Ladi pav recipe – step by step recipe to make soft and light Mumbai Ladi pav bread at home.
Pav or pao is basically a small loaf of bread, introduced by the portuguese in India. Commercially, pavs are always made with maida or all purpose flour. At home we can make these small bread rolls with whole wheat flour or other flours. I have made pavs with 100% whole wheat flour too. But unlike bread, the texture has denseness and a bit of chewiness.
There is a recipe of wheat pav posted made with 50-50 % of both all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. This 50-50% recipe also yields a soft textured pav. You can also check Ladi pav made in pressure cooker.
The Mumbai pav recipe in this post is made with 100% all-purpose flour. I make these light bread rolls once in a while, when the family demands and they get bored of Whole wheat bread and chapatis.
I have developed this pav buns recipe over a period of time to get the best results. the recipe method makes use of the sponge or poolish method for leavening and the result is very soft & spongy pav. I added instant yeast to the recipe. However, fresh yeast or dry active yeast can also be added.
To get the aroma and taste like that of the pav buns made in the bakeries, its advisable to use fresh yeast. The proportions of all three are mentioned in the recipe details.
Usually I make pavs to be served with pav bhaji or misal pav or masala pav or vada pav or samosa pav or pav sandwich. I never buy pavs from outside. I hope the step by step pics help you to make excellent homemade pavs.
How to make pav recipe
1. In a bowl take 1 cup of all purpose flour, yeast and sugar.
2. Add 1 cup warm water.
3. Stir or whisk to make a smooth thick batter.
4. Cover and keep the bowl for 30 to 40 minutes till you see a bubbly & frothy mixture. The batter would also have risen. The below pic shows the consistency. This is the sponge starter.
5. Add oil, salt and 1 cup flour.
6. Mix with a spoon or spatula.
7. Add 1 cup flour again.
8. Mix and then begin to knead. If the dough appears sticky then you can add about ¼ to ½ cup flour. The proportion of water to be added depends on the quality of the flour. Overall I added 3.25 cups flour and 1 cup water.
9. Knead to a smooth pliable dough.
Leavening pav dough
10. Spread oil or butter all over the dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen cotton napkin or a lid and keep the bread to leaven for 20 to 25 minutes. The leavening time depends on the type of yeast used & the temperature conditions. For instant and fresh yeast, 20 to 25 minutes of the first rise is enough. For dry active yeast, you will have to keep for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or more.
11. The risen & doubled pav dough.
12. Gently punch and deflate the dough and form a log.
13. Slice the log into equal sizes.
14. Take each slice and roll between your palms to get a smooth round roll.
Baking pav
15. Make rolls this way and place them in a greased tray keeping 1 inch space between all of them. Cover and allow the second rise for 25 to 30 minutes. The small loaves would increase in size.
16. Then brush the pavs buns with some milk. This gives a golden color to laadi pav.
17. Place the baking tray with the pavs in a preheated oven at 200 degrees celsius for 25 to 30 mins or till the tops turn golden and the pavs sound hollow on tapping.
18. Remove the pav buns from the tray and place on a wired rack or tray, so that they don’t become softened and moist from the bottom due to heat condensation. brush melted butter or spread softened butter on top of the pavs for a glaze. This is an optional step.
19. Serve the pavs warm or at room temperature with any curry like usal or vegetable dish or just as plain bun maska pav (buttered rolls) served with masala chai. You can also use them to make Mumbai street food snacks like pav bhaji or kutchi dabeli or misal pav or vada pav.
More bread recipes
pav recipe
Ingredients
- 3 to 3.5 cups all purpose flour (maida) - i added 3.25 cups flour
- 2 tablespoon oil or softened butter
- 1.5 to 2 teaspoon instant yeast or ½ to ¾ tablespoon dry active yeast or 1 to 1.5 tablespoon fresh yeast
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt or as required
- 1 cup warm water or add as required
- some milk for brushing
Instructions
making dough
- In a bowl take 1 cup of all purpose flour, yeast, sugar.
- Add 1 cup water. Stir or whisk to make a smooth thick batter.
- Cover and keep the bowl for 30 to 40 minutes till you see a bubbly and frothy layer on the top. The batter would also have risen.
- Add oil, salt and 1 cup flour. Mix with a spoon or spatula.
- Add 1 cup flour again. Mix and then begin to knead.
- If the dough appears sticky then you can about 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour. The proportion of water to be added, depends on the quality of the flour. Overall I added 3.25 cups flour and 1 cup water.
- Knead very well to a smooth pliable dough. Spread oil or butter all over the dough.
leavening pav dough
- Cover the bowl with a lid or a kitchen cotton napkin and keep the bread to leaven for 20 to 25 minutes. The leavening time depends on the type of yeast used. For instant and fresh yeast, 20 to 25 minutes of the first rise is enough. For dry active yeast, you will have to keep for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or more.
- Once the pav dough has risen & doubled, then gently punch and deflate the dough and form a log.
- Slice the log into equal sizes. Take each slice and roll between your palms to get a smooth round roll.
- Make rolls this way and place them in a greased tray keeping 1 inch space between all of them. Cover and allow the second rise for 25 to 30 minutes. The small loaves would increase in size.
baking ladi pav
- Just before 15 minutes you bake the pav, preheat the oven at 200 degrees celsius. For a regular oven, heat both the top and bottom elements. For a microwave oven with convection mode, preheat for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.
- Then brush the pavs buns with some milk. This gives a golden color to laadi pav.
- Place the baking tray in the center rack in a preheated oven at 200 degrees celsius for 25 to 30 mins or till the tops turn golden and the pavs sound hollow on tapping. For baking in the microwave oven at convection mode, bake at 180 degrees celsius.
- Remove them from the tray and place on a wired rack or tray, so that they don't become softened and moist from the bottom due to heat condensation.
- Brush melted butter or spread softened butter on top of the pavs. This is an optional step.
- Serve the pavs warm or at room temperature with any curry, vegetable dish or just as plain bun maska pav (buttered rolls) served with masala chai.
Notes
- If the dough become sticky then add some flour and if the dough looks dry, 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.
- Instead of kneading with hands, you can also knead the dough in a food processor or in an electric mixer with paddle attachment.
Hi Dasana
Thanks for sharing d recipe. Planning to try out just wanted to know if I can use the sourdough starter here also keeping it outside to proof wil it not develop a sour taste esp during summers?
Thanks
Shruti
welcome shruti. you can use a sourdough starter for the pav recipe. with the sourdough starter, there will be some sourness in the dough during these hot summers. otherwise, keep the dough for 30 to 45 minutes at room temperature for the first rise. then keep in the fridge overnight or for a day. then you can bring the dough to room temperature and make the rolls. let the rolls rise and then bake.
Hi dassana,
You mentioned that for bakery-like Pav one may use fresh yeast.. how do we make this fresh yeast?
Ruchi, fresh yeast you have to buy from outside. you will get it in any bakery or super store. it is commercially made.
Tried today, however the outer crust too hard and pav not fluffy and light as mumbai pav
Any specific brand of maida to use in usa ?
you can use bread flour which is easily available in usa. its not a brand but a type of flour used for making breads which has more gluten. but even all purpose flour which we call as maida works very well for making pav recipe. i think here its not the pav, but the yeast that is the problem. could be the quality and freshness or brand or the yeast has not got activated and proofed properly. if you have used dry active yeast or fresh yeast, then lukewarm water water is absolutely essential for the yeast to get activated. if the water is on the cooler side, the yeast won’t get activated. if the water is even slightly hotter, the yeast die. if the yeast has not got proofed well, the bread or pav won’t become fluffy and light.
Hi Dasana, I love your recipes and while I’m not much of a cook your recipes always turn out great. Just wanted to know if I doubled the flour how much yeast would have to be used. Thanks a lot.
Welcome Elaine. Glad to know this. You can double the instant yeast e.g. 3 to 4 teaspoon instant yeast.
hi, i love all your recipes. this one is wonderful and I tried today. everything went well. but the outer part became hard. how can I get soft pav. Fyi, I have used active dry yeast and followed your recipe. The 2 proofs were just perfect.please advice.
looks like the top has got baked too much and hence the hardness. you can bake for less time. since oven temperatures vary, baking can take less or more time.
Hi. Just tried this in USA. I have a stupid question since I never did baking in my life. Are youR temperature units in Celcius or Farenhights?
AMD its alright. the temperature units are in Celsius.
Hi, wanted to get in touch with you for a super opportunity. Is there a way i can get in touch? Manas.
Manas, you can write at this email id: [email protected]
hi dassana! there seems a typo error.salt isn’t mentioned in” how to make recipe”
thanks meveera. i will update it.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Just tried it and it came out very well. Except since I was following the instructions before the pictorial step-by-step, I missed out the salt. My bad! :p
Welcome Sowmya. Glad to know that you liked the pav recipe.
How make this in microwave?
sneha, this recipe won’t work in the microwave.
Thank u dear ????????
welcome snehal.
you are plain genius Dassana! I made these pavs and they turned out so amazing. It was unbelievable that home made pavs could turn out so good and that too in my first try :). Thank you sooo much. Only the whole process took very long. I hadn’t seen that we have to add warm water. I guess that was the reason and may be the cold weather too. Thanks again Dassana.
thanks a lot ritu. homemade pav are too good.i bake them when i have to make any dish like pav bhaji or vada pav or misal pav. during winters, leavening does take time. an option is to keep the dough covered with a lid in sunlight. i do that at times. for instant yeast, warm water is not essential. but if using dry active yeast or fresh yeast, then warm water is mandatory or else the yeast does not activate.
Hi Dassana,
Would like to know if the temperature of water has to be lukewarm throughout ? Meaning does it have to be lukewarm even when we think that the dough is dry and need to add some more water at that point ?
one for yeast proofing the water has to be lukewarm. when adding water later if the dough is dry, then the water can be at room temperature. but should not be cold.
Thank you so much. Will try the recipe soon.Shall let you know how it turned out.
welcome ritu.
If I need to bake it in batches, then how should I store the dough for the second batch when the first one is baking?
keep in the fridge. keep the pan covered with lid or foil or a cotton napkin.
Hi,
I will be trying the recipe soon.. can I double the recipe.. will the outcome be same?
Thanks,
Priya
you can double the recipe. in case the dough looks dry, then you can always add more water. if you knead well and the yeast gets proofed well, the the result is always good.
Hi,
I tried this recipe for the second time yesterday. The first time, the yeast did not cooperate and resulted in a hard ball. But with fresh packet of instant yeast, the pav was fabulous, nice and soft with the exact shade as in the picture. Only difference was that since I did not make all the balls of equal size, some were a little bit bigger than others, but all baked perfectly. Made pav bhaji and now there are no more pavs left 🙂 Thank you.
ranjani, thanks for the feedback. most of the times the texture of the bread largely depends on how well the yeast has proofed. with instant yeast, its easier and better as there are less chances of things going wrong. glad that recipe came out good for you.
Hi mam,
Today i have tried the bombay pav recipe. Till step 15 everything came as u mentioned but after baking it was hard on top. Mine is microwave and i used the convection mode at 200 degree for 15 minutes. Where the mistake would be?
Subhashini, looks like the pav has got baked too much. Oven timing varies from oven to oven. So it helps to keep a check. next time bake for little less time.
Hi!
I tried ur recipe of pav today. And it was so soft and spongy. Simply perfect. My family just loved it. Thanks a lot dear!
welcome naz 🙂 thanks for positive views.
Hi ..!
I tried pav today.. unfortunately it did not come out properly. I baked it for 30 mins may be because of dat outr ws hard.. even after 30mins it did not even turn a bit brown.. bakef at
outside was hard or the inner texture was hard. let me know.
I prepared ladi pav with u r receipee followed all the steps but my outer layer crust became hard what would be the reason I baked pav 20 minutes on lower Heat and 5 minutes both side what went wrong
the outer crust got hard due to over baking or too much heat coming from the top heating element in the oven. also oven temperatures vary with the size, model and capacity. so the time can be more or less.
Tried your Bombay Pav recipe last night, AMAZING!! Definitely a keeper this recipe. Thank you, thank you, Thank you.
thanks a lot michelle for this positive review 🙂
Hi dear,this is first time that i failed one recipe of ur blog 🙁 it didn’t come so well,to make top brown i bake for some extra time but then the outer layer was very hard…plz advice. Taste was good as like market but d overall appearance i guess i did many things wrong.
while baking and especially for the first time or during the beginning, things can go wrong. looks like the top crust got baked too much. just a even golden color is fine on the top. if the bread or rolls are kept for too long in the oven, the top will become hard. so next time you can bake till you see the top becoming golden.
Can you use bread flour for this?
you can use bread flour.
Today m making ur wheat bread recipe n pauv recipe…. I have tried ur many dishes I really like ur recipes …. Whenever I want to cook something I see ur blog first thank u
quite pleased to know this heena thankyou for your kind and positive words. surely try wheat bread and keep us posted how it was? and you are welcome.
Super spongy!!! Just tat the top portion of pav was not that Golden… Rest it tastes really good 🙂
thank you. if you bake for some more minutes, the top will become golden.
Hi Dassana,
I am a huge fan of your website and have been following your recipes on a daily basis from dals to veggies to pulao. for everything i refer your blog once.
i want advice from you on some great bread baking books.
i am trying my hands on baking and would like to refer to some books as well in this regard.
thanks and keep up the good work.
you are an inspiration to a lot of women
thank you urvashi. peter reinhart’s books are good on bread baking. then there is also the bread bible which is a good book. i have artisan breads everyday by peter reinhart and its a really good book.
Hi Dassana,
I tried the Pav today. The crust was a bit hard. Where did I go wrong???
Thank you for the recipe. ?
the crust becomes hard, when the baking time is more or if the heating is too much in the oven. if you use OTG, then keep the tray in the center of the oven and keep both the top and bottom heating elements on.
Thanks
Will prepare pav. Recipe seems to be perfect.
What it means ‘yr comment is waiting moderation’
means that the comment is manually approved.
surely Fatima do try the pav recipe and let us know and thankyou 🙂
I don hav 250ml cup. Mine is 240ml cup. Can i use it?
yes you can use 240 ml cup.
These look so delicious! Love your recipes! The orange is our fav :)) I had one question though- how many days do they stay well? I m planning to make these for a party so wanted to know if they could be made ahead of time!
Thanks for the wonderful recipes!
welcome manasi. they stay good for 3-4 days in fridge.
hi dassana,
I can’t thank you enough for this amazing recipe. After years of failing at trying out a perfect pav recipe, my loaf finally turned out to be perfect. My family loved it!
I followed your instructions to the T, except that i added half a tsp of baking powder. Also i use a convection oven so i preheated the oven to 200 degrees and baked the pavs for 10 mins. After that i raised the temperature to 250 degrees and baked for another 15 mins to get a brown surface.That’s it. It came out amazingly perfect. I am gonna note down this recipe forever. Thank you so very much! 🙂 🙂
welcome harshree. glad to know that the recipe worked perfectly for you. thanks for sharing your experience.
thanks a lot harshree for this positive feedback. co incidentally i also made pav today with both atta/whole wheat flour and some maida, but in pressure cooker. thanks also for sharing the oven tips you have mentioned. will help readers too.
Hi harshsree,
Why did you add baking powder? Does it help in making the paavs more soft?
Regards
Hi dassana,
How can I substitute yeast in any recipe.
What will be tthe proportion.
yeast can be substituted but the recipe will change completely.