Pav bread , a soft and fluffy dinner roll from Indian Subcontinent. In some parts of India, it's also known as "Ladi Pav". Though i make pav bhaji at home regularly, i never tried pav bread on my own until very recently.

Once i had started to make pav bread at home, i realized how soft and delicious homemade pav breads are!!! It's way better than the store bought ones and more importantly we know what goes into the bread.

Here in the recipe, the tangzhong method of bread making technique is used. Before making this pav bread, I baked coconut buns once using the Tangzhong method and the bread was so soft and delicious. Ever since, I've been using the Tangzhong method for many breads.

What's the Tangzhong method ?

Tangzhong is one of the bread making methods which originated in Japan. In this method, roux is used to make soft and fluffy bread.

What's roux and how is it prepared?

Roux is flour and milk or water or fat cooked together until it becomes a thick sauce like consistency or dough like consistency depends on the recipe. Roux is used in various cuisines for different purposes. It mainly used to thicken the sauce.

Here in baking, we use a part of flour and liquid to make roux. The roux locks in the liquid during the entire process of bread making and doesn't evaporate, therefore the baked product has more moisture in it and gives such a soft and fluffy bread. This is my understanding from what I have learned about Tangzhong method so far.

Flour

I have used unbleached all purpose flour here for making pav bread. No need for bread flour or self rising flour for making these soft and delicious dinner rolls.

Yeast

Yeast is the key ingredient for making any type of yeasted breads. Here i have used instant yeast which can be easily mixed with other ingredients without proofing. If you're a beginner in baking, i would highly recommend to use instant yeast so you no need to worry about proofing the yeast.But you can use the regular dried yeast also in the recipe.

To proof the dried yeast, add it in the luke warm water along with some sugar and let it set aside for 5-10 mins. Once it's foamy, it's good to use.

Whatever the yeast you're using, make sure it's fresh!

Related: How to make Vada Pav

Milk Powder

Adding milk powder gives the great flavor and color to the pav bread. But it's totally optional, i have tried this recipe without milk powder many times and it turned out pretty good.

Related: How to make Tutti Frutti Bun

If you have tried various methods and still are not satisfied with the outcome of homemade pav bread or if you're a beginner in baking and don't know much baking technique, then i highly recommend this method. I'm not exaggerating, it works like a charm every time!!

Home made Pav bread

Preparation Time : 2 hrs | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Makes : 12
Recipe Category: Bread | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
All purpose flour - 2 & 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3 & 1/2 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Curd - 1/4 cup
Milk Powder - 2 tsp(optional)
Instant yeast - 1 & 1/2 tsp
Butter - 3 tbsp
For the flour roux
All purpose flour - 8 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup

Procedure

First let's make the flour roux, for that, take the all purpose flour and milk in a sauce, whisk it until all mix together well.

Then put it in the low heat, continuously whisk & cook till it becomes thick dough.

Remove from the flame,transfer the flour roux into a bowl,cover it with cling wrap(if you're using for later) and let it cool completely. Next for the dough, add the flour,sugar,salt,milk powder and yeast in a bowl. Mix it well.

Make a well in the center and add the prepared flour roux, butter,curd and mix it all together until it looks crumbled.

Next add 1/2 cup(approx) of water and make a slightly sticky dough.

Transfer the dough on to the working surface and kneed it for 10 mins until it becomes soft and non-sticky. It should pass the window pane test(That means you can able to stretch the dough without breaking such that the light can pass through it).

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with cling wrap, let it rise for double in size. It takes 1 to 1&1/2 hrs approx.

Once the dough is doubled in size, punch down the extra air and cut the dough into 4 equal parts.Take each part of dough and make three balls out of it.

Keep the dough inside your palm and roll into smooth balls.

Do the same for the remaining dough and place it on the greased baking sheet. Cover it with cling paper and let it rise again for 30- 40 mins.Preheat oven at 350F. Once the dough doubled in size, brush it with milk on top and place it in the oven & bake it for 20-22 mins mins.

Remove from the oven and brush the top with melted butter on the top. Let it cool completely on wire rack.

Tasty and soft Pav bread is ready to serve. Now that pav bread is ready, next check out on

How to make delicious & healthy Pav Bhaji recipe

More baking recipes!!

Related: How to make Thengai Bun / Dilpasand

Notes:

While preparing the roux, make sure to stir it continuously, it tends to clump together at the bottom quickly.
Cool the roux completely before use it in the dough.
Kneed the dough for 10 mins is must to get that soft , smooth & non-sticky dough.
Even without milk powder also, it turns out fine.

Pav Bhaji is a famous street food from the Indian City, Mumbai. Pav Bhaji is a combo dish and it has pav (soft buns) and bhaji( mashed & spiced vegetables).

Bhaji is the marathi word used to refer to vegetable based dishes. Hence the word Pav Bhaji refers to the curried vegetables served along with pav bread and as well as the combo in terms of the context.

All the north Indian street foods were introduced to me when i was in chennai for work. Before that I never knew about pav bhaji back in my hometown, Tirunelveli. Initially I thought that the combination of bread with some vegetable curry is a weird combo, all those thoughts were gone, when i had first tasted this. The slight sweetness from the bread goes very well with the spicy masala, surely it's my kind of food.

After marriage, I started to make pav bhaji frequently at home ,at least twice in a month. One time, during my parent visit to our home in Bangalore, I made pav bhaji for dinner. To my surprise, even Appa liked it very much although he didn't like many of the famous north Indian dishes like Naan, roti or any kind of paneer dishes.

After that he kept on insisting me to make this whenever he visits me or me visits my parents house. Honestly I feel elated when people start to like certain dishes because of my cooking. Anyone with me?

Ok, Now coming back to the recipe, there are so many different ways you can prepare the pav bhaji, some prefer to grate the vegetable instead of chopping and saute till it becomes mushy. But i've been making pav bhaji using pressure cooking vegetables for years now and it tastes so awesome.

Although I never tried any other way of making pav bhaji, I can assure that this is the one of the tastiest pav bhaji that can be made in very less time.

Related: How to make Vada Pav

Is Pav Bhaji masala / Spice mix is essential to make the pav bhaji?

No, Not at all. I have made the pav bhaji so many times with garam masala for flavor and never felt any difference in the taste. So, if you're not making pav bhaji at home frequently, then no need to buy a pack of pav bhaji masala. Garam masala works well equally.

Check out the video recipe for making Pav Bhaji

What vegetables can be added in Pav Bhaji ?

Personally, I like to add more vegetables in my pav Bhaji. Potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, peas & capsicum are the most common vegetables used in the street food carts.

Depending on the amount of vegetables added in the pav bhaji, the taste and the color differ mildly. I would highly recommend adding capsicum for pav bhaji because of its flavor.

And, to get bright red color, instead of using kashmiri chili powder, i like to add a small piece of beetroot. But don't add too much that will affect the flavor.

Ok, now let's check out on how to make this famous street food, Pav Bhaji.

Related: How to make Crispy & Juicy Jalebi

Pav Bhaji

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 3
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Potato - 2
Carrot - 1
Peas - 1/4 cup
Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup
Capsicum - 1
Cabbage - 1/2 cup(sliced)
Tomato - 2
Beetroot - 1(small)
Red chili powder - 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Pav Bhaji Masala/Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Butter - 2 tbsp
Onion & lemon - for serving
Butter - 1 tsp(serving)

Procedure

Wash and cut all the vegetables(Potato,Carrot,Peas,Cauliflower, Capsicum,Cabbage,Beetroot) & tomato in to small pieces.Put all the vegetables & tomato into the pressure cooker with enough water(1 cup approx),put on lid and weight and cook for 3 whistle or until all the veggies are cooked softly.

Once the pressure from the cooker automatically released, open the lid, remove the vegetable stock from the vegetables(don't discard it, gonna use it later).Mash the vegetables with masher well.

Now keep it in flame & add the vegetable stock(if needed add more water) and all the spices(turmeric,red chili,coriander, garam masala powder).

Add enough salt and mix well. Bring the masala to boil and add the butter 1/2 tbsp at a time, once it melts and incorporate with masala, add another 1/2 tbsp.Same way add all the butter.

Once all the butter is incorporated,keep the flame in medium and cook for 8-10 mins, after that the masala becomes thick , finally garnish with coriander leaves & switch off the flame.

Serve it along with butter toasted pav bread ,onions & lemon wedges.

Notes:

Usually i use all the vegetables mentioned in the ingredients list.
If you're not having all vegetables , still you can make it with the available vegetables in your pantry.Potatoes, peas & capsicum are the must.
I love to add beetroot especially for the color.
It's a bit difficult to mash the beetroot with masher even after cooking too, instead you can pulse the beetroot alone once and add with remaining veggies.
Mash the vegetables more or less as per your preference texture.
I used garam masala powder here.
Instead of butter, you can use oil too, but butter gives richness to the masala & i highly recommend it.

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Thursday, November 15, 2018