laadi pav

It was supposed to be just a couple of days until I posted the pav recipe that I mentioned here.  I had figured taking pictures of the sticky dough would slow me down but in fact, it was the writing.  I simply found myself searching for words to describe a bread that so much has been written about already.  That it is the other half of so many of the popular Indian street foods; silently holding up the bhaji in pav-bhaji or vada in vada pav or misal in misal pav.  That it is often called a poor man’s bread but is just as loved by the rich, that hundreds of little bakeries especially around Maharashtra start their ovens well before sunrise to bake thousands of slabs of these buns from which they get their name- laadi (slab) pav, and that these thousands make their way to countless little neighborhood stores and street food vendors and homes and hotels as part of the daily bread.  And of course, a special mention of the pav and chai in the Irani bakeries of Mumbai with their marble top tables and wood-paneled walls!

One could easily think of these buns made of flour, water, yeast, salt and sugar being just like a dinner roll or a hamburger bun.  But not quite….the taste and texture and appearance give them a unique identity of their own; one that is tightly intertwined with a city and a region – much like a baguette to France.

For the longest time, whenever an occasion called for pav, I would buy dinner rolls or water rolls or kaiser rolls from the grocery store but it always felt like a compromise.  It was fine but….not quite the real thing.  A few years back, I started making it at home using just a regular white bread recipe shaped into rolls.  Still fine but still not quite the real thing.  Then some time back, I happened upon a video of it being made in a small village bakery somewhere in Maharashtra.  It was in Malayalam (a language I don’t know) but armed with a full screen and copious notes, I realized that where I had been falling short was in technique rather than ingredients.

So I threw away all my previous sheets and notes of recipes for pav and after several iterations  and playing around with proportions and baking temperatures, I came to a recipe that I am very happy with.  In this version, I have subbed some of the bread flour with oat flour and the results are even better.  I think the yeast love their oats too 🙂

As I mentioned earlier, the dough is really sticky.  There is just no way around it since it really is the secret to a good pav.  It is best kneaded on a clean counter instead of a bowl and a bench scraper makes it so much easier.  Also resist the temptation to add more flour because in all likelihood, after fifteen minutes of working the dough, it will come together into a very soft, silken ball. If you need to make any adjustments, do so after the fifteen minutes.

My favorite way to eat pav…..with a generous spread of butter and if I have it at home, Kissan mixed fruit jam.  Of course…..some masala chai too!

Laadi Pav

Printable recipe

(Makes 12 pavs)

2 cups bread flour (300g/10oz)
1 cup oat flour (100g/4 oz)
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup water
2 tsp raw sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp butter, very soft
Some milk for brushing the top of the pav before baking

Mix the milk and water and warm slightly.

Mix the bread flour, oat flour and salt in a bowl and transfer to a clean counter top or marble board.

Make a small well in the center.  Add the sugar and yeast and slowly start adding the milk and water mixture.  This can get messy! Add the milk in stages, mixing the dough well between the additions.

Use the heel of your palms to push the dough away from you and use the bench scraper to gather it together again.  Knead the very sticky dough for five minutes.  This helps to develop the gluten.

Spread the softened butter on top of the dough and start working it in.  Continue kneading for another 10 minutes using the same technique as above.  The dough will come together eventually…will still be somewhat tacky and but will start forming a ball.

Resist the urge to add more flour until the 15 minutes of kneading is done.  If at that point, the dough is still very sticky, add about 2-3 tsp in all of the bread flour.

Lightly grease a bowl and transfer dough to bowl.  Once the dough is covered with oil, it will not be sticky anymore.

Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled (about 40 mins to an hour).

In the meantime, lightly grease a 11×7 baking pan and keep aside.  After the dough has doubled, punch it down and divide into 12 balls.

Flatten each ball into a disc and then bring the ends together to make a smooth ball.  This helps you get smooth tops.

Cover with the kitchen towel and let it rise for about 40 mins.  The pavs will be touching each other at the end of rising.

While that it rising, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

After 40 mins, brush the tops of the pavs with milk and bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for another 5-6 minutes.

Remove and cool pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.  You can brush the top with some butter if you like.

Remove from the pan and cool on wire rack until it comes to room temperature.

Use the same day.  If storing for a longer time, it is best to transfer to a ziploc bag and freeze it …even if it is just for a couple of days.  The bread stays fresh this way.

Enjoy!

*  I used a 11×7 pan which is from India and somewhat of an unusual size in the US.  You can use a regular square pan (which gives 6 pavs) or a larger pan and scale the recipe up or down.