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lauki pav bhaji

Lauki Pav Bhaji (one-pot pressure cooker method)

A Mumbai style veggie mash with potatoes, bottle gourd and other veggies in a delicious mildly spiced mixture of sautéed onions, garlic and tomatoes.

This delicious Indian street food is always enjoyed with some butter roasted bread called Pav or you can even use your favorite bread.

Course Breakfast, Brunch
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 4
Author Vanitha Bhat

Ingredients

  • 1 medium potato peeled and chopped
  • 1- 1 ½ cups cauliflower florets
  • 1-1 1/2 cups chopped lauki/bottle gourd
  • ½ cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1 cup chopped red onions
  • 1 small green chili sliced or chopped (Optional)
  • 2 large cloves of garlic chopped
  • 1 large tomato chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala powder I used aatchi
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 tablespoons oil (or mix of oil and butter)
  • Freshly chopped coriander leaves/cilantro
  • Fluffy Pav buns dinner rolls or bread slices
  • Additional butter to serve optional
  • Finely chopped red onions
  • Lemon wedges

Instructions

  1. TO PREP THE INGREDIENTS:

    Wash, peel and chop lauki/bottle gourd. If the center portion has big seeds, discard that portion; you will need 1 to 1 ½ cups.

  2. Peel and chop carrots (1/2 cup) and potato (1 cup)
  3. Finely dice red onions (1 cup), green bell peppers (1/2 cup) and tomato (3/4 to 1 cup, chopped).

  4. Cut cauliflower into florets (1 to 1 1/2 cups)

  5. If using green chilis, slice or chop (1 small green chili).

  6. TO MAKE THE PAV BHAJI:

    In a pressure pan (stove top or electric Instant Pot), heat 3 tablespoons cooking oil (or if not vegan, 2 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon butter).

  7. When hot, add 1 cup chopped red onions and 3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped.
  8. Saute on medium heat until onions start to soften.
  9. Tip in the chopped tomato (3/4 to 1 cup) and sprinkle spice powders (1 teaspoon each Kashmiri red chili powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder).
  10. Sprinkle some salt and mix well.
  11. Fry on medium heat, stirring until you see oil starting to ooze from the sides; an indication that the spices have roasted well.
  12. Tip in rest of the chopped ingredients: 1 cup potatoes, 1 cup bottle gourd, 1 to 1 ½ cups cauliflower florets.

  13. Mix well, add salt to taste and water to just soak them and then close the pressure pan.

  14. If using stove top pressure cooker, cook on medium low for 4 minutes after first whistle on high heat or for 3 to 4 whistles.
  15. If using Instant Pot, pressure cook on “HIGH” for 3 minutes and then either NPR (naturally pressure release) or QPR (quick pressure release/manually release pressure).
  16. When the pressure has dropped, open the pan and mash the mixture to form a coarsely pureed or fine pureed mixture. I normally use a potato masher.

  17. Adjust consistency of mash by adding more water if needed.

  18. Turn the heat on and on medium heat, bring to a gentle boil.

  19. Add ½ to 1 cup of chopped green peppers and after doing a taste test, adjust seasonings.

  20. Simmer for 5 minutes and then garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.
  21. At this stage, you can add more blobs of butter (regular dairy butter or even vegan butter) and stir well.
  22. Serve piping hot with some pan fried (in ghee, butter or oil) slit pav buns/dinner rolls or even plain slices of regular bread (white, sourdough, whole wheat or multigrain), again roasted on pan.
  23. To make the street food experience more delicious, sprinkle chopped red onions and squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top.
  24. Stir well, break out chunks of bread, scoop up some of that spicy, tangy, savory and delicious Lauki Pav Bhaji and enjoy!
  25. This is a perfect dish to serve for breakfast, brunch, at parties or even for dinner!

  26. Enjoy Foodies and Happy Eating!

Recipe Notes

  • Adding lauki and/or cauliflower is optional. You can make this only with potatoes instead too as traditional ones are.
  • Sometimes, I do add some leftover vegetables like radish, cucumber, beets (adds a lovely color) etc. too.
  • Authentic pav bhaji is mostly made using either homemade or store bought Pav Bhaji Masala Powder but like here, you can use other pantry friendly spices like I have.
  • Adjust the amount of spices (coriander powder, Kashmiri red chili power and garam masala powder) according to your taste.
  • Along with carrots, you can add green beans, beetroot or even green peas.
  • Enjoy and Happy Cooking!