Pav Bhaji

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes, boiled
• 1 cup cauliflower, boiled
• 1 cup green peas, boiled
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 capsicum, chopped
• 3 tbsp pav bhaji masala
• 8 pav buns
• Butter, lemon, coriander, salt

Method

1. Melt a generous knob of butter in a wide, heavy pan and sauté the onion over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the capsicum and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down completely into a soft, pulpy mass with no firm pieces left.
2. Sprinkle in the pav bhaji masala and salt, add a small splash of water, and let it simmer for 5 minutes so the raw smell of the masala cooks off and the flavour deepens.
3. Add the boiled potato, cauliflower and peas. Using a potato masher, mash everything directly in the pan while it cooks — go for a mostly smooth texture with just a little chunkiness left, which gives the bhaji its classic street-style consistency.
4. Keep simmering, adding water a little at a time if it gets too thick, until you reach a soft, scoopable consistency — thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon but not stiff. Stir in a generous final knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice right at the end.
5. Slit the pav buns and toast them on a hot tawa with butter until golden on both cut sides. Serve the hot bhaji topped with a cube of butter, raw onion and coriander, with the toasted pav alongside.