Colm O'Gorman: Pav Bhaji is a Mumbai street-food classic

Pav Bhaji is a Mumbai street food classic. Pav is the Hindi word for bread roll, and bhaji means a vegetable dish. Pav Bhaji then, is a beautiful thick vegetable curry, served with buttery bread rolls and a simple fresh onion chutney. It is delicious, and quite quick and easy to make. Perhaps the most complicated bit is mixing up the masala or spice mix that is used to flavour this gorgeous curry, but even that is fairly easy. And of course, once you make up a batch you will have it to hand for the next time you make this recipe, and trust me, once you have eaten this, you will want to make it again and again.

To make the masala, pop 2 tbsp of coriander seed, 1 tbsp cumin seed, 5 whole cloves, the seeds from 2 cardamon pods and 2 tsp fennel seed into a dry pan. Roast them over a medium heat until they are fragrant, about three to four minutes, and then grind the spices to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. If you prefer, you can use ground spices, but roasting your own will give you even better flavour. Combine those freshly ground spices with 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp chilli powder and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Mix thoroughly and transfer to a clean jar. You will only need a few tablespoons of this masala to make your Pav Bhaji, and it will keep well for a few months in your spice drawer.