Welcome to Pav Bhaji Masala. I am a Mumbai born and raised food blogger who has spent most of his life in the US. I dream of one day opening my own Indian restaurant, but until then I will share my love for cooking Indian food with you through this blog.
Pav bhaji is a popular street food that originated in Mumbai’s famed Dadar vegetable market. My take on pav bhaji is simple, spiced with lots of garlic and ginger, and cooked with fresh vegetables.
Pav Bhaji Masala is also about the ingredients and spices used in cooking pav bhaji. I will do my best to explain their origins and recipes as well as how to use them in cooking.
When it comes to Indian food, there are plenty of myths about the ingredients used, especially spices. These myths have been perpetuated by generations of unscrupulous spice merchants who have made a fortune by convincing households across India to buy expensive, substandard masalas that are past their prime or simply fake. I hope to do my part in busting these myths through this blog while sharing interesting stories about the origins of these spices and masalas.
And finally, Pav Bhaji Masala is about me: A self-taught
Pav Bhaji Masala is a spice blend used to make the dish also called pav bhaji. It’s a traditional Indian street food, and is usually served in a bread roll known as “pav” or more often these days in a burger bun.
This blog is about the ingredients and history of this spicy snack dish. Read more about it…
Pav bhaji masala is made from a number of different spices depending on where you live in India. Some recipes include coriander seeds, coconut powder and red chilli powder; others have no coconut but have carom seeds instead. There are also variations in the proportions of each ingredient, as well as some cooks who add no black peppercorns at all.
The reasons for these differences are lost in time but several theories exist. Some say that the recipe was invented by Indo-Portuguese cooks and brought to India by the Portuguese; others say that there are two different recipes, one with coconut and another without, that originated in two different regions of India; others say it’s just down to local variations in taste and availability of ingredients.
I’m trying to find out which of these theories is true, or if there might be another explanation altogether. You can read more
The spice blend used to make the popular Indian street food pav bhaji is called pav bhaji masala. I blog about the ingredients in this spice blend and other ingredients used in making this dish.
I also post recipes for making it at home, and for other Indian street foods like pani puri, dahi puri, kachori, and aloo tikki chaat. I also post information about recipes from scratch and how to make your own spice blends from whole spices.
The site is about traditional Indian cuisine, including vegetarian recipes and recipes with no onion or garlic.
Homepage: http://www.pavbhaji-masala.com
The internet is full of recipes for pav bhaji masala. But what is it? What does it taste like?
I was born in Delhi, and grew up eating pav bhaji, as did my parents and their parents before them. For me, Pav Bhaji Masala (or Pav Bhaaji Masala) is the spice mix that goes into the curry at the heart of this dish. It’s not just a spice mix: it’s the spice mix, if you will excuse my lack of humility – because I am not a chef or a food writer or well-traveled gastro-tourist, but just a guy who loves this one particular dish and wants to share his thoughts on it with anyone who is interested.
Pav bhaji masala is not something you can buy in a packet. It’s something you have to make yourself. And every household has their own recipe for it.
This blog is about my family’s recipe for pav bhaji masala, and some other aspects of cooking that I find interesting. I hope you find it interesting too.*
There are many ways to cook Pav Bhaji, but my recipe is for the simple home cook. It’s straightforward and delicious. It’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables.
While you can use store bought pav bhaji masala, I encourage you to make your own. It’s easy and it will make your home smell amazing!
I have included a link below for the recipe I use. Let me know what you think or if you would like to see anything different in the future!
Pav Bhaji Masala Recipe: http://cookingwithspice.com/2009/06/16/homemade-pav-bhaji-masala/
pav bhaji masala is a spice mix that creates the flavor of the popular Indian street food dish, pav bhaji. This spice mix consists of fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds and is different from garam masala. The word masala means mixture and is used in Indian cuisine to describe a mixture of spices.
If you are looking for a recipe for pav bhaji, you probably want something that tastes like the dish served at your favorite Indian restaurant or takeout place. The flavor varies depending on what part of India it comes from and which restaurant serves it, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how to make it at home. One way to get a similar flavor is to use this spice mix in place of garam masala when making the curry for your pav bhaji. You can also use this spice mix in any other dish that calls for garam masala, or even add it to meat marinades before cooking.
Pav, bhaji and masala are all words to describe different parts of the same dish. Pav is a soft bread roll, bhaji is vegetables cooked with spices and butter (bhaji means vegetables in Punjabi) and masala generally refers to a mix of spices.
The dish’s origins lie in an Anglo-Indian dish called Bombay Mix, which was invented by the British army. In India itself pav bhaji is a relatively recent phenomenon. It’s said to have been invented by a cook who worked at Mumbai’s Kew Garden restaurant in the 1920s. The owner of the restaurant let him use some of the leftover bhaji and he added it to some bread rolls which he sold to passers-by from a stall near the restaurant.
Tandoori bread or naan bread is usually used for pav bhaji in India, but in western countries you’ll often find it served on regular white or brown bread rolls. This doesn’t detract from its deliciousness, but it does make it harder to identify when you’re abroad!
Butter plays an important role in pav bhaji – not only does it add richness, but because the dish doesn’t have any tomato-based sauce like ketchup or chut
