Pav bhaji and the life of a food blogger

The last few days have been full of negativity for me and with my current health condition I hardly can afford that. Its not a new thing for me that my pictures are being copied left right and center. Almost every week I get to know a new theft. Its not only about unassuming bloggers or internet users who thinks everything that comes on google search can be copied and used but by seasoned news papers and advertisement agencies who wants to save some money.

There was a time when it gave me sleepless nights but now a days am learning to deal with it. I tried calling Bartaman, ABP, Times of India, Paroma and few ad agencies who used my pictures without my permission, without my knowledge. But in vein. They will never reply to my mails or complains, will keep the phone on hold for hours and leave you frustrated. Not even that there are big restaurants like Oh Calcutta, or this sweet shop in Chennai who are using my pictures for their FB pages and in their hoardings. But when it comes to payment they prefer to keep silent.

Thanks Deepasri (Hamaree Rasoi) for this picture

If  that was not all then there are bloggers who crops images strategically and use for their pages and claims it to be their own. If you inform them they are offended and resort to calling names or will ask me to cry and plead to them for removing pictures. You think this is unethical, humiliating then trust me there’s more to it than am disclosing here. Fighting with them is a nightmare. I don’t wish to do that anymore. And now am scared too that it might happen one day that someone sues me for using my own pictures.

But there are few good people also whose generosity touches my heart. When India Today or Map my India contacted me for few of my pictures, my joy knew no bound. Or this lady from an NGO, who wanted to use few pictures for their yearly calendar I was touched. I hardly received any money from them but still this acknowledgment makes me happy. Is that really big to ask for???

So here is a loud and clear announcement for all the bloggers, page owners and internet users. It takes a lot of time and energy to take pictures and no way am allowing you to use it. not copied from my page or through google. Its not an excuse for you to not know the basic blogging ethics, no not even if you are a new blogger. Google is a search engine that shows a collection of pictures collected from different sites to help you with your search and no way they are the owners of all the pictures that appear on their page. So just writing picture courtesy google images is not enough. If you wish to use my pictures then you need to take my written permission. Without which I will immediately report to the concerned authorities like Google or facebook and they will remove it within 24 hours.

I am not doing it for money as hardly there is any earning for me from this blog. But am doing this to safe gourd my interest and to save myself from unwanted hassles. Would you allow your babies to be cuddled and parented by others? It almost feels the same. Sorry if I have hurt anyone’s sentiment by saying this but trust me after much deliberation I was compelled to write this. I feel blessed to have so much of love and support from you all and just wish to carry on the work I do without such nastiness to deal with.

Now in a true food bloggers style here is one recipe to thank you all for everything. A very popular street food Pav bhaji basically from Maharashtra. This is a complete meal in itself with soft buttery pav or small dinner roll type buns and a spicy, tangy mixed vegetables called bhaji. Often it is served with fresh pieces of cucumber and onions to balance the spiciness of the bhaji.

Like many of you this is a family favourite for us as well. We loved standing on the street to mop this almost tongue burning hot and spicy bhaji with pieces of buns smothered with extra maska or butter. Till I discovered this pav bhaji masala from Everest and the recipe on the pack. I tried it and it was a winner all the way and became a regular at my place. Most of the times I make it less spicy than the recipe am sharing here. But there are days when you want the real thing, dripping with butter, red with chilies and piping hot. For those days use this recipe and for days when you want to eat healthy go easy on the amount of spices and butter.

Pav bhaji

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

Potato: 2 medium

Cauliflower: 4-5 medium florets (1 cup)

Capsicum: 1 medium

Carrot: 1 small

Green peas: handful

Tomato: 2 big (chopped 1 cup); take the red ripe ones for the tang and coour.

Onion: 2 medium (3/4 cup chopped)

Garlic paste: 2 tsps

Pav bhaji masala: 2 heaped tbsps

Chili powder: 2 tsp (or as per your heat tolerance)

Kashmiri red chili powder: 1 tsp for extra colour.

Salt

Oil: 2 tbsp

Butter: 4 tbsp

Pav bread: Genrally known as Laadi pav or pav bhaji bread and are available at all the grocery stores across India. In case you don’t get it use white dinner rolls. Or make your own with This recipe

Method:

Peel and cut the potatoes and carrots in cubes. Wash along with the cauliflower florets and keep aside.

Finely chop the onion, tomato and capsicum. Keep everything separate.

Take the potato, cauliflower, carrots and peas in a pressure cooker with a pinch of salt and 11/2 cups of water. And cook on high for one whistle. Let the steam dissipate and carefully open the lid. Keep aside till required.

Heat the oil and 1 tbsp butter in a heavy bottom kadai or pan. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook on medium till they are soft (4-5 minutes) add the garlic paste and chili powder. Cook by stirring for another couple of minutes till the raw smell of the garlic is gone. Mix in the tomatoes, add salt as per taste and cook covered till they are all mushy and mixed (5-6 minutes). Add the chopped capsisum and cook for a minute before adding the pav bhaji masala. Mix everything together and cook for a minute.

Then mix in all the boiled vegetables. With a vegetable masher or a slotted spoon start mashing and mixing the vegetables. Don’t make a smooth paste, keep little pieces intact for texture. Add the butter and cook on medium till the water evaporates and you get a thick but not dry mixture of spices and veggies. You need to cook this at-least for another 7-8 minutes for all the veggies to absorb the spices and the aroma. If needed add ¼-1/2 cup more water for proper cooking.

Serve hot with buttered and lightly toasted pao breads and fresh cucumber, onion and wedges of lemon. I prefer to add 1 more tsp of extra butter on each plate.
Some days am really bad you see :-)

A Homemaker’s Notes:

For a lighter version go easy on butter, chili powder and spices.

You can any vegetable like cabbage or beans but balance the taste with tomato and chilies.

Events: Sending this off to Kid's delight; party ideas at Sizzling Tastebuds

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