Try this healthy pav bhaji sans the calories

Find yourself craving a tangy treat, but don’t want to break your diet? Try this homemade pav bhaji recipe which will satiate your desire for some chatpata street food while ensuring you stay within your daily calorie consumption count.

Just a few pointers – this should be had as a meal, not snack, since it is carb-heavy (owing to the pav). Healthy because it incorporates so many vegetables, note that I’ve used more pumpkin than potato to keep it light. Also, avoid butter.

If you don’t want to have bread, try a multigrain roti instead.

Pav bhaji

Ingredients

2 carrots

1 potato

1/2 capsicum

200 gm French beans

100 gm cauliflower/broccoli

½ cup peas

1 cup pumpkin

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 green chillies, chopped

Fresh coriander for garnish

1 lemon

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp rai (mustard seeds)

1 1/2 tbsp pav bhaji masala

1 tbsp dhania (coriander) powder

Salt and red chilli powder to taste

Method

1. Chop all the vegetables and put them in a pressure cooker (keep onion, tomato and chilli aside to fry later). Add 1 cup water or whatever quantity is required to fully immerse the vegetables. Add salt, and pressure cook till vegetables become soft. Usually it takes around 10-12 minutes.
2. Mash all the cooked vegetables using a masher.
3. While the vegetables are being pressure cooked, heat olive oil in another pan, fry the onion and then add green chillies and tomatoes. Cook till soft. Add pav bhaji masala and dhania powder, and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the mashed vegetables to the onion mix and cook on high flame for a minute. If the gravy is not thick enough then reduce the flame and simmer until it gets thick. Serve with hot whole wheat pav and lemon wedges.

Nutritional value (for 1 katori bhaji + 1 pav) is 150 calories

Protein 3.3 gms

Fat 2.4 gms

Carbs 29.5 gms

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Written by Neha Jain

She may have multiple degrees to back her expertise, but Neha Jain believes there’s nothing complex about nutrition. There is no magic formula for a healthy diet – the trick lies in balancing a variety of food groups and ensuring you’re eating the right portion size. With an MSc in Food and Nutrition from Delhi University and diplomas in naturopathy and yogic sciences, Neha is also a certified diabetes educator with extensive experience in endocrinological disorders and weight reduction, having worked with renowned endocrinologist Dr Ambrish Mithal in Delhi. Her goal is to help people find easy ways to make healthy choices, and believes HealthifyMe has simplified her task with its technology. Neha’s made the right choices for her family – she’s helped her husband control his high cholesterol levels and borderline diabetes by changing the meal plan at home, and introducing him to regular exercise – and now she’s hoping to ‘healthify’ you too.