Shev Bhaji

If you are from ‘Khandesh’, you will know that no celebrations are complete without ‘Shev Bhaji’ 🙂 It is a spicy dish that is a favorite among people of all ages. It is loved so much that given a choice between a sweet and this dish, anyone would choose ‘Shev Bhaji’.

So, yesterday was one such special occasion – my birthday – and I made my favorite dish – Shev Bhaji.

Traditionally this dish is made by roasting all the ingredients first and then grinding them into a fine paste and then again roasting the paste in a lot of oil. I have omitted the pre-roasting part in my recipe. So, here’s how I made it.

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Shev Bhaji

A spicy gravy dish from Khandesh.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 2 people

Author Anuya

Ingredients

• 2 Medium Sized Red Onions (roughly chopped) White onions are not spicy and it does not give the spicy flavor.
• 4-5 Garlic cloves
• 1 inch Ginger
• 1/2 Cup Grated dry coconut
• 1 Tsp Jeera/Cumin
• Water as required to grind the above ingredients
• 1/2 Cup Oil For roasting the paste
• 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds (Rai/Sarson)
• 1 Tsp Turmeric/ Haldi Powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Red Chilly/ Lal Mirch Powder
• 1 Tsp Coriander/Dhaniya Powder
• 1 1/2 Tsp Shev Bhaji Masala/ Chicken curry masala You could use Garam Masala/Kala Masala if you don't have the Shev Bhaji/Chicken curry masala.
• Salt as per taste
• 2 Cups Boiling water
• 1 Cup Shev You can use any thick spicy Shev.
• Chopped Coriander For garnishing

Instructions

• Grind the Onions, ginger,garlic,grated coconut and cumin to a very fine paste. Add water in small quantities while grinding to avoid making the paste runny.
  
• Take the spices - Red Chilly powder, Turmeric powder, Coriander powder, Shev Bhaji masala/Chicken curry masala and Salt in a bowl. Add little water to this and mix. Set aside. We mix the spices in water so that when we add them to the hot roasted onion-ginger-garlic paste, they don't burn.
  
• Heat Oil in a pan. When the oil is sufficiently hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard crackles, slowly add the onion-ginger-garlic paste and roast until it leaves oil.
  
• Next add the spice mixture and roast well to cook the spices.
  
• Add boiling water to this roasted mixture and bring to a boil.
  
• Take the Shev in a serving bowl and pour the gravy over it just 5 minutes before eating. This helps in giving the exact crunch to the bhaji. Add some chopped coriander and serve hot.
  

Notes

As Shev Bhaji is very famous in Khandesh, the markets there sell special Shev meant to make this dish. You can use any spicy shev. Just make sure it is thick. I have used this kind:

As I have stated above, you can roast the ingredients that we have used for making the paste in a little oil and then roast them again after grinding them into a fine paste. Follow the same steps further. The taste and color of the Shev bhaji will be a little different if you make it this way.