Instant Pot Pav Bhaji – You will only need 30 minutes (from start to finish). I mean, from cutting vegetables to serving the dish, it only takes 30 minutes. Isn’t that great? You will have delicious Indian street style pav bhaji ready in your electric pressure cooker.
Skip to:
- Why I love this recipe Ingredients Watch the recipe video Step-by-step photo instructions Toast Ladi Pav to serve with: How to serve Pav Bhaji? Expert Tips: ❤️
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recipe 🧾
- 🍽
- 💭
- 🎥
- 🍳
- 🍳
- ⭐
- Card Reviews Why I love this recipe It is much faster to make compared to the pav bhaji stove (authentic version). Despite being made in instant pot, it tastes just like the Indian peddler style. It is 📋
❤️
- Soft, buttery and delicious heavenly. And it tastes even better with soft toasted butter ladi pav (buns).
- A quick meal on busy days (only 30 minutes required).
- Perfect for a crowd or to gather. This pav bhaji recipe can be doubled or tripled to accommodate a large group of people.
🧾Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you need to make pav bhaji in an instant pot. It seems like many, but believe me, they are easily available at the grocery store (Indian) and it is very easy to do with simple steps.
Ingredients Notes
- Butter: I can’t imagine my pav bhaji being made/served without butter. For the best flavor (when we talk about authentic taste), butter is an essential ingredient. Bhaji is cooked in butter and topped with a tablespoon of butter before serving. But if you are health conscious, then you can reduce the amount or replace it with oil.
- Pav bhaji masala: It is the second essential ingredient here, so it has to be good in quality and taste. I recommend using the Everest brand. MDH comes after that. I have a very bad experience with Badshah. Or if you have time, you can make it at home by following this recipe for powder pav bhaji masala.
- Potatoes: It is the essential ingredient to make the base of bhaji thick and creamy. So don’t skip or reduce the number of potatoes here.
- Vegetables: The combination of cauliflower, carrot, peas and potatoes is the standard vegetarian combo for an authentic bhaji flavor. Do not have fresh in the refrigerator, you can use a mixture of frozen vegetables (containing carrot, peas, corn and beans). But I would add potatoes for sure.
🎥Watch the recipe video
🍳Step-by-step photo instructions
1) Take the chopped onion, pepper and garlic cloves in a food processor jar.
2) Press to finely chop.
3) Turn on the instant pot in sautéed mode. Once heated add 1 tablespoon of butter and cumin seeds. Let the seeds sizzle a little.
4) Then add the prepared onion mixture. Sprinkle salt, mix and let cook.
5) Meanwhile, the onion mixture is cooking, add the tomatoes to the same food processor jar.
6) Make it thick puree. It does not require soft mash.
7) Now that the onion mixture is cooked, you can see that the onions become soft and translucent.
8) Add the tomato puree.
9) Add the red chili powder and the remaining salt.
10) Mix well.
11) Add all vegetables (cauliflower, carrot, peas, potatoes).
12) Add water and mix well.
13) Cover with lid, keep ventilation to seal. Cancel the skip mode. Pressure cook in manual (high pressure) for 6 minutes. You can leave NPR (natural pressure release). If you are in a QPR (rapid pressure release) rush after 5-10 minutes. Once the pin drops, open the lid.
14) Add pav bhaji masala.
15) Using the potato masher, start crushing and mixing. Alternatively, you can use a handheld blender. But be careful not to make pasty, soft puree. It has to be a little thick.
16) Now turn the stir fry mode back on and simmer for 2-3 minutes. This simmering time can vary depending on how watery your bhaji is.
17) While simmering add the remaining butter and lemon juice. Stir well.
18) Finally, garnish with chopped cilantro.
🍳Tostar Ladi Pav to serve with:
1) Heat the pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, cut the pav in half (not completely, keep the two slices intact). Once the pan is hot, add some butter, add masala pav bhaji, mix and spread in the pan.
2) Place the pav on it. While the bottom is toasting, apply butter on top.
3) Once the background is light brown, fil with spatula and roast on the other side.
4) Close the pav, remove from the pan and serve with bhaji.
🍽How to serve Pav Bhaji?
Take bhaji in a single bowl. Top with a tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle a good amount of chopped onions. Serve with soft, buttered ladi pav (buns). Also, keep the lemon slices in a ready bowl, if someone wants to squeeze fresh lemon juice over bhaji.
💭Expert tips:
- Be generous with butter while making pav bhaji. It tastes better with butter.
- Use the good taste pav bhaji masala. I prefer the Everest or MDH brand.
- This recipe makes the bhaji medium spicy taste. For a spicier taste, increase the amount of red chili powder.
- Don’t crush the bhaji too much. We don’t want a smooth puree-like texture. It should have a grainy texture.
- I prefer to crush the bhaji using only a potato crusher. It takes some time but gives the best result. To make it fast, use a handheld blender as the pulse mode so it doesn’t turn into a soft puree.
FAQs
PS Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating on the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section. I always appreciate your feedback! Also, subscribe to my newsletter and follow us on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates.
📋 Prescription Card
