Pav Bhaji

(makes 3 cups bhaji, about 2 servings)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. canola or olive oil

1/4 tsp. whole mustard seeds (rai)

1/4 tsp. whole cumin seeds (jeera or jeeru)

1 c. (4 oz.) finely chopped onion, divided

1 c. (6 oz. ) peeled & finely chopped potato (I used small red today because that's what I had on hand, but any type will work)

1 c. (4 oz. frozen) finely chopped cauliflower, thawed if using frozen

1/2 c. (2.5 oz.) finely chopped carrots

~1/2 c. water

1 medium (7 oz.) tomato, chopped, or 1/2 of a 15-oz. can petite diced tomatoes

1/8 tsp. turmeric powder

1/8 tsp. red chili powder

2 tsp. pav bhaji masala (sold at most Indian grocery stores)

salt to taste

2 tbsp. + 1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. tomato paste (optional - use it if you have some around, but it's not worth opening a fresh can just for this)

1/2 c. (3 oz. frozen) peas, thawed to room temperature if using frozen

1/2 c. (0.75 oz.) chopped fresh cilantro, divided

ground pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a large nonstick pot over medium-high heat. Add mustard & cumin seeds, let them heat up just until they start to crackle & pop. Add potato, cauliflower, 1/2 c. onion & carrots. Sautee 2-3 minutes, add 1/2 c. water, cover and continue to cook over medium until potatoes are soft, adding extra water as needed.

When the potato mixture has softened, mash everything with a potato masher - if you don't feel comfortable handling a masher inside your pot, just smush all the chunks everything with your spoon. Go ahead and use heavy hand; the mixture should resemble really lumpy mashed potatoes. Add tomato, turmeric, red chili powder, pav bhaji masala and salt. Stir well, cook until tomatoes have broken down and mostly dissolved into the potato mixture. Stir in lemon juice and tomato taste, then gently stir in peas. Continue cooking just until peas are heated through. Stir in 1/4 c. cilantro. Remove from heat, serve with onion relish on toasted whole wheat rolls.

Onion relish: Combine remaining 1/2 c. onion, remaining 1/4 c. cilantro, a few shakes of ground pepper, and 1 tbsp. lemon juice.

Shortcuts & Variations:

• If you don't have/can't find pav bhaji masala, you can substitute garam masala. Be careful, though; the heat of both masalas varies greatly from brand to brand, so it's best to start out with just a little and add more to taste.
• Save some prep time by using pre-packaged, diced onions & potatoes (usually sold as hash brown or homefries mix, such as the Simply Potatoes brand).
• Save some cooking time on the stove by microwaving the potatoes, cauliflower & carrots with a few splashes of water before you add them to the pot.
• For more protein, you can substitute cooked lentils for some or all of the potatoes, or add crumbled tofu to the potato mixture for a vegan version of paneer bhaji.

I had so much fun putting this together - thanks for inviting me over to Veggie Meal Plans, Cassie!

Parikha is an engineer by day, and a knitter/crafter/hobbyist photographer on the side. She lives in Washington, DC, and can be found online at sixoneseven.blogspot.com and sixoneseven.etsy.com.

Article and images Copyright © 2008 Parikha.