This mouth watering Mumbai-style instant pot pav bhaji is loaded with veggies like cauliflower, tomatoes, peas, carrots and potatoes and served along some buttered pav, fresh red onions, and lime and making it a hearty one pot dish!
What is pav bhaji?
Pav bhaji is an Indian street food that hails from Mumbai, India. It consists of the pav which is a fluffy dinner roll style bread and the bhaji which is a spiced potato and vegetable curry. The pav is slathered in butter and toasted and served with the bhaji which is topped with diced red onions and cilantro for freshness. Squeeze a bit of lime or lemon on top of the bhaji, tear a piece of pav to scoop it all up, and devour!
What makes this recipe stand out?
- This recipe uses the power of the Instant pot pressure cooker setting to get all the vegetables and potatoes super soft so they meld into one bhaji or curry.
- My homemade pav bhaji masala is freshly ground which provides the right balance of heat, tang, and aromatic flavors. If opting for store-bought, add an extra pinch of black salt to really make the pav bhaji flavors to pop.
- A combination of potatoes plus cauliflower help create a creamy texture full of flavor.
- This recipe uses double concentrated tomato paste to help get the iconic red color of pav bhaji and an intense tomato taste!
Homemade pav bhaji masala
One of the biggest tips to elevate your pav bhaji is to make your own pav bhaji masala. The store bought masalas or spice blends have been sitting on the shelf for a while so they aren't as fresh or as potent as grinding the spice blend at home. You can checkout my recipe for homemade pav bhaji masala or if you are in a pinch I recommend using store bought masala and adding a bit of black salt (kala namak) to add extra tang.
All about pav
Pav is an Indian fluffy and soft dinner roll that has a slight sweetness and buttery-ness to it. The perfect pav saturated in butter and to create crisp exterior but a pillowy interior. I prefer to make my homemade pav because it is SOOO much better than store-bought! My recipe uses the tangzhong method to create a bread that is ultra fluffy and will stay soft for days!
Delicious and fluffy
Homemade Pav
Store bought pav reccomendations
However, if you are looking for a store-bought alternative, my preferred brand is King's Hawaiian rolls which are slightly on the sweeter side but provide such a pillowy vehicle for the bhaji. If you don't like your bread to have any sweetness, pop by the freezer section of the grocery aisle to get the bake and serve dinner rolls which is a semi-homemade option.
Pav bhaji ingredients, substitutes, and ratios
Aromatics and spices
- Ginger Paste - This gives the pav bhaji a lot of warming, peppery flavor. You can make ginger paste by grinding up the ginger root in a food processor with some water until smooth or buy store-bought ginger paste.
- Thai Chilis - For a fresh vegetal heat. Reduce the amount in this recipe if you don't like spice.
- Double concentrate tomato paste - This helps give an intense tomato flavor, acidity, and a bright red color to the pav bhaji.
- Pav bhaji masala - This spice blend is the backbone of this recipe. I prefer to make a homemade pav bhaji masala but you can use storebought if you are in a hurry. When using store-bought, I like to add a pinch more of black salt to really make the flavors pop.
- Onions
Finishing Garnishes
- Lemon - for more acidity
- Chopped Cilantro - For herbyness and freshness. Use mint as a substitute
- Red onion, finely diced - for crunch and a fresh bite.
"Potato Like" Vegetables
- Russet or yukon gold potatoes - Russet potatoes provide a light and airy texture whereas yukon gold result in a pav bhaji that is creamier and heavier.
- Cauliflower florettes - Give the dish a creaminess and a delicious cauliflower taste. If you are trying to lower the carbs in the recipe, you can always substitute some of the potatoes with an equal weight in cauliflower.
"Non Potato Like" Vegetables
- Tomatoes
- Green beans
- Carrots
- Peas
Any of these vegetables besides onion and tomatoes can be substituted for your favorite vegetables. Some common substitutes are bell peppers or beet root.
Why to use the Instant Pot for pav bhaji?
- Using one-pot for both sautéing and boiling!
- Using the high-pressure setting on the Instant Pot cooks the vegetables super quickly into a very mashable consistency. It takes much longer on the stove to get the vegetables that soft.
- For large parties, I like to keep the bhaji in the Instant pot on the warm setting so it stays warm long into the party!
Can this recipe be made without an Instant Pot?
Yes this recipe can be made without an Instant Pot.Make the recipe as written but rather with a deep heavy bottomed pan on the stove top. Instead of cooking the vegetables and potatoes in high pressure, simply increase the amount of water in the recipe by 1.5x, close the lid on the pot, and boil until the vegetables and potatoes are very soft and mashable. The cook time on the dish will increase as there is not pressure to help cook the vegetables faster so expect the cook time to be 30+ minutes to get all the vegetables softened.
Make ahead
The bhaji can be made and stored in the fridge for 3-4 days! Simply reheat on the stove or in the microwave when ready to eat. Butter and toast the pav (bread) when ready to eat!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute cauliflower for potatoes in pav bhaji! It will create a creamy bhaji without as many carbs.
A good store bought substitute is to either buy premade dinner rolls, bake and serve dinner rollers from the freezer section, or to buy King's Hawaiian rolls (slightly sweeter than pav) as a substitute for homemade pav.
Use either MDH or Shaan pav bhaji masala as store bought alternatives. I often add a pinch of black salt in addition to add extra tang!
Yes it can. Make the recipe as written without the Instant Pot but rather on the stove top. Instead of cooking the vegetables and potatoes in high pressure, simply increase the amount of water in the recipe by 1.5x, close the lid on the pot, and boil until the vegetables and potatoes are cooked through. The amount of time to cook the dish will increase as there is not pressure to help cook the vegetables faster.
Instant Pot Pav Bhaji
Product Reccs
Ingredients
Bhaji Ingredients
- ¼ cup (40 g) ginger paste
- 3.5 (420 g) red onions medium
- 2 Thai green chilis finely chopped
- 2 (203 g) tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 cup (100 g) green beans finely chopped
- 1 cup (115 g) carrots and peas diced, frozen
- 3 cups (284 g) cauliflower florets
- 2 (412 g) russet potatoes large, diced (or yukon for a creamier taste)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons double concentrate tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1.5 tablespoons (10 g) homemade pav bhaji masala or storebought (Note 1)
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 1 lemon
- 4-5 sprigs cilantro
Pav Ingredients
- 18 homemade pav or store bought dinner rolls (Note 2)
- 2 sticks salted butter room temperature
Instructions
Prep work - Most of the work for this recipe is in the prep so I thought I’d detail the prep work out for this recipe.
- Take 2 sticks salted butter out to come to room temperature if you haven’t already.
- Make ¼ cup (40 g) ginger paste by grinding 3 inches of ginger root cut into small pieces in a small blender or food processor until it is a fine paste. You do not want any big chunks of ginger remaining. There is no need to remove the skin off the ginger unless it is an old ginger root with a tough exterior. You can alternatively buy ginger paste directly from the store.
- Finely chop 3.5 (420 g) red onions. Since onions come in various sizes, I’ve listed the gram measurements above. Set aside about ½ cup of the diced onions for garnish and the rest will be used for the bhaji.
- Remove the stems off of 2 Thai green chilis and finely mince. If you like less spice, reduce the amount of chilis you put in this dish.
- Finely dice 2 (203 g) tomatoes and set aside.
- Gather bunches of green beans and cut the tough stem and discard. Finely chop the remaining green beans to yield 1 cup (100 g) green beans.
- Thaw 1 cup (115 g) carrots and peas and set aside.
- Break down 3 cups (284 g) cauliflower florets so that the white florets remain; discard the tough green stems and leaves. The cauliflower should be broken up into bite-size pieces.
- Peel the skin off of the 2 (412 g) russet potatoes and discard. Dice russet potatoes into small cubes. Taking the time to do this ensures that all of the potatoes will cook quickly. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and cover in water until ready to use to prevent oxidation of the potatoes.
Make Bhaji
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté mode on medium heat.
- Pour 2 tablespoons vegetable oil into the Instant Pot so it pools on one side and add the ginger paste to the oil.
- Allow the ginger to sizzle and cook in the oil for ~1 minute or until the ginger becomes fragrant.
- Add in onions, chilis, and half of the 2 teaspoons fine sea salt to the pot and sauté for another 1-2 minutes or until the onions soften and release some water.
- Use a wooden spoon to scrape any bits of ginger that have stuck to the bottom of the Instant Pot into the water released from the onions. If the pot at any point seems a bit dry, add ~1 teaspoon of oil into the pot to ensure that the ingredients don’t burn or stick to the bottom.
- Add the 2 tablespoons double concentrate tomato paste into the pot and sauté for ~1 minute or until the tomato paste darkens slightly. This helps cook out the raw flavor in the tomato paste.
- Next, add the diced 2 (203 g) tomatoes, 1 cup (100 g) green beans, 1 cup (115 g) carrots and peas, 1.5 tablespoons (10 g) homemade pav bhaji masala or storebought, and remaining half of the 2 teaspoons fine sea salt and mix and sauté all of the ingredients until the tomatoes release their juices and soften.
- Add 1 ¼ cups water into the pot and use this as a chance to thoroughly scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure that nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the diced 2 (412 g) russet potatoes and 3 cups (284 g) cauliflower florets into the mixture.
- Close the Instant Pot and set it to manual cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
- While the bhaji is cooking, slice 1 lemon in half. Squeeze lemon juice from half of the 1 lemon and set aside. Slice the other half of 1 lemon into wedges to serve as a garnish.
- Next, finely cut 4-5 sprigs cilantro and set aside for garnish.
- Once time is up, either allow the Instant Pot to depressurize or carefully let the steam out of the system yourself.
- Open the lid facing away from you, add in the squeezed lemon juice, and use a potato masher to mash all of the ingredients together to form a vegetable mash.
- Taste and adjust for salt.
Toast pav and serve
- Cut 18 homemade pav or store bought dinner rolls (dinner rolls) in half. Slather each half in copious amounts of butter.
- Toast pav on the stove on medium heat until the bread is golden brown. You want the pav to be saturated with butter!
- Serve the toasted pav with the bhaji on the side. Serve chopped cilantro, set aside lemon wedges, set aside raw onions, and butter on the side for guests to add onto the bhaji as needed. Enjoy pav by topping the bhaji with a sprinkling of cilantro, raw onions, and another squeeze of lemon juice. Slather more butter on the pav as desired, ripping the pav with your hands to scoop the bhaji and enjoy!
Notes and Tips
- (Note 1) Making homemade pav bhaji masala is key to a really tasty pav bhaji. If you are using store-bought pav bhaji masala, use the pav bhaji masala and add an extra ½ teaspoon of black salt to help elevate the tanginess of the bhaji.
- (Note 2) Homemade pav is so fresh and delicious compared to store-bought pav. For store-bought pav, King’s Hawaiian Rolls are my go-to with the caveat that they are slightly sweet. Alternatively, find fresh rolls in the bakery section of the grocery store or frozen rolls that you can bake at home for the best experience.
- The bhaji will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days.
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