Mumbai’s own Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji – Popular snack from the streets of Mumbai. A mish –mash of vegetables cooked in tomato based gravy with spices served with buttered bread called pav. Infact you will never find a Mumbaikar who doesn’t like pav bhaji. It’s soo tasty, how can you not love it ?

This is the only chat food that Manoj likes other than Samosa chaat. This dish can be had as a evening snack or dinner. I prefer to serve this as a dinner because it’s more or less a meal in itself. Super easy to cook and people of all age group can relish it.

Why I love this dish is, simple to make, loaded with veggies and apt for lazy weekends.

It can be made with basic veggies that wil be easily available in our kitchen like onions, potatoes, tomatoes, peas etc. I used sweet potato to make it more healthy. We can also add carrots, cauliflower, capsicum for this bhaji. Pav bhaji masala is easily available in all the super markets. I use Everest or MTR Pav baji masala. I always prefer to spend less time in kitchen so I buy the ready pav bhaji masala.

 If it is not available you can make it at home. 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp coriander powder,1 tsp dry mango powder or amchur and ½ tsp turmeric powder.

Method

First boil the veggies  in a pressure cooker  for 1 or 2 whistles. After it releases the pressure open the cooker and mash the vegetables well. Keep them aside.

Heat a frying pan and add 1 tbsp of butter and oil.  When the oil is hot add chopped onions  and fry them until translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and chopped green chilli and fry until it smells good.

Add chopped tomatoes and mix well. Let it cook till it turns pulpy and mushy.

Add pav bhaji masala, turmeric powder,red chilli powder and salt. I added half tsp of sugar and Kashmiri chilli powder to enhance the taste and color.. Fry well  for 2 -3 minutes.

Then add mashed boiled vegetables and mix. Add ¾ - 1 cup of water.

Mix well and simmer for a while to bring out the flavour of masala.

Add 3/4tbsp of kasuri methi.

When it reaches the desired consistency that is semi thick gravy add generous amount of coriander leaves. Switch off the flame and add lemon juice before serving.

For toasting the pav, slit the pav horizontally. Heat 1tsp of butter on a tawa. Place the pav on the butter and toast it for 1 – 2 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and chopped onions. Top with more butter on bhaji.

Ingredients

Potatoes cubed : 2 large

Green peas : ½ cup

Cauliflower florets : ½ cup

Carrots chopped : ½ cup

Onion chopped: 1 medium

Tomatoes chopped : 2

Ginger garlic paste : 11/2 tsp

Butter : 1 tbsp

Oil : 1 tbsp

Red chilli powder : ¾  or 1 tsp(less spicy)

Turmeric powder : ¼ tsp

Pavbhaji masala powder : 1 tbsp(use more if needed)

Kasuri methi : ¾ tbsp.

Salt : to taste

To toast pav

Pav(buns or dinner rolls) : 6

Butter fot toasting : 1 tbsp

For garnishing

Onions chopped :2 tbsp

Coriander leaves : 2 tbsp

Butter : 1 tbsp

Notes

You can easily adjust the spice level to suit your taste.

Use good quality of pav bhaji masala or make it at home.

It can also be made in oil without using butter, if you prefer a more healthy version.

 

 

 

 

Airfyer Spring Rolls

 

                                  Airfryer Spring Rolls(Bread)

            

Crispy Bread spring rolls filled with  sautéed vegetables are super easy to make in the air fryer.This tea time snack can be enjoyed with your favourite dipping sauce and a refreshing beverage.

What I love about these airfryer cooked bread rolls is that they are- 

Easy to make, oil free, and healthy too. Most important for we housewives  is it is mess free, So less cleaning.

You can also deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper towel and serve hot.

Servings : 14 

Ingredients

Oil: 2 tbsp 

Sliced Onions: 2

Minced garlic: ½ tsp

Shredded Cabbage: 2 cups

Grated Carrots: 1 cup

Soy sauce: 1 tsp

Chilli sauce: 1 tsp

Pepper powder: 1 tbsp

Salt: to taste

Bread slices: 14 (I used normal sandwich bread without cutting edges. Too lazy.) 

Water to seal

Method

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat and saute onion and garlic for one minute. 

Add cabbage and carrots to this onion garlic mixture and cook until slightly tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Mix  sauces, pepper powder and salt into vegetable mixture. Mix well and switch off the flame. Stuffing for bread rolls is ready.

Take each slice and roll it into thin slice using a rolling pin. Place 1 tbsp of stuffing on one edge of the slice and roll it tightly. Use water to seal the roll. Repeat with remaining vegetable mixture and bread slices.

Brush airfryer basket with cooking oil. Place spring rolls into basket, working in batches as needed, and brush rolls also with oil. 

Set the timings to 10 minutes and temperature to 180 degrees, Cook  until evenly browned. Remove and serve hot.

You can skip onions and garlic and use more cabbage. There won't be much difference in taste. 

Enjoy this crispy oil-free bread spring rolls!!

 

Stovetop Spinach Mushroom Frittatta

                                          

                                                   Stovetop Spinach Mushroom Frittatta    

                                              

My family loves Frittata.  Frittatta is an open faced omelette in which you can add spinach, mushrooms, onion with eggs. So I had spinach and mushrooms . It is easy to make.You can make this dish for breakfast, lunch and for dinner also. I have not added any cream to keep it light but added some cheese to keep the texture smooth.  This is a stovetop recipe rather than oven and it is quite filling also. You can get creative with leftover frittata (which never happens in my home). You can use as a sandwich filling next day. So let’s start making protein and iron packed spinach,mushroom frittata.

Enjoy !

Method:

Whisk eggs,salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Heat little oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute thinly sliced onions and garlic. Add chopped mushroom and saute them with some salt. Next add chopped spinach and again saute for a few minutes till it release water. Once cooked add crushed chilli, oregano or mixed herbs. ( If you don't have oregano no issues.)Keep it aside.

Transfer this onion mushroom mixture into a butter smeared pie dish.Spread it evenly on the dish. Pour beaten egg over this mixture. Sprinkle some grated cheese. Place this dish inside a bigger pot and  close it with a tight fitting lid and keep it on low heat.  The heat from your cooktop will warm up the air inside the pot, baking the contents. You have to cook for 20 minutes on a low flame.

Let it cool and cut into wedges. Serve  warm.

Ingredients:

Serves : 3-4

Eggs : 5

Button mushrooms:  200gms

Spinach: 1bunch

Onions: 2 medium

Garlic: 4-5 cloves

Oregano: 2tsp

Grated Cheese:  ½ cup

Salt : to taste

Pepper: 1 tsp(adjust to taste)

 Tips:

To make it Indian style you can add little garam masala, redchilli powder and coriander leaves after adding spinach.

 

                   Spinach or Palak Paratha 

Yesterday I got some fresh Spinach or Palak from my local Super market.  Usually I make Palak Paneer when I get this, but again problem is my younger daughter is not very fond of  Palak and Manoj doesn’t like Paneer. Infact any of Paneer dishes. He has his own version of reasons. So idea of making this Palak Paratha came to my mind. It’s actually a blessing in disguise. Ha Ha.. I don’t have to make curry and Chappathi separately. Like one pot meal.  

Spinach or Palak Paratha is easy to make and healthy also. Just knead whole wheat flour and spinach puree and some masala powders. You can add green chilli, fennel seed or coriander leaves  to make it more tasty.

 I give this paratha  as a lunchbox dish to school. You can serve with curd or any pickle ( I love to have with any sweet Pickle like Dates) or just wrap with Paneer burji and serve it as a roll.

Method:

Blend the washed palak with green chillies , garlic and ginger to a smooth puree. You can omit garlic if you are not a garlic lover. I love adding ginger garlic in almost every dish. Its good for digestion na. In a big bowl take wheat flour, palak puree, all the spice powders, 2 tsp of oil and knead by adding little water to make a smooth dough.  Smear some oil and cover with a clean moist cloth and keep aside for half an hour.

Make small balls from the dough. Roll these balls into a chappathi.

If you want a triangle shape paratha sprinkle some flour and fold it into a semicircle. Again sprinkle some flour and  fold into a mini  triangle. Toss this in little flour and roll it  into a bigger triangle.

Place the paratha on a hot tawa and cook.

Apply some oil or ghee .

Serve this paratha with onion or cucumber raitha or some plain curd or any pickle.

Ingredients: 

For Palak Puree :

Palak/spinach leaves : 1 bunch

Ginger : 1/2inch

Garlic : 3cloves

Greenchlli : 1

For Dough :

Wheat flour:  2 cup

Salt: to taste

Oil: 2tsp

Fennel seed powder: 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder: 1/2tsp

Redchilli powder: 1/2tsp

Water: as required to knead dough

 Tips To make Palak Paratha

Please avoid stalks of spinach,because they might lend a bitter taste.

I prefer to puree the spinach. But you can also chop and add directly to flour.

Adjust the amount of spices to suit your taste as I prefer a mildly spiced parathas.

 

 

Cauliflower Peas Pulao

 

                                 Cauliflower Peas Pulao

 

So, What’s for dinner ? Everyday after evening tea Manoj usually asks this question. ButBefore he asks I ask myself what’s for dinner ? I know this is the case in every house.My mind started working. Let me check the vegetable tray. Thank god ! A medium sizedCauliflower is smiling at me. Some frozen green peas also called me from freezer. Laddu phooti . Why not make some Gobi mutter pulao. If you can make curry with same ingredients, why not pulao. Wah kya idea saabji . Only one pot is  needed, You can make everything  in a Pressure Cooker. I am a big fan of One pot meals. Less dishes to wash and time saving. Ok , dinner finalised. You can serve this pulao with some papad and raita.

Ready under 30 minutes.

Now the method: First marinate the washed and cleaned cauliflower florets with some turmeric powder, chilli powder garam masala powder and salt for 20 to 30 minutes.

Heat some oil in Pressure cooker and fry whole garam masalas. Saute for 30 seconds or till aromatic.

Add thinly sliced onions . Saute till it turns to light brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir well.

Now comes the turn of using all spice powders. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala power and fry for few seconds in a low flame. Add chopped tomatoes and again saute till it turns soft and mushy.

Then add the marinated Gobi, green peas and salt. Fry for 2 minutes. Add water. Cover and let it boil. Now add Basmati Rice. Mix everything well. Check salt. Close the lid and pressure cook the rice for 1 whistle. Remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally.

Open the lid of the cooker and add few coriander leaves and mix. Easy peasy Cauliflower Peas Pulao is ready. Serve hot with onion or cucumber raita and Pappad. Tasty and healthy.

 

 

Ingredients

For Cauliflower Marination:

2 cups cauliflower florets

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon garam masala powder

salt to taste

Whole Masalas:

1 bay leaf

1 sick of cinnamon

3 cloves

2 cardamom

1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds

Other Ingredients:

2 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

1 medium onion ,thinly sliced

1 large tomato ,chopped

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

½ cup green peas

1 cup basmati Rice

1.5 cups water

Corriander leaves a few

salt to taste.

 

 

Variations and tips to make this Pulao:

You can use any type of biryani rice . I used long grain rice since it was a normal family dinner.

Cut gobi into large florets, because cauliflower tends to cook fastly.

If you want you can soak the rice for 15 to 20 minutes and drain it before using. I didn’t soak.

Instead of green peas you can add Paneer or Potato cubes also. Fry it before adding.

In the end add fried Cashews or Badam(Almonds). It will change the texture of Pulao.

 

Ok , somehow todays dinner solved. But tommorrow, It’s a Never ending Process…

        

Hello all. Welcome to My Cooking Tales ! Thank you for stopping by . This is a food blog on simple vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes mostly Indian recipes,  some internatiional recipes and some tricks and tips to make everyday cooking easy. 

Now something about Me  Sujatha Manoj,

My name is Sujatha Manoj and I live in Kochi, The Queen of Arabian Sea with my husband Manoj and 2 teenage daughters. Sorry ,my elder daughter is not a teenager anymore.  

This is my first experiment with blogging. My passion for cooking started after marriage like any other girl . All I had was a small recipe book "100 Vegetarian Recipes" which my Sis-in-Law gifted me and some handwritten recipes which I got from my mother and Mum-in-Law .My husband, a non veg food lover and me knowing only veg dishes that also traditional which we say ‘Nadan’ dishes. My first guru in Non veg cooking is my Mother in Law and my mother taught me Kerala vegetarian dishes .  This I am talking about 25 years back. Those days Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor' s  KHANA KHAZANA  was the only cookery show on television. That also once a week . I used to t flip pages of my recipe book a dozen times while cooking. But the real passion started when my 2 daughters started schooling. I found it very challenging to prepare food that they would like to eat.

My recipes are mostly from my mother and mother in law’s collections, some from magazines and TV shows, some my own creations and some from other food bloggers which I accept. You should give the credit where it’s needed. 

I am not saying I am an expert in cooking but anything you cook at home just add that magic ingredient LOVE,It will be a perfect dish. The most important thing is to  share and enjoy your food with loved ones.

If you have any queries about a recipe please use the comment box of that recipe or mail me to sujatham2311@gmail.com. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

                                                  “Happy Cooking”