1 tspn garlic
1 tspn ginger
1 tbspn PB masala powder (use 2 tbspns if you want it spicy)
3 tbspn butter
2 tbspn vegetable oil
salt to taste
Optional - 4 chopped Indian green chillies if you want it spicy

For the garnish – optional
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
2 tbspns finely chopped red onion
lemon juice – to taste
Burger buns or dinner rolls (toasted and buttered)

Method
In a large thick skillet sauté the onions, ginger and garlic (green chillies - optional) in oil until its translucent and light brown in color. Add green peppers, saute for half minute and then add tomatoes. Cook tomatoes till well done, adding the butter as you cook it. I mash the tomatoes with a ladle as I stir it. Mix the PB powder and salt and stir for half a minute. Add the mashed potatoes or vegetables and stir for another minute or two. Serve with garnish (optional) and toasted, buttered dinner rolls.