the indian pav or bread rolls are made and sold almost everywhere in india.
pav means a small loaf of bread. this word has been derived from pão - a portuguese word for bread. as i have mentioned before in my white bread post, the portuguese were the first one to bring yeast to india, which produced the doubled bread loaves. we indians started calling these double roti or double bread.
even today double roti or pav as we call these small bread loaves… they are the most common indian bread. the pav is had with some of india’s favorite snack food like pav bhaji, misal pav, vada pav, bhurji pav….
i have used my basic white bread recipe to make the pav. just a little tweaking and i baked soft and light pavs. moreover there is no butter or milk or eggs used in the recipe.
since i did not want chewy an dense texture, i used whole wheat flour and maida/all purpose flour in half-half ratio.
also since i often make whole wheat flour bread… the hubby always complains that they are chewy and dense. so a 50-50 approach sometimes helps. the pav had a great soft texture and the hubby was also pleased 
i made smaller buns instead of bigger ones. i made the pav to go with the pav bhaji i had made. the next day i made masala pav. nothing beats a homemade pav in terms of taste, texture and hygiene.
pav recipe details below:
ingredients
- 1.5 cup whole wheat flour
- 1.5 cup all purpose flour/maida
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tbsp dry active yeast
- 2 tbsp oil - i added sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
method:
- warm the water.
- dissolve sugar in the water.
- sprinkle the yeast and stir.
- keep aside for 10 minutes or till the yeast bubbles up and froths.
- while the proofing is happening, sieve the flour with salt.
- add the oil to the flour.
- now add the frothy yeast.
- first mix everything.
- then start kneading the dough.
- the dough has to be smooth and light.
- grease the dough with oil.
- keep in a large bowl and cover loosely with kitchen napkin.
- keep aside for 11/2 or 2 hours until the dough doubles up.
- if it requires keep aside for some some more minutes.
- take the dough on a lightly floured surface. this naturally deflates the dough.
- now make balls from the dough.
- shape the balls into a rectangular or circular shape and place these on the greased pan.
- to get the laadi of pav, keep a two inches gap between the pav.
- you can also make small buns and let these bake separately without touching each other.
- cover again loosely with the kitchen napkin and let it rise again for about 45 minutes till it fully doubled up.
- preheat the oven to 190 degrees C and bake for 40-45 mins till you get the pav are all done and baked.
my notes
if the dough become sticky add some flour and if it is not smooth, then add some water.
if the top surface of the bread browns quickly than place aluminum foil or butter paper on the top. this will avoid further browning.
i prefer to knead dough with my hands, but you can knead the dough in a food processor or in an electric mixer with paddle attachment.
you can also brush the pav with oil or melted butter once they are baked to give them a glaze.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
hi Dassana Thanx
for the reply even I use fresh yeast , can u suggest what is the proportion for dry yeast and fresh yeast
hi hina. i generally double the proportion. meaning if the recipe calls for 1/2 tbsp of active dry yeast, i add 1 tbsp fresh yeast. if the recipe calls for 1 tsp , then i add 2 tsp of fresh yeast.
Hi dassana I m also a passionate baker like you although I m not an expert
The home made bread doesn’t ve that texture and fluffiness which their commercial counterpart has I’ve tried it many times ESP . If it is wholewheat flour once I added gluten also but it did nt made much diff. Even I bake in convection , I think it gets long to get heated up & browning rather than Otg . Pls suggest me something
hi hina. good to know that. bread baking is really good and calming.
when i make all purpose flour breads at home, they turn out pretty well. not like the outside ones but still good. only with whole wheat flour the bread becomes dense. the texture and fluffiness of commercially produced breads is due to the fact that they use chemical improvers which make the gluten strong and emulsifiers like GMS – Glycerol Monostearate. plus the dough is kneaded in high power machines which result in a different texture and crumb, than the ones kneaded by hands. if you stay abroad, i would suggest you to use bread flour for making breads. also use good quality yeast. i have started using fresh yeast now and the bread has a slight different taste and flavor than the ones made with active dry yeast.
as far as baking in convection mode is concerned, pre heat the oven for at least 8-10 minutes. the oven has to be hot when the bread is kept inside it. since i use both OTG and microwave for baking breads, what i have seen is that in the microwave, the bread browns more in the microwave than in the OTG. the top really gets browned too much. whereas in OTG, it is even browning. in fact my OTG is very slow. so the bread gets done faster in the microwave than in the OTG.
kneading the bread till it become elastic is important. the gluten has to be formed while kneading. under kneading or over kneading once the bread is leavened, also can spoil the texture of the bread. as a test, take a piece of the dough and stretch. if it stretches without breaking, it means the bread is kneaded well. the more you bake, the more you will learn from your own experience of baking. so i would suggest you to try different types of bread. even artisan breads at home. and you will become an expert in baking. you can read books on bread baking or see some video tutorials. all these would surely help.
Thanks dassana…..amazing recipe ….i made yummy pizza with this recipe
thats cool monika. thanks for giving the feedback.
You are fav baker in the whole world. All of your baked stuff looks so beautiful. I am gonna come to you for all baking queries now.
thanks charul… i have become an expert now in baking breads… that much i can confidently say about myself
i have one question to ask that when baking cakes ,buns where do you keep the baking sheet in the OTG and do you keep both elements on or only bottom element on while baking? i have sunflame company OTG. I AM ASKING THIS QUESTION BECAUSE SOME SAYS TO KEEP BOTH ELEMENT ON AND some says to keep bottom element on while baking. please help.
dear meenakshi, i don’t use otg. i have a microwave oven with convection/grill modes and this is what i use for all my baking. in my oven i have the heating element on top.
i asked my friend who uses otg and she answered your queries. the baking sheet has to be placed in the centre of the oven. i think by baking sheet you mean your baking pan or tray with the cakes or breads on it… this also varies from oven to oven. my friend bakes with bottom element on while baking, however she suggests you can try one basic cake recipe with bottom element on and one with both to get an idea about your oven coz generally baking time is oven specific and you will be comfortable only when you try your hands with any basic recipe.
if you have the manual you can read it or visit sunflame website to know more about baking in their oven.
thanks a lot for replying.
Hi Dassana ,i made these pavs last week,it was one of the most beautiful things to see when the dough balls were doubling in size during the second raising of the dough…they turned out good,however despite covering them with foil after 20 mins of baking,the crust turned dark brown and a bit hard…can this be avoided,would brushing some milk over the pavs before putting them in the oven help in preventing this?
even in my oven, while baking the surface of the breads or cakes gets browned quickly. when making this pav, i kept the foil right in the beginning. towards the end, i removed them just to brown the tops a little. 20 mins is a long time… i would suggest to keep the foil or butter paper after 10-12 minutes…
brushing with milk or beaten eggs (if you have them) is fine… they give a nice glaze to the pav. but this will not prevent from browning… the only way is to cover with a foil or butter paper.
Point noted.thanks.
Pavs look perfectly fluffy. I always do 50% whole wheat and 50% maida for fluffy, light bread so that everybody enjoys it.
home made pav! Wow!
Loved your pavs
your posts are now visible! sign me up for a basket full of home made pav any day:) Its been years since i bought any bread from the store.. its become a routine to make bread every week. i love those cute little bottoms.
Dassana, the pav looks so good. I am gonna use your recipe and try making hot dog buns. The ones we get here have L-cysteine, an ingredient derived from human hair:(