India Meets Mexico! You Will Love Our Recipe for Pav Bhaji Taco
Cooking is a versatile art. If nurtured from childhood, every child can be an excellent chef. Our Toka Chef recipe every month targets this nurturing life skill. The recipe pick this month is all about how to prep vegetables, plan your meal and creatively serve one dish in multiple ways.
Recipe 1 | Kids Friendly Pav Bhaji:
Child Step: In the Pav Bhaji preparation, kids can help cleaning the veggies like cauliflower and help peeling potatoes. As Pav Bhaji uses a lot of vegetables, it's an excellent opportunity to talk to them about vegetables and its benefits and also about turmeric as we soak cauliflower florets in warm turmeric water.
Ingredients:
- Onion - 1
- Tomatoes - 3
- Cauliflower Florets - 1 cup
- Potatoes - 3
- Peas - 1/4 cup
- Colored bell peppers - 1/4 cup (I used orange bell pepper)
- Cilantro for garnishing
- Butter - 1 tbsp
- Oil - 2 tsps
- Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
- Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
- Pav Bhaji Masala - 1 tbsp
- Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
- Salt - 1.5 tsps
- Water - 1 cup
- Sugar - 1 tsp
Prep - work:
- Parental Step - Boil the potatoes in your preferred way and chop the other veggies.
- Child Step - Let your child peel the potato skin, and you can mash them. Also, let your child break the cauliflower florets.
- Parental Step - Boil about 2 cups of water and add turmeric. Add the chopped cauliflower and let it soak for 5 minutes.
Pav - Bhaji Preparation:
I would recommend parents to do all the steps and explain the kids about the process and spices.
Parental Steps:
- Heat the pressure cooker and add one tsp of oil.
- Once the oil is hot add the cumin seeds. As they start to crackle add the ginger garlic paste.
- Cook till the raw smell goes and then add the chopped onions.
- Once the onion turns translucent add the chopped tomatoes.
- Add salt, turmeric powder, sugar and pav bhaji masala and cover and cook till the tomatoes are soft and mushy.
- Now add all the veggies and add 1 cup of water and cook for up to two whistles.
- Once the pressure is all gone, open the lid and mash the bhaji nicely.
- Add chopped cilantro and serve hot with pav buns.
Recipe 2 | Pav Bhaji Sandwich
This is a super simple recipe, and I have shared how we prepare. But you can play with the sauces and condiments and pick what your kids like. For this recipe, you can let the kids do all the steps:
Here is what you need,
Ingredients:
- Ketchup - 2 tsps for each sandwich
- Cheese slice - 1 for each sandwich
- Pav Bhaji - about 2 tbsps prepared as above
- Butter - 1 tsp for each sandwich
Assembling:
- Parental Step: Set aside all the ingredients so that kids can access them quickly.
- Child Step:
- Spread ketchup on one bread slice
- Spread the butter on the other slice.
- Then spread the pav bhaji on either one of the slices.
- Place the cheese slice and bring the bread slices together.
- Parental Step: You can toast this sandwich either on a grill or sandwich maker. We used a sandwich maker.
Recipe 3 | Pav Bhaji Taco
Yet another fusion recipe and you can play with your favorite condiments. Here is what we used,
Ingredients:
- Sour cream - as required (My kiddo used more than 1 tbsp for each taco)
- Soft tortillas - 2
- Leftover rice - 2 tbsps for each taco
- Pav Bhaji - 2 tbsps for each taco
- Mexican Cheese blend or your favorite cheese blend - 2 tbsps for each taco
Assembling:
- Parental Step: Set aside all the ingredients so that kids can access them quickly.
- Parental Step: Warm the tortilla in the griddle or tava and keep it a wide plate.
- Child Step:
- Spread sour cream on the hot taco.
- Add the rice in the center.
- Then add the pav bhaji and cheese and bring the edges together to form a semi-circle. Do the same for other tacos too.
- Parental Step: Place the prepared taco on the hot griddle and cook until the cheese melts.
Serve this hot with ketchup or taco sauce.
Recipe 4 | Pav Bhaji Pulav | Tawa Pulao
Kiddo really enjoyed the pav bhaji and ketchup combo and that's when I thought why not prepare a kid's friendly of the popular tawa pulao with ketchup and pav bhaji. This turned out great and we had it with simple cucumber raita. This is also a great lunch box recipe.
Ingredients:
- Pav Bhaji prepared as above - 3 cups approx
- Ketchup - 3 tbsps
- Medium Sized Onion - 1
- Oil - 2 tsps
- Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
- Cooked rice - 2 cups
- Salt - 1.5 tsps
Pav - Bhaji Pulav Preparation:
I would recommend parents to do all the steps and explain the kids about the process and spices.
Parental Steps:
- Heat the kadai and add oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and chopped onion.
- Cook until the onion turns translucent.
- Then add the pav bhaji and ketchup.
- Add salt and mix well. Cook until all the moisture is evaporated.
- Once the moisture is all gone, turn the heat off and then add the cooked rice and mix well.
Serve hot with your favorite raita.
Toka Chef Moment:
I was planning only for 3 recipes. The taco recipe was all the kiddo's idea. Once we tried the sandwich with cheese, he suggested the taco recipe!
