Pav bhaji masala recipe | Homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe | How to make pav bhaji masala powder

Pav bhaji masala recipe is the most necessary component of popular Mumbai street food pav bhaji. It is used to flavour up the masala aka mashed vegetable curry of pav bhaji recipe. Basically, Pav bhaji masala powder recipe is a spice blend of array of spices which can be prepared very easily at home. Though pav bhaji masala is readily available in the market, but the homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe takes the pav bhaji recipe to another level with its remarkable flavour and taste.

About the recipe
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Pav bhaji is an epic Mumbai street food which is crazily popular all the nation now due to its extraordinary public demand. According to many people, this lip-smacking dish originated in the 19th century. It is believed that during that time when textile mill workers wanted their food quickly, they cooked seasonal vegetables in large iron tawas by mashing, breaking and mixing with spice mixture and generous amount of butter. Then they served the hot curry with buttered pav.

This pav bhaji masala recipe is prepared in different ways in different regions using different ratios of each spice. But the ingredients used for the masala are almost the same, hardly few spices differ.

Readymade pav bhaji masala powder is easily available in supermarket and shops, but homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe is completely different from the market bought ones. It is much more aromatic and hygienic than readymade ones. Once you prepare the masala at home, I can bet you will never go back to stores to buy the readymade ones.

I can share my own experience on this. When I was in Maharashtra, I used to buy readymade pav bhaji masala to prepare the paneer pav bhaji recipe at home. But I was never satisfied with the flavour of the dish. One day, I went for shopping and during lunch time had pav bhaji from a street vendor. The flavour of the dish was so unbeatable that out of excitement I asked him which pav bhaji masala he used to prepare the pav bhaji? He smiled and replied that his wife prepares pav bhaji masala powder recipe at home. Then I realised the magic of the dish completely depends on the homemade pav bhaji masala powder and after that started preparing my own spice blend for the recipe.

This homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe is a complete winner and I always get showered with complements whenever I prepare pav bhaji recipe for guests. It is a full proof recipe, and nothing can go wrong with it. In fact, few of my friends asked me about the secret of my utterly delicious pav bhaji recipe and then I have shared my homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe with them. Now, they just stopped buying readymade pav bhaji masala from outside.

In fact, this pav bhaji masala recipe is very useful for those people who are staying away from the country where readymade pav bhaji masala is not available. They can enjoy the lip-smacking Mumbai street food any time at home using this homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe.

Pav bhaji masala recipe is one of the most versatile and aromatic spice mixtures. Though it tastes best in pav bhaji preparation, but it can also be used in sabzi, bhaji, curries, rice recipes like tawa pulao and many more.

So, whenever I plan to prepare pav bhaji masala powder at home, I always prepare it in larger quantity and store it for multi-use.

Homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe is a very quick and easy recipe which hardly takes 10-15 minutes to get prepared. All the ingredients required to prepare this aromatic masala are easily available in any Indian grocery stores.

Now a days, DIY recipe has become very trendy. There are many sound reasons behind it and COVID 19 is one of them which has changed our entire lifestyle now. Apart from that, another main reason is health awareness.

With the exchange of little effort, many things can be made better than the market selling goods. In today’s world, though many things are easily available globally but still in many cases DIY Recipe helps a lot to up bring the authenticity of many traditional food.

Pav bhaji masala recipe with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instruction’ section of the recipe. But before directly jumping into the recipe, let me share few interesting facts about the recipe.

• It is very important to use clean and good quality spices.
• Always use heavy bottom pan like Tawa, Kadai or fry pan to dry roast the spices.
• Make sure there is no moisture in the utensil and please don’t use wet hands to add the spices into the pan.
• Always roast the spices in medium low to medium flame. Don’t roast it over high flame or else the spices may burn or does not get roasted from inside.
• Stir the spices continuously during the time of roasting or else it will not get roasted evenly.
• Allow the spice mix to cool down completely to room temperature before grinding.
• If you are preparing the masala in huge quantity, then it’s better to dry roast each spice individually because every spice’s roasting time differ from each other.

Whole spices: Each of the whole spices – cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, star anise and nutmeg play a vital role to flavour up the pav bhaji masala powder. Try not to skip any of the spices to get the perfect aroma for the spice mix.

Kashmiri dry red chilli: It plays a vital role to prepare the dabeli masala. Kashmiri red chillies add flavour, heat and a vibrant colour to the masala.

Kasuri methi: It adds an earthy flavour to the masala.

Black salt: It gives a nice flavour and salty taste to the masala.

Turmeric powder: It gives a nice flavour and colour to the masala.

Amchur powder: It provides tangy taste and unique flavour to the masala.

Kashmiri red chilli powder: It gives a nice colour to the masala without spicing up the mixture too much.

To prepare the pav bhaji masala recipe, I have used the whole spices cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, star anise, nutmeg and dry Kashmiri red chillies. I have used five dry Kashmiri red chillies because I prefer lesser hot spice mix. If you like the heaty version, then you can add 2-3 more extra dry chillies into the recipe.

To prepare the pav bhaji masala powder, first put a heavy bottom pan on flame and make it completely dry. When the pan gets warm, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, star anise, nutmeg, dry Kashmiri red chillies and roast them over medium flame for 4-5 minutes until a nutty fragrance comes out of the spices. Stir continuously. The spices will change their colour slightly.

To check whether the spices are done or not, break the bay leaf. If it gets crispy and breaks with a sound, then the spices are done. Switch off the flame. Add kasuri methi into the pan and give a nice mix. It gets toasted over hot pan and reduces the heat of the masala slightly as well. Put the pan down and allow the masala to cool down completely before grinding.

Transfer the roasted spices into a jar of grinder and add turmeric powder, black salt, dry mango powder into it. Close the lid of the jar and pulse it to a fine dust.

Many other homemade masala recipes have already been shared in my previous posts. You can check few of them like

Dabeli masala recipe
Bengali bhaja masala
Roasted Cumin Powder
Panch phoran masala

..And Many more…

• 2 tablespoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 2 tablespoon Coriander seeds (Dhania)
• 1½ tablespoon Fennel seeds (Saunf)
• 1½ teaspoon Black Pepper (Kali mirch)
• 1 black Cardamom (Badi elaichi)
• 1 Bay leaf (Tejpatta)
• 6 Cloves (Laung)
• 2-inches Cinnamon stick (Dalchini)
• 5 Dried Kashmiri red Chillies (Kashmiri lal mirch)
• ½ Star Anise (Chakra phool)
• ½ Nutmeg (Jaiphal)
• 1 teaspoon Kasuri methi (Dried fenugreek leaves)
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi powder)
• 1 teaspoon black Salt (Kali namak)
• 1 tablespoon Amchur powder (Dry mango powder)

1. Put a pan on medium flame and allow it to become completely dry.
2. When the pan gets warm, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, star anise, nutmeg, dry Kashmiri red chillies into the pan and roast them over medium flame for 4-5 minutes until a nutty fragrance comes out of the spices. Stir continuously. The spices will change their colour slightly.
   Note: Always roast the whole spices over medium low to medium flame. Don’t roast them over high flame or else the spices may get burnt or might not get roasted from inside.
3. To check whether the spices are done or not, break the bay leaf. If it gets crispy and breaks with a sound, then the spices are done. Switch off the flame.
4. Add kasuri methi into the pan and give a nice mix. It gets toasted over hot pan and reduces the heat of the masala slightly as well.
5. Put the pan down and allow the masala to cool down completely before grinding.
6. Transfer the masala into the small jar of grinder and add turmeric powder, black salt, amchur powder into it.
7. Close the lid of the jar and pulse it to a fine dust.
8. Store it to a dry and clean airtight container.

After grinding the pav bhaji masala, you can keep it in a clean and dry airtight container. Glass container would be the best. Keep the spice in a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight. Always use dry spoon for the spice. If you follow all these things, then you can store the spice for 3-4 months.

Pav bhaji masala recipe | Homemade pav bhaji masala powder recipe | How to make pav bhaji masala powder

Serves: 100 grams Prep Time: 5 Minutes (Excluding the cooling time of the spice) Cooking Time: 5 Minutes 5 Minutes

Nutrition facts: NA calories NA fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 2 tablespoon Coriander seeds (Dhania)
• 1½ tablespoon Fennel seeds (Saunf)
• 1½ teaspoon Black Pepper (Kali mirch)
• 1 black Cardamom (Badi elaichi)
• 1 Bay leaf (Tejpatta)
• 6 Cloves (Laung)
• 2-inches Cinnamon stick (Dalchini)
• 5 Dried Kashmiri red Chillies (Kashmiri lal mirch)
• ½ Star Anise (Chakra phool)
• ½ Nutmeg (Jaiphal)
• 1 teaspoon Kasuri methi (Dried fenugreek leaves)
• ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi powder)
• 1 teaspoon black Salt (Kali namak)
• 1 tablespoon Amchur powder (Dry mango powder)

Instructions

1. Put a pan on medium flame and allow it to become completely dry.
2. When the pan gets warm, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, star anise, nutmeg, dry Kashmiri red chillies into the pan and roast them over medium flame for 4-5 minutes until a nutty fragrance comes out of the spices. Stir continuously. The spices will change their colour slightly.

Note: Always roast the whole spices over medium low to medium flame. Don’t roast them over high flame or else the spices may get burnt or might not get roasted from inside.

3. To check whether the spices are done or not, break the bay leaf. If it gets crispy and breaks with a sound, then the spices are done. Switch off the flame.
4. Add kasuri methi into the pan and give a nice mix. It gets toasted over hot pan and reduces the heat of the masala slightly as well.
5. Put the pan down and allow the masala to cool down completely before grinding.
6. Transfer the masala into the small jar of grinder and add turmeric powder, black salt, amchur powder into it.
7. Close the lid of the jar and pulse it to a fine dust.
8. Store it to a dry and clean airtight container.