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A white dinner plate with garnished spicy bhaji and buttery dinner rolls served along with lemon wedges and cilatrol leaves. This lip smacking delicious meal is easy to prepare in Instantpot.
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4.75 from 4 votes

Instant Pot Pav Bhaji - Mumbai Street Food

Iconic Mumbai street Pav Bhaji is an all vegetable stew with tangy, spicy, zesty twist to it. Served with buttery roll, you have heaven on the plate! This delicious recipe provides easy one pot recipe instructions for Instant pot and stovetop.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Indian Food
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 6 cups
Calories: 249kcal

Ingredients

To Make Bhaji

  • 2 cups diced potatoes 3 big OR 5-6 medium size
  • 2 cup cauliflower florets
  • 1 cup green bell pepper
  • ½ cup cut carrots
  • ½ cup green peas
  • 2 cups finely chopped tomatoes
  • 1 red onion finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon oil or butter
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger and garlic
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon pav bhaji masala

For Serving :

  • 1-2 tablespoon butter or oil
  • 12 Paav use Dinner rolls or hamburger buns if you don’t get Indian style laddi paav

For Garnish :

  • 1 lemon or lime cut into quarters
  • butter
  • 1 red onion finely chopped
  • cilantro leaves finely chopped

Instructions

INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS :

  • Turn InstantPot on SAUTE mode. Add butter and let it melt. (Or use oil and let it warm up)
  • Add onions, garlic and ginger. Sprinkle some salt. Sauté well and cook until onions are slightly brown. Add red chili powder, and pav bhaji masala and sauté till fragrant.
  • Add tomatoes, and cook until mushy. ( about 3 minutes) Add 1.5 cup water. And DEGLAZE the pot by scraping the bottom with spatula. Add in all the veggies. Add salt to taste. Stir well. Cancel Sauté mode.
  • Press MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK mode and select 8 mins high. Once it's done cooking, unplug the InstantPot. Do a natural pressure release NPR. Once the silver pin drops, open the lid.
  • Once the steam clears, using a masher , mash the vegetables well. It should be soft and smooth paste like consistency.
  • If you notice it too watery, press the SAUTE mode again and let it cook for 3-4 more minutes. Bhaji will absorb water and thicken some as it cools down.

For serving

  • On a tawa or griddle, melt some butter. Put the paav buns on the sizzling tawa and let them grill for couple minutes on both sides.  Carefully remove them from pan.
  • Serve the prepared bhaji with chopped onions,  cilantro and lemon wedges.  You can add a dollop of butter on top and let it melt some. Serve the buttered paav on the side.

STOVE TOP INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Heat the oil or butter on stove top pressure cooker on medium heat. Add onions, garlic and ginger. Sprinkle some salt. Sauté well and cook until onions are slightly brown. Add red chili powder, and pav bhaji masala and sauté till fragrant.
  • Add tomatoes, and cook until mushy. ( about 3 minutes) Add 1.5 cup water. Add in all the veggies. Add salt to taste. Stir well. Close the lid . Let it come to pressure and cook for 2 whistles. Turn off the heat.
  • Once the pressure is down, open the lid. Once the steam clears, using a masher , mash the vegetables well. It should be soft and smooth paste like consistency. Your BHaji is ready. Serving instructions remain the same as above.

Notes

How to make Homemade Pav Bhaji Masala: I always have Everest pav bhaji masala in my pantry. It's my preferred pav bhaji masala brand. If you prefer to make your own pav bhaji masala,  combine 1 teaspoon chat masala,  1 teaspoon amchur (dry mango powder), 1 teaspoon coriander powder and 1 teaspoon garam masala. Mix well and use it instead. 
Spend 3-5 minutes of sauteing the onion-tomato masala with all the spices. Saute it till you sense the wafting aroma.  This step ensures intense flavors.
If you saute the masala well, then cooking the rest of the veggies doesn't alter the taste much.  Pre boiling isn't necessary.
To save time and for convenience,  I often use frozen cauliflower,  peas and chopped bell peppers.  Since everything is mashed anyways, you can't tell the difference.  I prefer to save efforts and time.
To make this preparation vegan, use vegan butter or quality oil.
It's very easy to sneak in some veggies into the pav bhaji. Especially for those picky eaters.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 456mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g