Make popular Indian street food pav bhaji in instant pot in 30 minutes only. Bhaji is spiced, mashed vegetable curry, topped with butter, onions and served with butter toasted buns.
3tablespoonsCilantro or coriander leavesfinely chopped
1teaspoonLemon juice
For serving:
12Ladi pav(or you can substitute with burger buns)
Butteras needed to toast the pav, plus for topping
½cupRed onionfinely chopped
1Lemoncut into wedges
Instructions
Take the chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic cloves in a food processor jar. Pulse it to make it finely chopped.
Turn on the instant pot on saute mode. Once hot add 1 tablespoon of butter and cumin seeds. Let the seeds sizzle a bit.
Then add prepared onion mixture. Sprinkle salt, mix and let it cook.
Meanwhile, onion mixture is cooking, add tomatoes to the same food processor jar. Make it chunky puree. It does not require smooth puree.
Now onion mixture is cooked, you can see onions become soft and translucent.
Add pureed tomatoes, red chili powder, and remaining salt. Mix well.
Add all the veggies (cauliflower, carrot, peas, potatoes) and water, mix well.
Cover with lid, keep the vent to sealing. cancel the saute mode. Pressure cook on manual (high pressure) for 6 minutes. You can let NPR (natural pressure release). If in rush QPR (quick pressure release) after 5-10 minutes. Once pin drops open the lid.
Add pav bhaji masala. Using the potato masher, start mashing and mixing. Alternately you can use a hand blender. But be careful not to make pasty smooth puree. It has to be slightly chunky.
Now turn the saute mode back on and simmer for 2-3 minutes. This simmering time may vary depending on how watery your bhaji is.
While it is simmering add remaining butter and lemon juice. Stir well.
Lastly, garnish with chopped cilantro.
Remove it an individual serving bowl, top with butter, a sprinkle of chopped onions, and serve with pav.
Toast the pav: heat the pan on medium heat. Meantime cut the pav into half (not all the way through, keep the two slices intact). Once the pan is hot, add little butter, add pav bhaji masala, mix and spread in the pan. Place the pav on it. While the bottom side is getting toasted, apply butter on top. Once the bottom is light brown, fil with spatula and toast the other side. Remove from the pan and serve with bhaji.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
Butter is a must. It makes bhaji smooth and rich.
Use good tasting pav bhaji masala. I prefer Everest or MDH brand.
Potatoes are must, it makes the base of the bhaji. Now you can play with other veggies. Use what you like and what you have in the refrigerator. E.g broccoli, squash, zucchini, beans, corn, eggplant, bottle gourd, cabbage.
Recipe Notes:
It Is Important When You Add Pav Bhaji Masala. Whenever making pav bhaji in pressure cooker, always add masala after vegetables are cooked. If added along with vegetables and then it is cooked on high pressure, the masala loses its flavor and aroma.
This recipe makes the medium spicy tasting bhaji. For more spicy taste, increase the amount of red chili powder.
Do not over mash the bhaji. We do not want a smooth puree kind texture. It should have a grainy texture.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate for 1 serving of bhaji only without toppings and buns.