Meera Sodha’s recipe for pav bhaji

Pav bhaji, or Indian spiced mash, is a home cook’s friend: it’s not fussy and will take most leftover vegetables and transform them into something delicious. Add a squeeze of lemon, chopped onion and fresh herbs, then mop up with a butter-fried roll, just as the people of Mumbai do.

A secret weapon is pav bhaji masala, a little box of spice that adds the appropriate magic; different masalas vary in strength and salt, so add them judiciously – try a teaspoon of masala at a time and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. The MDH, Everest and Badshah brands all make good pav bhaji masala.

Roughly chop the potatoes and carrots into 2cm x 2cm pieces and the cauliflower into 4cm x 4cm florets. Put a litre of just-boiled water in a saucepan, add a teaspoon of salt, then add the potatoes and carrots, cover the pan and boil for 10 minutes. Add the cauliflower, boil for another five minutes, until all the vegetables are soft, then drain over a bowl to reserve the cooking water.

meera sodha, pav bhaji, masala, mdh, everest, badshah, potatoes, cauliflower, mumbai, lemon