Pav Bhaji

OK so we know that pav in Marathi means a small loaf of bread. But did you know that the word has been derived from Portuguese pao, literally meaning bread? Fascinating!

Apart from the regular PB, I've come across 7 of its variations, namely:

1. Cheese PB (bhaji has an additional garnishing of cheese)

2. Paneer PB (made with paneer as one of the ingredients in the bhaji along with other vegetables)

3. Mushroom PB (made with mushrooms as one of the ingredients in the bhaji along with other vegetables)

4. Khada PB (vegetables aren't mashed, but small pieces are cooked with the gravy)

5. Jain PB (replaced potatoes with raw bananas, as Jains don't eat potatoes; onion & garlic aren't added either)

6. Kathyawadi PB (made with buttermilk)

7. Dry fruit PB (of course made with dry fruits)

But no sweat, am only posting the recipe of the vintage PB :D

You'll need the following:

* 12 pavs

* 6 lemon wedges

* 3 tomatoes

* 2 potatoes - boiled, minced, peeled

* 2 minced onions

* 1 sliced onion

* 2 minced green chilies

* 100 gm butter

* 2 cups of finely cut carrots, beans, cauliflowers & peas

* 1 cup coriander leaves

* 2 tsp chili powder

* 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

* 1 tsp garam masala

* 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

* 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

* Salt & sugar to taste

Sabse pehle, heat half the butter in a frying pan, and add the cumin seeds & green chilies. When they turn brown, add the minced onions, ginger-garlic paste, the mixed vegetables, tomatoes & potatoes. Cook till they turn absolutely tender, but keep adding water, and stirring & mashing from time to time.

When this is almost cooked/well mashed, add half of the remaining butter, chili powder, garam masala, salt & sugar. Key words here: mix well :P Now keep aside.

Then, slit the pavs horizontally into 2 joined to each other along a long edge. Phir smear the remaining butter on the pavs and cook both sides of them on a tava.

Finally, garnish the bhaji with the coriander leaves. Serve hot with pav, lemon wedges, onion slices and a whole lot of love ;)

Smack!