Paav Bhaji

Native state – Maharashtra, West-Central India

Image credit : Webindia123.com | The big state of Maharashtra (literally translating into either "the great state" or "the state of the mahars (a community").

Maharashtra, one of the biggest states of India, has a rich culture - the Marathi language (Devnagri Script), a beautiful traditional attire, the native Lavani dance, sagas of brave kings, and its state capital - Mumbai - also the economic capital of India (not to forget Bollywood - world's biggest movie producer by numbers. This is not the time to defend Bollywood but yes, you must read the reviews of a movie to avoid the stereotypical ones. They do have quite some genuinely amazing stuff).

Paav Bhaji is a fast food. The word “paav” refers to a kind of bread and the word “bhaji” refers to some sort of pasty/semi-solid mixture of flavored and cooked vegetables. A special paav bhaji powder (masala combination) is all you need to achieve the extremely particular flavor of this dish.

So, this is what is looks like, in general :

Image Credit : Knorr India official Website | Paav Bhaji is typically served with an additional dash of butter and some fresh onion and lemon on the side

The bread, or the “paav”

The bread is a thick, plain bread. It is first heated on a hot pan with butter to cook the surfaces and then more butter is applied on the surface before serving. Butter just goes extremely well with this dish some how, and we are glad it has been figured out. Do not worry about that cholesterol for the time being, an American hardcore non-vegetarian friend of mine told me that this is the dish that is good enough to turn him into a vegetarian.

Image credit : Dotivala.com | Paav is a thick fat plane bread of different shapes but mostly tend to be close to a square shape, unlike these rectangular ones.

The Bhaji

Here comes the difficult task. Once you have gathered boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots, and boiled sweet peas, you are quite close to the final results. Here are all the 4 spices you need –

• Of course – the paav bhaji powder (masala mixture - already has don't know how many spices)
• Cumin seeds
• Red Chili Powder
• Turmeric Powder (has amazing medicinal properties)

Other ingredients are -

• Salt (to taste)
• Onion
• Capsicum
• Cauliflower
• Garlic-Ginger Paste
• Oil
• Butter
• Capsicum
• Coriander to serve
• Tomatoes

*The quantity of potatoes should roughly be 2.5 times the quantity of other vegetables. Your paav bhaji is likely to taste slightly different each time depending on the ratio of vegetables. Consult India's biggest chefs (some of which are world known not only for their cooking but have been voted sexiest chefs of America by People Magazine  ;) )

Image credit : Vegit-Merino.com | Garnish with coriander and servce with butter, fresh lemon and onion 

The procedure is - heat the oil depending on the quantity. Fry the onions, and once they are fried, add ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes and cumin seeds along with red chili powder, turmeric and salt. After 2 minutes, add the boiled vegetables and the paav bhaji powder. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes. Ready!

In case you are wondering how to eat 

Paav Bhaji has effectively become a street food - so no - not with knives and forks. The way to eat it to get your hands clean and bread the bread with your hands - like the french do often with their "Pain" and "Baguette", and take away some of the bhaji with it. However, the bhaji comes with a spoon. So, even though it can be ordered in a fancy restaurant or asked for being delivered to your house, the way to eat it shall stay street-food-like. That's just how you can wrap that bhaji well on that paav! 
It is a bit high on the fat content with all that frying and butter garninshing - but is not all that junk as you can see the amount of vegetables used. The lemon, on the side, is not just for the purpose of taste, but it helps digest this heavy dish. So, having said that, the dish is popular all over India for a reason. And even though the Indian street food has not reached abroad as much as the other staple foods, it rules in its native country. Street foods can be had once in a while and this savoury dish is just amazing for that. One of my favorites!

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