Pav Bhaji (with Home made wheat pav)

The whole of last week went on hospital visits as I had fever, throat infection and cough. The weather is changing and this is the time when everyone gets sick in this part of the world. It was a boring week for me with very low energy levels. I am feeling much better now and hence thought of making this dish for dinner. I made the pav healthier with the addition of a large portion of whole wheat flour to a small portion of  all purpose flour. Though it is a bit heavier than the normal pav (all purpose flour one), it is much more healthier. The Bhaji came out extremely well and my daughter thoroughly enjoyed it. I adapted the Pav recipe from Spicy Aroma.

Ingredients for Pav (Wheat Dinner Rolls):

Method:

1. In a measuring jar, take 1/2 cup of Luke warm water and 1/2 cup of slightly warm coconut milk.  To this, add sugar and yeast. Keep it aside for 5 – 7 minutes for the yeast to activate.

2. In a mixing bowl, sift the wheat flour and all purpose flour with the salt added.

3. When the yeast is activated, add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture slowly and knead. Knead for at least 15 minutes until you get a soft dough. Add oil in between if necessary. Once the dough is ready, apply oil on top and leave it covered with a cling wrap for about 1.5 hours. I left it for more than 2 hours in a warm place.

4. After that, the dough would have risen to at least double its original size. Punch it down and knead again for 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 9 equal parts and roll them nicely. Arrange them on a baking pan and leave it for another 30 minutes to proof.

5. At this point, preheat your oven to 350F.

6. After 30 minutes, bake the pav for about 30 – 35 minutes or until it is done.

7. Cool the pav before serving.

The texture of the pav would be as shown below. There is definitely scope for improvement but still I was happy with this.

Ingredients for Bhaji:

Method:

1. Pressure cook all the vegetables until they are a bit overcooked.

2. In a pan, add oil. When the oil becomes hot, add onions. Allow the onions to brown a little. Add chopped ginger and garlic and saute till the raw smell is gone.

3. In a mixer, grind the tomato along with the red chillies. This gives a nice red colour to the dish. It is important to use Kashmiri red chillies to get the bright red colour.

4. Add this mixture to the pan. Let it cook for about 3 – 5 minutes so that the tomato loses its raw smell and taste.

5. Add Pav Bhaji masala, turmeric powder and red chilli powder (optional). Cook it in low flame till the oil oozes out.

6. Add the cooked vegetables with enough salt. Cook it on medium flame until you get the desired consistency. You can mash the vegetables if they are big. Add coriander leaves for flavour.

7. Add 1 tsp of sugar to adjust the taste if necessary.

8. Garnish with coriander leaves, chopped onions and sliced lemon.

8. Serve with home made pav.

Thanks a lot for taking your precious time out and checking my recipe. Please leave your comments below..