August 23, 2007

Express Meals 2 :Pav Bhaji



Somewhere in between the avalanche of entries, I realised that all the express recipes I had planned to blog got sidelined and are still sitting on the shelf. Its great to have plans but not so easy to get around to executing it. So while I struggle with the round up for the Express Cooking Event, here is one of my express meals...Pav Bhaji..

Pav Bhaji is not at all familiar to a true Keralite and I attribute my fondness for it to my stay in amchi Mumbai some light years ago. Those were the worry free days of long commutes and fun weekends hitting the city for a dinner and a movie.

Pav Bhaji falls somewhere in between a dinner and a snack..a heavy snack in fact before the movie. The sight itself is very appealing....The vegetables simmering on a large wide cast iron skillet, with pavs getting toasted on the corners, with the vendor adding more and more butter and breaking down the clumps, making the tak tak sound each time.
There the overwhelming fragrance of butter permeated the pav and the mashed vegetables and as if that wasn't enough, they placed a blob of the rich stuff on the bhaji just before serving! Call it junk food or street food Indian ishtyle but its actually a very wholesome meal..Buttered Pav or bread and a whole lot of vegetables slow cooked with spices and smashed together, topped with fresh cilantro, raw onions and lime wedges. Without realising, everybody ends up eating all kinds of veggies!

I tried out a lot of pav bhaji recipes before settling for Nupur's version of it which I feel comes closest to the Bombaiyya taste I was searching for. Thanks Nupur!
So just follow the recipe as is: Nupur's Pav Bhaji
So how express is it?
No onions, so no peeling and cutting. Ideally should be slow cooked but coarsely chopped all the veggies and let it cook all together in a pressure cooker while sauteing the peppers and spices in a pan simultaneously. The tomatoes got blended for a second to break them down.
Sometimes I use canned crushed tomatoes instead. After the tomato puree has thickened, I added the cooked veggies to the pan and let it simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat. Serve with hot buttered Pav or as shown here, whole wheat burger buns. It really doesn't take more than 20-30 minutes.

On another note, Who doesn't like awards? The blogosphere is agog with awards nowadays and its good to see them to keep the morale up...all in good fun..
I gotto keep smiling as I got the Rocking Gal Award from not one but three fellow blogger friends!! Viji of Malabar Ruchi, Mandira of Ahaar and Sra of When my soup came alive think so..:)So I didn't really miss the Rock n Roll era, did I?
SO I would like to pass this onto:
Nabeela of Trial n Error
Nandita of Saffron Trail
Shn of Mishmash


Then Daily Musings went on to award me the schmooze award What is that, I wondererd...schmooze.. the word is so wrong...when I checked it up, it saidSlang... To converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection!!!....(I thot it was a weird one, saying I buttered up pavs till I read what it was about..):)Knowing Indosungod, I had to find out the real meaning of this funny award... Now I am humbled and a bit pink too!!

The Power of Schmooze Award is for bloggers who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

This award has probably been awarded to Asha, but I feel like conferring it again on her..
Asha of Foodie's Hope.
Jyo of Curry Bazaar
Chandrika of Akshayapatra

26 comments:

Sig said...

hehe the schmoozer one really scares you at first doesn't it? Congrats shaheen, rock on, and schmooze on too... :)

bha said...

Pav bhaji pic looks nice....congrats for your awards...

Mishmash ! said...

Thanks for experimenting with the express version and sharing with us....:)) I am waiting for the round up....:P
Heheh...now u re the third one to give me that rocking title...so I havent missed that Rock n Roll era too..eh.:))))

Linda said...

Pav Bhaji looks wonderful S -- look forward to seeing your express cooking round up when you get around to it - summertime days surely get away from us :)

bee said...

nupur's recipe is the best. i agree. you deserve all those awards. you rock!!!

archana said...

Even I consider this the best express meal one can make within 30 min. So tasty and satisfying. I follow Nupur's recipe too.Omitting onion really saves time :)
Pav bhaji is looking very nice. Now I am tempted to make it this weekend :)

archana said...

Congrats for the awards :) The pav bhaji was hovering in my mind :)so i forgot to mention it in my previous comment.

Raaga said...

Congrats Shaheen :-)

Now we await the round up :-)

J said...

Entha, American Stretchable Time aano?? I thought the deadline is over :) Now why didn't I think of pavbhaji!! I make it all the time. An important part of my Mumbaiyya upbringing I guess. I do the frying in the cooker itself and add the vegs and let it whistle away. Yes, it's ready under 30 mins and not much to clean :D

Hey thanks for the award. And I was going to pass mine to you in the next post :)

FH said...

Pav Bhaji rocks.One of my fave.Actually, I make it for dinner.Kids love it like a burger too,so they don't fuss!:)
Enjoy the award ,you do rock girl.
Thanks for Schmoozing me too!:D

Shah cooks said...

sig, u hit the nail on the head!

Bhags, thanks!

Shn, rock on gal. Nowadays I only make the express version.

Linda, summer is almost over, an dI can't believe it. Round up will be on monday.

Bee, u are the sweetest. I was going to pass on the award to u but saw u already holding one.
Nupur's recipe is the best.

Archana..great that u agree.. we shoul have a vote on the most express andsatisfying meal.:)
Thanks!

Raaga, Thanks.. hang in there.. u are the one who is delaying me with all ur entries.. just kidding.

JYo, AST thanne. I don't know if I should include it in the round up or not, but just posted it all the same. heh, heh, i thot u would post the pav bhaji but since it slipped ur mind, decided not to remind u.:)

Pravs said...

Congrats shaheen on both the awards. Pav bhaji looks really good.
I was away travelling and didn't get to do much cooking...so just wanna know if the deadline for express cooking is done with or if i still have a chance ?

Bharathy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bharathy said...

Pav Bhaji Looks great!!
I see you everywhere in blogosphere for the past few days...which makes me feel GREATER!!!:)..
(..coz I know you might be busy receiving entries for the event and working hard on the round up...can't wait to see the crowwwwded fabulous entries!!)

Congrats for your awards!!!

Viji said...

Shaheen, the Pav Bhaji has become an express meal now :) Great. Congrats for the awards dear. Viji

bee said...

happy onam, dear shaheen. mahabali loves margaritas. really ... :D

archana said...

Onasamsakal Shaheen !

sra said...

And here I was, thinking I was the only event-sluggish blogger! So true, you first para! Congrats on your awards!

Anonymous said...

Happy Onam!! And Congratz on the awards :)

Bharathy said...

Happy Onam to you too!!:)

Chandrika said...

Happy Onam Shaheen! Pav Bhaji looks delicious..Congrats and thank you for the award.

Seena said...

Onashamsakal Shaheen!

Padma said...

Congrats Shaheen and Pav bhaji is on eof my fav's too!

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS SHAHEEN !! Where's the party?! :-) Keep going..

www.monaafzal.wordpress.com

Unknown said...

thanks for that award, just noticed now...and was wondering that until Raaga gave me one, i was the only girl without an award in entire blogosphere LOL!!!
Hugs
PB is my favourite - not peanut butter, apna pav bhaji!!

Nupur said...

Thank you for trying the pav-bhaji recipe, S! I am so glad you enjoyed it!