Instant Pot pav bhaji
Mumbai’s buttery, spiced mashed vegetable curry, made easy in the pressure cooker and scooped up with toasted buttered rolls.
- 50 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.90 a serving
- 570 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 cups cauliflower, small florets
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 6 tbsp butter, divided
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- ¾ cup frozen peas
- 1 lemon, half juiced, half cut into wedges
- 8 dinner rolls
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
From your pantry
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup water
- 1½ tsp salt
Each serving has about 570 calories, 15 g protein, 81 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $2.90 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions work.
- No russet potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No red onions? White onions work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, garlic, ginger, potatoes, cauliflower, carrot and pepper before you start, so everything is ready to go in.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Set the Instant Pot to and 2 tablespoons butter. Cook the onion until soft, 3 minutes, then the garlic and ginger for 1 minute.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Timer: 3 min
Stir in the garam masala, cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric and cayenne for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and water and scrape the bottom clean.
Dolly’s tip: Scraping up anything stuck now stops the pot from flashing a burn warning.Add the potatoes, cauliflower, carrot, pepper, peas and salt. Lock the lid, set the valve to Sealing and pressure cook on High for 6 minutes.
Timer: 6 min
Let the pressure come down on its own for 10 minutes, then turn the valve to Venting, keeping your hand away.
Timer: 10 min
Switch back to . Mash everything with a potato masher until mostly smooth, stir in 1 tablespoon butter and the lemon juice, and until thick enough to scoop, about 5 minutes.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Timer: 5 min
Split the rolls. the rest of the butter in a large over medium heat and toast the rolls cut side down until , 1 to 2 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Spoon the bhaji into bowls, top with the red onion, cilantro and a lemon wedge, and scoop it up with the warm rolls.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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