When my son Bodhi asks me for “Paabhaji”, I know he means this vegan Keema Pau Bhaji. It’s a combination of 7 vegetables and plant-based soy mince served with fluffy bread buns, or Pau.

Homemade Pau Bhaji Masala vs. Shop Bought

I like to make my own homemade Pau Bhaji Masala instead of shop bought. It makes a huge difference! I have included my recipe for both the Keema Pau Bhaji and Masala below.

If you’re super short of time, shop-bought Pau Bhaji Masala will work just fine. However, if you do have time, I recommend trying this homemade Pau Bhaji Masala recipe. It’s so beautifully aromatic.

What kind of vegetables can I use for Bodhi’s Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan)

There is no definitive answer! Throw in every last vegetable scrap you have because it’s going to get mashed into a delicious buttery lava anyway. My favourite additions include (but are not limited to): Cauliflower, peas, sweet potato, carrots, red peppers, onions and tomatoes.

Having said this, you can also add any of the following: Aubergine, green beans, potatoes, turnips, broccoli, squash, corn and leafy greens. Use what you have or what’s in season.

Why isn’t my Pau Bhaji red in colour?

I typically add in some sweet potatoes for colour and sweetness without having to add sugar or food colouring. It’s very common for some street vendors to add red food colouring to their Bhaji for a rich appearance.

You can add it if you like but I think the colour of the sweet potatoes and tomatoes does a good enough job. The choice is yours.

How to serve this Vegan Keema Pau Bhaji

This is one of those dishes where the garnishes are as important as the main component of the food itself. Don’t skip the lemon wedges, finely diced red onions, tomatoes and coriander topping. And don’t skip the extra butter on top either. It adds the special touch. Even Bodhi knows when the garnishes are missing and he’s only two!

What kind of bread should I use?

Finally, the bread rolls (pau/pav/pão) must be soft, white and most importantly, cheap. Don’t get fancy with artisan rolls from a French bakery. If you must, your regular sliced white is better than the posh, crusty stuff.

In the end, the bread is a crispy carrier for spicy, melt-in-the-mouth vegetable and soy mince curry.

How to make Bodhi’s Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan)

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Bodhi’s Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan)

When my son Bodhi asks me for "Paabhaji", I know he means this vegan Keema Pau Bhaji. It's a combination of 7 vegetables and plant-based soy mince served with fluffy bread buns, or Pau.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword curry, soy mince, street food, vegan, vegetables

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

For the bhaji:

• 400 g frozen soy mince or reconstituted from dried
• 200 g peas frozen is fine
• 200 g sweet potatoes peeled and diced
• 150 g cauliflower finely chopped
• 150 g carrot peeled and finely diced
• 150 g red peppers finely diced
• 400 g tomatoes diced
• 100 g vegan butter
• 1 large red onion finely diced
• 4 large cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
• 5 cm piece ginger peeled and grated
• 300 ml water
• Salt to taste

For the pau bhaji masala:

• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 cardamom pods seeds crushed
• 1/2 tsp amchur dried mango powder

To garnish:

• 1 red onion finely diced
• 2 large vine tomatoes finely diced
• 50 g fresh coriander chopped
• Lemon wedges for serving
• 25 g vegan butter

For the pau:

• 12 soft white bread rolls
• 100 g vegan butter softened

Instructions

For the bhaji:

• In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the pau bhaji masala. It will look like a lot but you will need to use it all, trust me.
• Melt the 100g butter in a large, heavy-based pan. Add the onions, bay leaves and salt and sauté until slightly browned, about 10 minutes. The salt will draw out moisture from the onions and help them to brown quickly.
• Add the garlic and sauté briefly, about 30 seconds. Next, add in the soy mince and sauté for 5 minutes until slightly browned. Add the tinned tomatoes, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, peppers, pau bhaji masala and water. Give everything a good stir and cover with a lid. Cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. If it starts to dry out, add more water and continue to cook until everything is very tender.
• Switch the heat off and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Now, add the reserved 50g of vegan butter, grab a potato masher and give everything a good mash until it resembles a coarse purée. Adjust the consistency by adding more water if necessary. It should be slightly runny, like lava. Add salt and continue to mash until well incorporated.
• Return the pan to the heat with the lid on and simmer over a low heat for 15-20 minutes.

To prepare the pau:

• Slather both sides of the rolls with butter and toast in a frying pan until golden all over.

To serve:

• Sprinkle the onions, tomatoes and coriander over the top of the pau bhaji. Serve with more onion, tomato and coriander, as well as extra butter, lemon wedges and the toasted pau. Chilli lovers can also top with chopped fresh chillies if they dare.

Notes

• This is a great make-ahead dish. Keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 6 months. Defrost at room temperature and reheat thoroughly before serving.
• You can make this ahead of the time and keep warm in a slow cooker for up to 12 hours. The flavours will be incredible.

 

Pin it for later!

If you like this, you’ll love this recipe for Tofu Tikka Masala

Love Sanjana

The post Bodhi’s Keema Pau Bhaji (Vegan) appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

Paired with rotli, stuffed vegetable curry and rice, it’s always been our staple Sunday lunch.

What is Gujarati Daal?

Gujarati daal is made with oily tuver daal (arhar), also known split pigeon peas. They are dried and coated in a slick of oil to preserve them for months, even years.

This makes tuver the ultimate pantry ingredient to have on standby when the contents of your fridge is looking sparse.

Tip: Always wash your daal!

Always wash daal to rinse away oil. As a child my mother would keep me occupied by placing a bowl of tuver daal in warm water in front of me so I could swish and swoosh the oil away. It was the ultimate sensory activity for a bored little monkey like me, and something I still find utterly cathartic today.

Unlike many other regional Indian daal recipes, you pass the mixture through a sieve. Next, add the golden liquid to tempered spices, nuts and tomatoes.

Important!

Simmer it low and slow. Be heavy-handed with the seasoning: lemon juice, jaggery and salt are your friends because they are what gives Gujarati daal life. Serve as part of a larger meal or simply in a bowl with boiled rice.

My favourite part are the simmered peanuts and cashews which become extremely tender and melt in your mouth.

How to make One-Pot Daal Dhokli

Enter Daal Dhokli. A hand-rolled, wheat flour and chickpea flour pasta that’s dropped into a simmering pot of daal.

It’s more of a stew than a soup and considered a comfort food by many. I find adding a little chickpea flour to the Dhokli dough gives the cooked noodles a welcome firmness so they hold their shape in the daal.

If you like your pasta al dente, give it a go. This is a dish that’s unique to western India and a true food hero.

My mother always cut out pretty diamond-shapes. Although, every family, from Maharashtra through to Gujarat and Rajasthan, have their own unique way of making it.

Flavour star: Ajwain

Daal Dhokli is a true one-pot wonder. It’s packed with mouth-puckering hot, sweet and sour flavours, good protein and comforting carbs. The spicing is gentle and aromatic with star anise, cinnamon, cloves and ajwain-flecked pasta.

The yellow colour of the Dhokli predominantly comes from turmeric but the flavour is unequivocally down to the addition ajwain seeds. Having said this, if I have fresh ajwain leaves to hand, I add them to the dough for unbeatable peppery freshness.

Daal Dhokli is often made with leftover daal. Simply add water, more lemon, salt and jaggery, bring to a rolling boil and drop in the pieces of Dhokli. Because who said leftovers can’t be special?

More Ideas for One-Pot Daal Dhokli

• Add 250g fresh or frozen peas towards the end for a version called Matar Dhokli.
• Serve with steamed rice for a double-carb comfort feast or add in a few handfuls of spinach leaves if you like plenty of greens.
• Finally, my favourite way to enjoy it is with a swirl of thick Greek yoghurt and fresh coriander chutney.

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One-Pot Daal Dhokli

Not only is this daal from Western India a one-pot wonder, it’s also packed with mouth-puckering hot, sweet and sour flavours, good protein and comforting carbs. The spicing is gentle and aromatic with star anise, cinnamon, cloves and ajwain-flecked pasta.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword chickpea, daal, gujarati, indian sweets, lentils, pasta, soup, stew, vegan

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

For the daal:

• 200 g oily tuver daal also known as split pigeon peas
• 2 1/2 L hot water
• 1 1/2 tbsp grated ginger
• 2-3 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• Juice of two large lemons
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp jaggery or brown sugar
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander

To temper the daal:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 2- inch cinnamon stick
• 5-6 curry leaves
• ¼ tsp asafoetida hing
• 2 star anise
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 8 peanuts whole
• 8 cashew nuts

For the chickpea pasta (dhokli)

• 90 g chickpea flour besan
• 125 g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp ajwain
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 75 ml boiling water

Instructions

• Boil the daal in a large pot of water (around 1.5L) until very soft and tender, about 40 minutes. You can also use a pressure cooker or an Instant Pot for this if you have them. Note that it will take less time if you use the latter. Allow to cool slightly and then pass through a sieve into a large bowl to ensure a smooth, golden liquid. You can also use an immersion blender for this. Don't skip this step as a smooth consistency is what makes for a good Gujarati daal.
• Give the pan a rinse and quick dry. Heat the oil in the pan and add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to crackle and then add the cumin seeds, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, curry leaves, nuts and asafoetida in quick succession. Stir briefly.
• Quickly add the ginger, chillies, tomatoes, turmeric and ground cinnamon. Cook for 5 minutes and then pour in the liquid daal and 1L water. It might sizzle and splutter a little so work carefully. Season with lemon juice, salt and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes whilst you get on with making the dough for the dhokli.

For the chickpea pasta (dhokli):

• In a bowl mix all of the ingredients for the dhokli and knead into a firm, smooth dough, about 8 minutes by hand. Cover the dough with a clean, damp tea towel and rest for 10 minutes.
• Divide the dough into four portions and roll out (using extra plain flour) into something resembling a thick chapatti, around 2mm thick. Cut the dough lengthways from the left, and then across from the right, into diamond shapes. TIP: I use a pizza cutter for quick and clean shapes. Set aside and repeat for the rest of the dough. You'll have a few scraps of dough at the edges of each round. You can add them in as they are.
• Bring the daal to a rapid rolling boil and one by one drop in all the diamond shaped dhoklis. Remember to keep the daal at a constant rolling boil so the dhokli don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir them gently to avoid sticking. You may need to add extra boiling water as it is likely to thicken while the dhokli is cooking. This is normal. When you have done taste it to make sure it's spicy, sweet and sour.
• Ladle into bowls and top with fresh coriander.

Notes

Pack leftovers away into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 48 hours. The Daal Dhokli will thicken once cool so when reheating, you’ll need to add some extra water to bring it back to a stew-like consistency. Reheat in a saucepan, stirring often to avoid sticking.

Freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Love Sanjana

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For me, the Indian food of East Africa is some of the most delicious food that exists. There’s no shying away from scorching hot chillies and the tang of lemon. This combo seasons everything you eat, wherever you go and whatever you order. From raw mangos on the beach, to fire-roasted maize and fried cassava chips on the salty-aired streets, it’s the typical seasoning Kenya’s rustic coastal towns. I hope to visit India to enjoy street-style Pau Bhaji in its birthplace of Maharashtra, India, but my first experience of eating this iconic street dish was in Kenya, the home of my Indian immigrant grandparents.

Pau Bhaji is a great dish to make for big get-togethers. It’s easy to scale the recipe up to feed more, since the rolls (pav) are almost always shop-bought and making more curry (bhaji) simply requires doubling up the veggies and sliding in some more masala.

My Pau Bhaji masala is magic dust. Not only is it a beautiful blend for this buttery vegetable dish, it also makes daal more delicious and peps up any Pulao (Indian fried rice). I often make up a triple batch of the masala recipe below and store it in an airtight container for using in other dishes. For this recipe, just work with the measurements below and use it all in the Bhaji recipe. It might look excessive but trust me, your buttery veggies are crying out for some spice.

The beauty of Pau Bhaji is that you can use any vegetables you like, since they’re all getting mashed like crazy anyway. The most common ones are potatoes, cauliflower, peas and carrots. This also happens to be my favourite combination but feel free to add red peppers, aubergine and green beans if you like those. I typically add in some sweet potatoes for colour and sweetness without having to add sugar or food colouring. It’s very common for some street vendors to add red food colouring to their Bhaji for a rich appearance. I find a combination of tomato passata (sieved tomatoes), sweet potatoes, turmeric and Kashmiri chilli powder do a great job of giving my bhaji a deliciously-deep colour without having to do that. Use your judgment and add it if you like though.

This is one of those dishes where the garnishes are as important as the main component of the food itself. Don’t skip the lemon wedges, finely diced red onions, tomatoes and coriander topping. And don’t skip the extra butter on top either. It adds the special, indulgent touch that separates good Pau Bhaji from average Pau Bhaji. Nobody likes average Pau Bhaji.

Lastly, the bread must be soft, white and most importantly, cheap rolls. Don’t get fancy with artisan rolls from a French bakery. The rolls are going to get bathed in salty butter anyway (the best kind of bath, IMO). In the end, they’re a crispy carrier for spicy, melt-in-the-mouth vegetable lava and erm… even more butter.

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Melt-in-the-Mouth Butter Pau Bhaji

Slow cooked vegetable masala cooked with plenty of butter and served with fluffy buns. It’s no wonder Pau Bhaji is one of India’s most famous street food dishes.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword curry, street food, vegetables, vegetarian

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 250 g potatoes boiled, peeled and roughly cubed
• 200 g cauliflower stalks removed and chopped
• 150 g sweet potato boiled, peeled and roughly chopped
• 100 g carrots peeled and finely diced
• 100 g peas
• 500 g passata
• 100 g salted butter + 50g for mashing in once cooked
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 large red onion finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 500 ml water
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp salt

For the pau bhaji masala:

• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground fennel seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 cardamom pods seeds crushed

To garnish:

• 1 red onion finely diced
• 2 large vine tomatoes finely diced
• 50 g fresh coriander chopped
• Lemon wedges for serving
• 50 g salted butter
• Fresh chillies chopped (optional)

For the pau:

• 12 soft white bread rolls
• 100 g salted butter softened

Instructions

For the bhaji:

• In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the pau bhaji masala. It will look like a lot but you will need to use it all, trust me.
• Melt the 100g butter in a large, heavy-based pan. Add the onions, bay leaves and salt and sauté until slightly browned, about 10 minutes. The salt will draw out moisture from the onions and help them to brown quickly.
• Add the garlic and sauté briefly, about 30 seconds. Next, add in the passata, cauliflower, cooked potatoes, cooked sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, pau bhaji masala and water. Give everything a good stir and cover with a lid. Cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. If it starts to dry out, add more water and continue to cook until everything is very tender.
• Switch the heat off and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Now, add the reserved 50g of butter, grab a potato masher and give everything a good mash until it resembles a coarse purée. Adjust the consistency by adding more water if necessary. It should be slightly runny, like lava. Add salt and lemon juice and continue to mash until well incorporated.
• Return the pan to the heat with the lid on and simmer over a low heat for 15-20 minutes.

To prepare the pau:

• Slather both sides of the rolls with butter and toast in a frying pan until golden all over.

Notes

Sprinkle the onions, tomatoes and coriander over the top of the pau bhaji. Serve with more onion, tomato and coriander, as well as extra butter, lemon wedges and the toasted pau. Chilli lovers can also top with chopped fresh chillies if they dare.

Love Sanjana

The post Melt-in-the-Mouth Butter Pau Bhaji appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

Stuffed with rich coconut, pistachios and paneer before being baked in a tomato masala containing no fewer than eleven incredible spices (important: in small amounts) to create a beautifully balanced, aromatic aubergine experience.

You’ve probably worked out by now that I’m a total aubergine fiend, always thinking about where my next fix is coming from. Whether it’s Slow Cooker Aubergine Makhani or the love of my life, Burnt Aubergine and Spinach Curry, I’m obsessed.

Kolhapuri Vegetables and Kolhapuri Chicken are popular dishes from, you guessed it, Kolhapur, Maharashtra in India. These curries are notoriously spicy and almost always contain a killer combo of crimson Kashmiri chillies, black pepper and poppy seeds.

I’ve played about with the masala recipe to come up with my own blend, which I think lends the ultimate kick to vegetarian dishes. Meat eaters won’t even complain. The masala recipe makes double the amount you’ll need for this recipe but I like to keep some in an airtight container in the fridge for later. It’s amazing sprinkled into pasta sauce, over crispy fries and in spicy soups.

If you don’t have baby aubergines, you can omit the stuffing part and roast regular, cubed aubergines before adding to the sauce and simmering for 20 minutes. The sauce base is also delicious with regular white chickpeas (serve with Masala Poori), potatoes or mixed mushrooms and sweetcorn.

Be creative and play around with it until you find your favourite combinations. This one is mine.

Stuffed and Baked Baby Kolhapuri Aubergines
(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

16 long baby aubergines, washed and dried

For the Kolhapuri masala:

3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut
2 tsp red Kashmiri chilli powder
2 tbsp white poppy seeds or sesame seeds
4 curry leaves
1 tbsp fennel seeds
½ tsp nigella seeds
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp salt

For the Pistachio and Coconut filling:

100g unsweetened desiccated coconut
30g unsalted pistachios
100g paneer, grated (replace with an additional 70g unsweetened desiccated coconut and 30g unsalted pistachios if vegan)
1 tsp amchur (dried mango powder)
1 tsp white pepper
¼ tsp salt

For the Sauce:

2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 large onions, finely sliced
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp Kolhapuri masala
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar

400ml water

Fresh coriander and sliced red chillies, to garnish
Paratha and optional plain yoghurt to serve

Method

1. Begin by making the filling. Toast the pistachios and desiccated coconut in a dry non-stick pan until golden and aromatic. Transfer to a food processor and pulse to a crumb-like texture. Transfer to a bowl and add the grated paneer, amchur, white pepper and salt. Stir to combine well. Set aside.

2. To make the Kolhapuri masala, blend all of the ingredients together in a coffee grinder or food processor until fine. Set aside. This will make twice as much masala as you’ll need for this recipe but I love to stash it away in the fridge in a sealed container to sprinkle over fries (guilty pleasure alert!)

3. Next, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and add the sliced onions. Allow to soften, about 8 minutes. Don’t let them get too brown. Add the tomatoes, 4 tablespoons of Kolhapuri masala, water, salt and sugar. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on a low heat for 20-30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, slit the aubergines lengthways not slicing all the way through. Stuff each aubergine with the pistachio and coconut masala.

5. Make yourself a cup of tea and pre-heat the oven to 190C.

6. Take four cast iron skillets or any deep, large baking dish and pour in the sauce. Arrange the aubergines on top of the sauce and bake for 60 minutes until the aubgerines are tender all the way through.

7. Serve with flaky paratha, a bowl of cold natural yoghurt and nothing more.

Love Sanjana

The post Stuffed and Baked Baby Kolhapuri Aubergines appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

If you love Pau Bhaji with heaps of creamy butter as much as I do, I hope you’ll love my article for FN UK’s blog in honour of all things street food.

You discover what happened when I cooked up some Pau Bhaji in their test kitchen and my experience eating Pau Bhaji on the street in one of my most favourite Indian food cities, Leicester. 

I was sitting on a burning wall devouring £3.50 worth of hot, spicy Pau Bhaji. It was heavily spiced but not with chillies – the intense heat came from a medley of ground cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and fennel seeds. The bread was hot, buttery and perfect for scooping up the delicious bhaji.

Now, I’ve tasted great Pau Bhajis in the past and I’ve also made good Pau Bhajis, but the truth is that I much prefer it when someone else makes the effort to sizzle some up for me.

Any takers?

Read the article here.

Get the recipe here.

FYI, my mouth is already watering thinking about the next post which I will tell you involves potatoes and a simple blend of spices. See you this weekend!

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