upliance
    Pav bhaji on a steel plate with butter-toasted pav, chopped onion, coriander and a lemon wedge

    Pav
    Bhajitwo ways

    4,300+cooks on upliance

    Stove

    You: ~50m*

    upliance

    upliance: a steel cooking jar on a white base with a touchscreen
    You: ~15m
    VS
    + What is upliance?

    A countertop cooking machine: a steel jar on a smart base with a screen. You drop ingredients in when it asks; it weighs, chops, sautés, stirs, cooks and mashes. The hand shows time your hands are busy.

    Your hour, to scale

    youupliancefree
    45 min
    0255075 min

    Stove lane is typical home-style*. upliance lane is this recipe's real steps.

    7 rounds

    round by round
    Round 1/7youpotsstirs
    15m
    8½m0

    1The chop

    Stove

    ~15min*

    knife + tears

    +How the chop goes on the stove

    Pav bhaji wants its onion, garlic and ginger chopped tiny. That's you, a knife and a board, crying into the onion. Then you still peel and chop every vegetable for the cooker.

    VS
    You: 30 secupliance: 10 sec

    Chops it

    + ~8 min rough prep
    +How the chop goes with upliance

    First, about 8 minutes of rough prep: peel onion, garlic and ginger; cut potato, carrot, beetroot and capsicum into big chunks; halve 2 tomatoes. Then drop in the onion (cut in 4), 1 green chilli, 10 garlic cloves and the ginger. upliance chops them fine in 10 seconds. No fine knife work, no tears.

    2Till golden

    Stove

    ~10min*

    stand + stir

    +How the sauté goes on the stove

    Heat oil in a kadhai, crackle the jeera, tip in the onion mix. Then stand there and stir so it goes golden and not black, typically 8 to 10 minutes. Step away for one phone call and the edges burn. In May, over a flame.

    VS
    You: 15 secupliance: 8 min

    Sautés & stirs

    +How the sauté goes with upliance

    Add 2 tbsp oil and ½ tsp jeera, and take the little crown off the lid so moisture escapes. upliance sautés the onion, garlic and ginger till golden for 8 minutes, stirring by itself.

    3Tomatoes

    Stove

    5–8min*

    press + splatter

    +How the tomatoes go on the stove

    Chopped tomatoes go in. You press and stir till they collapse and the oil leaves the sides. More standing, more stirring, a few red dots on the tiles.

    VS
    You: 15 secupliance: 5 min

    Cooks & purées

    +How the tomatoes go with upliance

    Drop in 2 tomatoes, just halved. upliance cooks them down for 5 minutes, then purées them smooth.

    4The veg

    Stoveseeti!seeti!1 2 3…

    3–4*

    whistles to count

    +How the veg goes on the stove

    Meanwhile, a second pot. Potato, cauliflower, carrot, peas and beetroot go in the pressure cooker. Then the whistle count, usually 3 or 4. Wait for the pressure to drop, open it, drain, and carry it all back to the kadhai. Was that 3 whistles or 4?

    VS
    You: 1 minupliance: ~47 min

    Cooks & stirs

    +How the veg goes with upliance

    Everything else goes in at once: cauliflower, potato, carrot, peas, capsicum, beetroot (for the colour), Kashmiri chilli, turmeric, pav bhaji masala, amchur, salt, 250 ml water, 45 g butter and lemon juice. upliance cooks the bhaji in the same jar for about 47 minutes, stirring every few minutes. No second pot, no whistle.

    5The mash

    Stove

    5+min*

    arm day

    +How the mash goes on the stove

    The famous part. Boiled veg into the masala, then the masher. Mash, stir, splash of water, mash again: five-plus minutes of arm workout. Then it simmers and you keep stirring so it doesn't catch, while it splutters hot bhaji at your wrists. Typically around 15 minutes of mashing and stirring in all.

    upliance

    Mashes it

    You: 0 sec

    ~45

    minutes free

    go have chai

    +How the mash goes with upliance

    At the end of its cook, upliance mashes the bhaji smooth, right in the jar. You do nothing: from the moment drop 4 goes in, you have about 45 minutes free. You can leave the kitchen.

    6The pav

    Butter-toasted pav on a steel plate of pav bhaji
    DrawYou: ~5 min

    You toast it

    +How the pav goes

    You toast the pav yourself either way: slit it, a little butter on a pan, chopped coriander, a pinch of Kashmiri chilli and pav bhaji masala. On the stove it's a tawa once the bhaji is done; with upliance it's a pan in the last few minutes while the jar finishes.

    7Serve

    Stove

    4*

    pots to wash

    +How serving goes on the stove

    Plate it with butter, coriander and onion. Then turn around: the kadhai, pressure cooker, masher and tawa are waiting in the sink.

    VS
    Pav bhaji topped with butter, with chopped onion and lemon on the side
    You: 1 min

    2

    +How serving goes with upliance

    Top with butter, chopped coriander and chopped onion. In the sink: one jar and one pan.

    Same bhaji.
    Different evening.

    50+
    15
    min, hands busy
    few
    45
    min, longest break
    4
    2
    to wash
    ∞
    0
    times you stirred
    3–4
    0
    whistles
    stove*upliance

    * Stove figures are typical for home-style pav bhaji: estimates, not measurements. upliance figures come from this recipe's device steps.

    4 drops.
    That's it.

    Drop 1

    You: 30 sec
    • 90 gonion
    • 1green chilli
    • 10 clovesgarlic
    • 3 gginger

    Drop 2

    You: 15 sec
    • 2 tbspoil
    • ½ tspjeera

    Drop 3

    You: 15 sec
    • 2, halvedtomato

    Drop 4

    You: 1 min
    • 80 gcauliflower
    • 100 gpotato
    • 40 gcarrot
    • 30 gpeas
    • 30 gcapsicum
    • 40 gbeetroot
    • ½ tspKashmiri mirch
    • ¼ tspturmeric
    • 1 tbsppav bhaji masala
    • 1 tspamchur
    • 1½ tspsalt
    • 250 mlwater
    • 45 gbutter
    • ½ tbsplemon juice

    Pav pan

    You: 5 min
    • pavas neededpav
    • 5 gbutter
    • 2 stemscoriander
    • ½ tspKashmiri mirch
    • ½ tsppav bhaji masala

    On top

    You: 1 min
    • 10 gbutter
    • 4 stemscoriander
    • 20 gonion
    A gas cylinder with a question mark next to upliance and two finished dishes
    your stove?upliance

    Retire the stirring shift.

    Get upliance
    Full recipe in words

    Taste tested and approved by Mumbaikars, this Pav Bhaji is the real deal and must only be eaten with finely diced onion and butter-toasted pav. Mumbai street food, Maharashtrian, vegetarian snack, medium spice. Serves 2. Cooked 4,300+ times on upliance.

    Ingredients (2 servings)

    Drop 1, aromatics:

    • Onion, 90 g, peeled, cut in 4
    • Green chilli, 1, top stem removed
    • Garlic, 10 cloves, peeled
    • Ginger, 3 g, peeled

    Drop 2, tadka:

    • Refined oil, 2 tbsp
    • Jeera (cumin seeds), ½ tsp

    Drop 3, tomatoes:

    • Tomato, 2, cut in 2

    Drop 4, everything else:

    • Cauliflower, 80 g, trimmed, washed
    • Potato, 100 g, peeled, cut in 4
    • Carrot, 40 g, peeled, cut in 3
    • Frozen peas, 30 g, washed
    • Capsicum, 30 g, deseeded, cut in 4
    • Beetroot, 40 g, peeled, cut in 6
    • Kashmiri mirch, ½ tsp
    • Turmeric, ¼ tsp
    • Pav bhaji masala, 1 tbsp
    • Amchur powder, 1 tsp
    • Salt, 1½ tsp
    • Water, 250 ml
    • Butter, 45 g
    • Lemon juice, ½ tbsp

    For the pav, in a pan:

    • Pav, slit, as many as you'll eat
    • Butter, 5 g
    • Coriander leaves, 2 stems, fine-chopped
    • Kashmiri mirch, ½ tsp
    • Pav bhaji masala, ½ tsp

    To serve:

    • Butter, 10 g
    • Coriander leaves, 4 stems, fine-chopped
    • Onion, 20 g, peeled, finely chopped

    Method with upliance (about 70 minutes; about 15 minutes of it is you)

    1. Prep (you, ~8 min): Trim and wash the cauliflower. Peel the onion, garlic and ginger. Peel and roughly cut the potato, carrot, beetroot and capsicum into big chunks; the machine does the fine work. Halve 2 tomatoes.
    2. Drop 1 (you, 30 s): Put the onion, green chilli, garlic and ginger in the jar. upliance chops them fine in 10 seconds.
    3. Drop 2 (you, 15 s): Add the oil and jeera, and take the crown off the lid so moisture can escape. upliance sautés the onion, garlic and ginger till golden for 8 minutes, stirring by itself.
    4. Drop 3 (you, 15 s): Add the halved tomatoes. upliance cooks them down for 5 minutes, then purées them.
    5. Drop 4 (you, ~1 min): Add the vegetables, spices, salt, water, butter and lemon juice. upliance cooks the bhaji for about 47 minutes, stirring every few minutes, then mashes it smooth. You have about 45 minutes free.
    6. Toast the pav (you, ~5 min): Towards the end, toast the slit pav on a pan with a little butter, coriander, Kashmiri chilli and pav bhaji masala.
    7. Serve (you, 1 min): Top the bhaji with butter, chopped coriander and chopped onion. Eat it hot with the pav.

    The stove way, for comparison (typical, estimated)

    Fine-chop the onion, garlic and ginger by hand and chop every vegetable. Pressure-cook the vegetables separately, usually 3 or 4 whistles. Sauté the onion mix in a kadhai, stirring, about 8 to 10 minutes; cook the tomatoes down, 5 to 8 minutes more. Add the cooked vegetables and masala, mash by hand for 5 minutes or more, then simmer and stir. Toast the pav on a tawa. Expect a kadhai, a pressure cooker, a masher and a tawa to wash.

    Nutrition per serving

    510 kcal · 32 g carbs · 5 g protein · 40 g fat (upliance version of the recipe).

    Watch this pav bhaji on YouTube

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