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Pav Bhaji Recipe Instant Pot | Mumbai Pav Bhaji Recipe – This Easy Instant Pot Pav Bhaji is a medley of mashed & spiced vegetables enjoyed with Pav or Dinner Rolls. Pav Bhaji is a popular Indian street food. We can prepare Pav Bhaji in an instant pot or stovetop using pressure cooker.

What are Pav Bhaji Ingredients?

Pav Bhaji has two components:

The first component is the Pav – These are nothing but dinner rolls. In India, they are eggless rolls which can be easily found at any Indian grocery store. However you can choose to use any kind of diner rolls or burger buns or even brioche for pav bhaji. Or just enjoy it with your regular sliced bread. Whether you want to buy the Pav or make your own is your choice. Nothing can beat freshly made homemade pav. Click HERE for the recipe to make Pav and trust me once you start making your own pavs, you will stop buying them from the market.

Homemade Eggless Ladi Pav

The second component is the Bhaji – It is made from potatoes and mixed vegetables cooked in a tomato onion base. The main vegetables to use for Pav Bhaji are – cauliflower, green peas, carrots, Capsicum (or bell pepper). The best part I like about making Mumbai Pav Bhaji, is that you don’t have to be super precise in your initial prep and chopping. A great combination of nutritious mixed vegetables in a lip-smacking tomato base, Pav Bhaji is definitely one of the best ways to get your kids eat their veggies.

The secret to the aromatic street style Pav Bhaji lies in Masala and Pav Bhaji is famous enough to have its own unique spice blend which gives that extra kick to the bhaji. Why buy from outside when you can easily make your own pav bhaji masala at home? HERE is my secret to make the best ever masala!! But, you can always buy the ready pav bhaji masala from the store. If you don’t have pav bhaji masala at home and are craving for some pav bhaji, then you can make pav bhaji masala at home.

Homemade Pav Bhaji Masala

Easy Steps to follow for

Pav Bhaji Instant Pot

How to make Pav Bhaji in Instant Pot?

Start instant pot in sauté mode and heat butter (I used a mix of oil & butter) in it. I suggest to cook bhaji in butter to enjoy the real Mumbai bhaji taste.
Add cumin seeds, finely chopped ginger, garlic 7 green chillies. Sauté for a minute & then add chopped onion. Sauté for about 2 minutes until translucent. Then add in all the vegetables, turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder and salt. Mix well and sauté for another 2 minutes. Again here, I used red bell peppers to enhance the red colour of the bhaji but you can use any colour capsicum. Add pav bhaji masala and some coriander. Mix well.
Then add 1..5 cups water and mix well, scraping loose any browned bits from the pot bottom.
Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing position. Press the Cancel button to reset the cooking program, then select the Pressure Cook or Manual setting and set the cooking time for 6 minutes at high pressure.
When the instant pot beeps, release the pressure naturally for 2 minutes. Then, perform a quick release by moving the Pressure Release to Venting. Open the pot.
Select the normal Sauté setting and mash all the veggies with a potato masher to the desired consistency. Add a teaspoon of pav bhaji masala & half a teaspoon sugar. Let the bhaji boil for 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.
Press the Cancel button to turn off the Instant Pot.
Crush & sprinkle some kasoori methi. Garnish with some coriander & add in a dollop of butter.
Bhaji is ready to be served.

How to make Pav Bhaji in Pressure Cooker?

Traditionally, Bhaji is prepared as a two step process. The vegetables (potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, peas) are boiled until very soft in a pot or a pressure cooker. Then separately in a fry pan, masala with onions and tomatoes is prepared and then the boiled mashed vegetables are added to the masala. Click HERE to get the detailed recipe to make Pav Bhaji in the pressure cooker. The main difference from the above method for instant pot is the pressure cooking time on stovetop. There is no difference in the taste though!!

Toasting Pav Buns:

Heat the pan on medium heat. Meanwhile cut the pav into half (not all the way through, keep the two slices intact). Once the pan is hot, add little butter,
Place the pav on it. While the bottom side is getting toasted, apply butter on top.
Once the bottom is light brown, flip with spatula and toast the other side.
Close the pav, remove from the pan, and serve with bhaji.
Optionally, you can apply some bhaji to the inner side of the bun and toast. Check video for better understanding.
Pav is ready to be served with the bhaji.

How to serve Pav Bhaji?

Spoon 1-2 ladles of the bhaji onto plates or into a bowl. Sprinkle some chopped red onions, coriander and top with a dollop of butter. Serve the toasted buns along with lime wedges on the side. The texture of the soft yet toasty bread with its crispy edges is such a nice contrast to the bhaji.

Print Recipe

Mumbai Pav Bhaji Recipe Instant Pot | Pav Bhaji Recipe Mumbai Street Style

Pav Bhaji Recipe Instant Pot - Pav bhaji, a popular Indian street food is a medley of mashed & spiced vegetables enjoyed with pav or dinner rolls.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Main Course / Side dish, Snack / Street food

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Pav Bhaji Instant Pot, Mumbai Pav Bhaji, Pav Bhaji

Servings: 6

Author: Padma Veeranki

Ingredients

1 tbsp Oil
2 tbsp Butter Divided
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 inch Ginger Minced
4 Garlic Pods Minced
2 Green Chillies Finely Chopped
1 Large Onion Finely Chopped
3 Medium Potatoes Peeled & Cubed
1/2 Head of Cauliflower Cut into big florets
1 Small Capsicum Chopped
3/4 Cup Green Peas Frozen or Fresh
1 Large Carrot Peeled & Cubed
3 Tomatoes Roughly Chopped
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala Homemade or store bought, Divided
1 to 1.5 Cups Water
Handful Fresh Coriander Finely Chopped, divided
1/2 tsp Kasoori Methi Crushed

For Pav:

10 Pavs or Dinner rolls
2 tbsp Butter

To Garnish:

1/2 Red Onion Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Coriander Finely Chopped