Street foods! Aaaah, brings back some wonderful memories of my childhood in northern parts of India. What a candy/chocolates is to many a kid, Chaat was to me when I was little. And it holds true till date. While I am a self proclaimed “sweetest person around :p”, I do not have high tolerance for sweets/desserts when it comes to my food. I am savory lover and my faults lie in binging on all things crispy, crunchy and/or spicy! And bread. I LOVE bread. Street foods has all that and more. It has a wonderful balance of taste, texture, aroma and heartiness that speaks to my palate.
But street foods has an unfortunate reputation – as junk food! So how do you stay away while comforting your sensory needs? You make it yourself, that’s how :). Sadly, who has time nowadays? Especially to do things that actually mean a lot for one’s sanity? How to you solve this issue? Take this Pav (bread) Bhaji (vegetable curry) for example. An uncomplicated dish with a spicy creamy vegetable stew served along a nicely toasted buttered bread. Nothing fancy, in fact its easy to put together. But depending on the ingredients and your skill level, it takes anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour to make with multiple cooking included (boiling potatoes, peas separately etc etc) If it did not look like such a deal breaker before, trust me, after this it will.
Using pressure cooker is one thing. I am sure many have done so already. But the real essence to this method lies in its technique. Cooking the vegetables in their own juices enhances the taste multifold. Adding fat becomes a perk not a necessity! High heat and minimal cooking retains most of the nutrition. Best of all its all in one pot – so saves you time and energy. Usually a red food coloring is adding to give that deep color. I opted to use some red beets instead along with Kashmiri Chilli powder which does the job beautifully. The amount of spices all depend on your preference and the quality of the ingredients used. So play around with it next time around until you hit your sweet (err, savory?) spot. 
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Read the rest of 6 minute OPOS Pav Bhaji at Chef In You
© DK for Chef In You, 2018. |
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