"Tava Egg Pav Bhaji" ... Finally prepared pav bhaji on my newly purchased large Flat Iron Tava in typical Mumbaikar's Street Style and served it with Pav (from bakery) which was also tava fried with butter (Amul) ... I gave it a twist by adding on eggs ... I salute all tava pav bhaji makers as it is quite a tedious job ... Feeling A Happy~Proud Mumbaikar Today ...
** Mumbaikar’s Pav Bhaji has become so famous worldwide that there is absolutely no need for me to write anything about this dish that is available almost on every corner of the street. A delicious dish served as a snack and relished by millions of people with pav another famous puffed bread that is famous in Mumbai and also that which is available throughout the city. Millions of earnings are made out of this dish by almost every eateries not to mention the street fast food sellers. Many decades back it was Chowpatty beach and Juhu beach that were famous for this dish and then came in the small hotels and then rapidly grew the street vendors who actually sold the tastiest pav baji that was not even available in the restaurants. Another famous place for the same was Bandra's Elco Market, Gateway of India and a few more places that drew crowds and people thronged during late evening to enjoy these specially on weekends. I have posted pav bhaji with addition of methi leaves before to which I will share the link at the bottom of this recipe.
** The basic recipe for "Pav Bhaji" remains the same while I just make some additional variations to add in some adaption on taste and give in some changes from the routine methods. You see I always love making my own adaptions or concoctions and come out with amazingly wonderful one's as in its outcome at times. I have always prepared pav bhaji taking short cuts and cooking all the ingredients together in one go in pressure cooker pan without bothering to cook them separately and then assemble. This dish is cooked mushy ie mashed well, so actually I have never understood why they need to be separately cooked. Also, I have tasted them in so many places and the one’s I cook actually exceed in taste at times than those sold in restaurants, so try this method and enjoy this delicious snack with some pav/bread with your family and friends preparing it in jiffy. I have always used kadai for cooking of pav bhaji before, but this time I had purchased a new Flat Iron Tava and wanted to cook a few items on them, so prepared pava bhaji tava style similar to how the pav bahji makers always prepare, you can do so whichever way is convenient.
** This is my quick and fast method of preparing “Tava Egg Pav Bhaji” … My Style …
** Ingredients :
Hard Boiled Eggs / Andey / Motto : 3-4
Onions / Kanda / Piyav : 4 large sized.
Ripe Red Tomatoes : 6 large sized
Potato / Batato / Batata : 3 large sized.
Cauliflower / Phool Gobi : 200 gms
Green Peas / Vatana : 150 gms (fresh shelled ones)
Capsicum / Simla Mirchi / Donne mirsanga : 2 large sized
Garlic / Losun / Lehsun : 10-12 large sized.
Ginger / Alley / Adrak : 1 inch piece
Tomato Puree : of 2 very ripe tomatoes.
Red Chilly Powder / Mirchi Powder : 2 tblsp (+/- as per individual taste of spice)
Pav Bhaji Masala Powder : 2 tblsp (I used readily available one)
Amchur / Dried Raw Mango Powder : ½ tsp
Coriander Leaves / Dhania / Kottambari pallo : ½ cup finely chopped.
Salt to taste
Butter / Loni : 25-40 gms.
Oil : 4-5 tblsp
Ghee / Toop : 2 tblsp
** To Serve :
Pav (Bread), Finely Chopped Onions and lemon wedges as required.
** Hard Boiled Eggs : Hard Boil the eggs, shell them, mash them coarsely and keep them ready aside. You can also check up on the link given at the bottom of this recipe for perfectly hard boiled eggs recipe and follow the method, if you are novice.
** Preparing of the Veggies :
** Peel the onions and chop them finely and keep it ready aside.
** Peel and finely chop the garlic and keep it ready aside too.
** Wash and grate the ginger finely and keep this ready aside.
** Wash and chop the capsicum into small pieces. Discard the inner seed and stem portion. Keep this ready aside.
** Wash and finely chop the cauliflower and keep it ready.
** Peel off the skin of the potatoes and cut them into cubes after rinsing them well.
** Shell the green peas and keep them ready aside too.
** Wash and finely chop the tomatoes into small pieces, keep this ready aside.
** For Making Tomato Puree : Chop the two tomatoes for making puree, put it in mixer grinder and grind to a very fine paste and keep it ready for use.
** Cooking the Veggies : In a pressure cooker pan first add in the potatoes in a single layer at the bottom. Top it with the cauliflower pieces, then green peas, followed by tomatoes on top layer. Now add in just 1.5 cups of water into the cooker. Cover and pressure cook on medium heat to 3-4 whistles. Remove and keep it aside to cool and for the pressure to fall on its own. Once the pressure drops gently open the lid and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Now with the help of a potato masher keep mashing all the ingredients together till they are mashed properly and and mixed well. Keep this done and ready aside.
** Note : Do not add in more water, as we do not want to discard the same and the tomatoes have water content in them too which is more than enough to prepare the pav bhaji in whole. Excess water if adding will have to be drained off and will result in loss of nutrients, so plz. keep a check on the same.
** Preparing the Bhaji : In a large thick bottomed kadai, add in oil and when its hot enough add in a large pinch of both red chilly powder and pav bhaji masala powder. Now add in the garlic and fry for a few minutes till the color changes slightly, now add in the ginger and the finely chopped onions and continue frying till the onions soften and turns slightly pinkish in color. Now add in the capsicum pieces and continue cooking till it's 50% done. Add in the red chilly powder, amchur powder and the pav bhaji masala powder, a little bit of salt and continue to fry on low heat for a few minutes. Remove this from fire and keep aside.
** Place the thick flat iron tava on fire and bring it on to full heat. Now add in the ghee in the center along with half of the above prepared masala, half of the tomato puree and mix well with a potato masher or a long handle spatula. Now add in half of the cooked and mashed veggies and mix well mashing it all together with the potato masher. Add in half of the mashed hard boiled eggs, half of the coriander leaves and continue mashing the same well. Add salt to taste and half of the butter and mix well, cook well till you see that it sizzles. Remove the prepared bhaji on a plate.
** Now continue the above procedure with the remaining portion of the ingredients. I have first used the kadai for frying of spice and onion-ginger-garlic as it was not feasible to do so in tava as the oil moves off towards the edges and gets dripped over. I have done this in two sessions as my tava is not that large as that of the pav bhaji makers in restaurants and the above amount of bhaji would not hold in and fall from the sides making a mess of my stove. It was my passion / dream to prepare in flat iron tava, so I went ahead and did so in the best way I found convenient.
** Important Note : The said one portion above is enough to serve 3-4 adults to satisfaction with about 3-4 pav for each person. But do remember that the bhaji should be very steaming hot with smoke coming out of it when you put it on the plate to serve. When done so it ensures that the butter served on top melts beautifully blending in a lovely creamy taste to the pav bhaji that is simply yummy, a feeling that cannot be expressed and has to be experienced. So do try the step of adding in at least a small bob of butter while serving for that divine taste.
** Preparing the Pav/Bread for Serving : To serve the pav, cut it halfway lengthwise from middle horizontally as shown on the tava in picture, apply ghee/butter on both sides and fry on the same tava till the ghee/butter melts and the pav is slightly heated. Put it on the serving plate along with the Bhaji. Add in some finely chopped onions separately along with a large sized lemon piece too. Do garnish with a small piece of butter on top of Bhaji and finely chopped coriander leaves. I have enclosed a served plate too alongside in the picture exactly how it is served by the vendors. Isn’t it awesome. Now all you need is to sit down and relish it with family and friends.
** “Tava Egg Pav Bhaji” is done and ready to be served. This one is a concoction of my own with addition of hard boiled mashed eggs to the otherwise traditional pav bhaji recipe. I loved the dish very much and this one is for all my friends who love eggs and like to introduce them in different forms and get some innovations in your own kitchen. Eggs are healthy, sometimes they can become boring when prepared in similar pattern all the time, so this one is a take off on the same and a new way of making both children and teenagers who are otherwise reluctant to eat healthy meals a delicious method.
** Note : Always serve pav bhaji hot with a blob of butter on top (or any of your choice), some finely chopped onions alongside and a piece of lemon wedge, it tastes awesome. This bhaji is usually served with Pav, a soft bread very famous in Mumbai, though now it is available in most of the metro cities. In case it is not available in your vicinity you can serve this with bread or non sweat bun or any garlic bread etc. available. If none of these appeal to you for health reasons or coz. of unavailability serve them with fresh homemade chapati/roti or poori they taste equally good.
** Note : If you are a vegetarian you can leave out the addition of eggs and it becomes a normal pav bhaji, so go ahead and enjoy it with pav or bread or even roti if need be. Again, if some people in your home eat eggs while the others do not also, there is no need to go in for two different dishes, this one comes handy for both all you need to do is remove the required portion of the bhaji and keep it separate and add in the required number or mashed hard boiled eggs and you can keep them all happy by serving both Veg and Non-Veg pav bhaji as per each ones desire.
** Note : There is absolutely no need to prepare the same on tava and you can prepare it in Kadai too. In fact I have always prepared it in kadai and I really feel comfortable and that is the best way to do so. It is just that I wanted to do it the way most of the Pav Bhaji makers did and decided to try it out on my new Flat Iron Tava. It takes time as you need to be careful with addition of ghee etc. as it tends to run off the tava and I had add in bit by bit to keep control. I also had to prepare the dish in batches, which really tired me out and I really think kadai is faster and better for us those who prepare the same at home. The method is the same.
** Given below is the link to another method with slight variation of preparing "Pav Bhaji with Methi Leaves" which tastes simple awesome too. Do go through the link and note down the recipe and try out the same if you are fond of methi. Remember methi is very good for health, specially during winter months, it builds in resistance power in the body. So do try that version too and enjoy the benefits of health. In northern parts of India kasoori methi is added which is dried methi leaves. You may choose anyway. But do try it out with fresh methi leaves as it is both good for health and tastes yummy too.
** Given below is the link to perfectly "Hard Boiled Eggs", Do go through the link and follow the correct procedure of boiling eggs to get the right soft boiled consistency, if you are a novice and want to learn the same. Many have sometimes not given a thought to the same, and just keep boiling the eggs for long time, thinking it needs that much time or sometimes without noticing. That is simply not good, and the eggs need perfectly timed cooking for remaining healthy and nutritious.
** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of different types in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it or have a query, please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Do try out various types of dishes included in the Blog and Enjoy them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. I have also started a food group for by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" where in you will find many more recipes by members and you too can share some of your own. The link to the group is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring" … Thank You ….
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