This ladi pav aka Indian dinner rolls are amazingly soft, feathery light, and fluffy. Learn how to make these at home with all the possible tips and tricks!
I never imagined I would be baking bread at home. But then as you know things happen and you end up doing things you never dreamt about doing in the first place.
As intimidating as baking bread seem, it really isn’t, once you get past that initial fear! I still consider myself an amateur in this area, and still have a long way to go!
The different kinds of flour, bakers percentage, hydration, bulk ferment, sourdough, artisan, Polish, biga to name a few are words that I’ve probably never ever come across before! Now I know the words, but still, have to know how to work with a couple of them. For today let’s see how to make these basic eggless ladi pav bread recipe.
Table of Contents
What is it about a home-baked bread, when it’s available commercially?
If you do make bread at home, you would agree with me on the following points:
- Baking is therapeutic. The whole process of kneading the dough and seeing it rise and transform to the finished product fills one with a lot of satisfaction.
- The aroma of freshly baked bread wafting through the kitchen is simply divine!
- When you bake your own bread you know what goes into it and are assured of the quality.
- Finally the joy of biting into a piece of that bread, slathered with some butter !! Heaven! The simple joys in life!!
I began my bread baking journey immediately after moving here to the US almost 3 years ago. I missed the ladi pav that we would get in Mumbai and so had to try making them at home.
When I think of pav, a number of dishes come to mind, like pav bhaji, cheese pav bhaji, misal pav, masala pav, vada pav, omelette pav, maska pav and the list goes on! In order to enjoy these dishes, you seriously need some good pav bread!
My first attempt at making bread was a disastrous whole wheat sandwich loaf bread until I realized and came across another word in the bread dictionary – ‘ gluten’!
Ingredients needed
To make these easy Bombay ladi pav, you will require the following;
- All-purpose flour: I’ve used regular all-purpose flour for this recipe. You can also use bread flour. I do not recommended using 100% whole wheat flour as the rolls will be dense, unless you add gluten in this recipe. Also, the liquid proportions will change.
- Yeast: I’ve used active dry yeast, which needs to be activated before using it. You can also use rapid rise yeast or instant yeast, these don’t need to be activated and can be added directly with the dry ingredients.
- Sugar: This is need to activate the yeast.
- Kosher salt: to flavor up the bread. You can also use regular table salt or sea salt.
- Lukewarm milk: Milk adds richness to the dough, the resulting pav buns are tender, have a soft crumb and a golden crust.
- Butter: also adds richness to the dough. Adding a little fat in the form of butter or oil helps preserve the bread for longer.
The best pav recipe, adapted from my Mother’s recipe book
As I’ve mentioned before I got my hands on my mum’s age-old recipe book, and was elated to find this pav bread recipe.
I made the following changes;
- Instead of 450 grams flour, I’ve used 4 cups of flour (approx 575 grams flour).
- Also, the recipe calls for block yeast, I’ve used the same quantity of active dry yeast. If you buy yeast in packets, then one packet (2 & 1/4 teaspoons) is more than sufficient to rise this quantity of flour.
I’ve increased the salt to 1.5 teaspoons for more flavor. - The recipe doesn’t specify the quantity of the liquid. I chose to use milk instead of water for reasons mentioned above in the detailed ingredients list. The quantity of milk is something that I have experimented with a lot in terms of hydration and for me, 1 & 2/3 cups liquid yields the best results. You may require anywhere between 1 & 1/2 to 1 & 2/3 cups depending on climatic conditions.
This ladi pav bun is feather light, fluffy and extremely delicious 🙂 This is a fail-proof recipe that I have tried and tested many times. It is guaranteed to give you the perfect dinner rolls if you follow all the steps correctly.
With experience and practice, you will get a hang of how the dough should feel and everything else that comes along with bread baking, so it will only get better with time 🙂
Important pointers to keep in mind while making this recipe
I have tried to cover as many details as possible in the stepwise pictorials, keeping in mind all the experiences I have dealt with in making ladi pav rolls. Sometimes they would turn out hard, sometimes soft. Keep in mind the following tips and you will be making endless batches of these dinner rolls like a pro!
Measure the ingredients accurately
I always recommend using a weighing scale to measure out the ingredients, especially the flour. If you are bake very often, I highly suggest you invest in a weighing scale.
Do not proceed without activating the yeast
If using active dry yeast, please do not proceed without activating the yeast first.
Avoid adding extra flour
Do not add more flour than that called for in the recipe. Adding more flour will result in hard dinner rolls, add few tablespoons flour at a time if it is still very sticky or simply grease your palms with more butter if required. The dough should be soft and tacky but not sticky.
The difference between sticky and tacky
The difference between sticky and tacky is crucial and an important factor to achieve soft rolls. You don’t want the dough to be over hydrated.
If you touch the dough, pull back and find some residue sticking to your finger, the dough is sticky.
If you touch the dough, pull back and find it leaves your finger easily without much residue, it is tacky and the right consistency. You can go ahead and proof the dough.
Use a bench scraper or a knife to divide the dough into equal sized rolls
Avoid tearing the dough by hand as it will tear the gluten strands which you worked so hard to develop.
Hope you find this easy ladi pav recipe with all these tips, tricks, and details useful 🙂
You may also enjoy these bread recipes
How to make ladi pav at home – Step by step instructions
Step 1: Activate the yeast
Add 2.5 teaspoons of active dry yeast & 1 teaspoon sugar to 1/3 cup of lukewarm milk/water. Leave it in a warm place for about 10-15 minutes or until it is all frothy and bubbly. If the yeast is not frothy and bubbly, it means it is not activated, discard and start over again.
Step 2: Prepare the dough
Measure the flour using a measuring cup (4 cups) or weigh the flour (575 grams), sift in a large mixing bowl, add 1.5 teaspoons of salt, activated yeast mixture, and the remaining 1 & 1/3 cup lukewarm milk/water.
Mix the contents of the bowl using a spatula/ or with your hands.
Dust your work surface with very little flour, transfer this sticky dough, add 2 tablespoons of butter, and start kneading until you get a soft & pliable dough.
This will take approximately 10-12 minutes, but the dough will definitely come together.
You can use a bench scraper to scrape the dough off the work surface and keep folding to make it easier.
Once the dough is done, poke it with your finger, if it springs back, it is ready for the next step.
If you are kneading in a stand mixer– You want the dough leaving the sides, but you still want to see a blob of dough at the bottom under the dough hook.
If it’s coming away completely from the bottom, the dough is under hydrated and dry, this will result in hard dinner rolls. Here’s a pic for reference below.
This is another batch that was kneaded in the stand mixer. It is the right consistency of the dough – a bit tacky but not sticky. Transfer it to your work surface dusted with little flour, knead for another 1-2 minutes and follow the next step.
Step 3: Proof the dough (first rise)
Tuck the edges of the dough towards the center to form a ball and transfer it to a big greased bowl.
Spray some oil spray on the dough or apply little oil over the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen napkin, and set aside in a warm place to proof or double in size.
It may take anywhere from 45 mins to 1.5 hours depending on the climatic conditions.
Step 4: Deflate the dough and knead for few more minutes
After the dough has risen, deflate it by punching down the dough, and transfer to the working surface. Knead again for another 5 minutes at least, add very little flour if the dough is too sticky.
Step 5: Shaping and second proofing (second rise)
Cut the dough with a scraper/dough knife/ regular knife into equal portions and shape them into rolls. Tuck the edges underneath towards the center, roll the dough against your work surface or between your palms to form a smooth round ball.
If you have a weighing scale, you can divide the rolls equally. I just eyeballed it.
Place them in a greased 9 x 13 greased baking tray. Leave little space between each. Cover with a damp kitchen cloth and let it proof for the second time. This will take approximately 30 minutes depending on the weather conditions.
Step 6: Baking
Preheat the oven to 400 F, Brush the risen dough balls with milk for a nice brown colored crust. Bake for about 15 -18 minutes or until they are done and the top is golden brown.
The top of the rolls will appear hard as soon as you remove it from the oven. You should be able to hear a hollow sound when you tap on top of the roll, that’s how you know it is well cooked. I remove mine at 18 minutes.
Remove the prepared rolls from the oven and brush with remaining 1 tbsp butter whilst still warm. They will soften once they start cooling down. Enjoy these, slathered with some butter or with bhaji or any curry of your choice.
Notes
- How to knead bread dough? Take a look at this quick video by King Arthur Flour.
- Shaping dinner rolls require a technique, it is not simply just rolling the dough into a ball, refer this quick video to get an idea.
- To store the rolls, place them in an airtight container or ziplock bag. They stay good for 2-3 days at room temperature.
If you buy yeast in packets, then 1 packet i.e 2 & 1/4 teaspoons are sufficient for this recipe too. - You may use half milk and half water.
- This same recipe can be used to make homemade buns too. Only remember to place them at least 3 inches apart so that they the buns don’t touch each other after proofing, and they maintain their round shape.
★ If you try this pav recipe, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Feel free to share your feedback and suggestions at [email protected]. Thanks so much 🙂
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Ladi Pav | Ladi Pao | Pav Recipe (Eggless Dinner Rolls)
Ingredients
- 4 cups / approx 575 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting as required (spooned and leveled)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2.5 teaspoons active dry yeast*
- 2 + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter,
- 1 & 2/3 cups lukewarm milk, approx 415 ml
- 2 teaspoons Oil/oil spray, to grease the bowl and the dough.
Instructions
- Add active dry yeast & sugar to 1/3 cup of lukewarm milk/water. Leave it in a warm place for about 10-15 minutes or until it is all frothy and bubbly.
- Measure the flour using a measuring cup or weigh the flour, sift in a large mixing bowl, add the salt, activated yeast mixture, and the remaining 1 & 1/3 cup lukewarm milk/water.
- Mix the contents of the bowl using a spatula/ or with your hands.
- Dust your work surface with very little flour, transfer this sticky dough, add 2 tablespoons of butter, and start kneading until you get a soft & pliable dough.
- This will take approximately 10-12 minutes, but the dough will definitely come together. You can use a bench scraper to scrape the dough off the work surface and keep folding to make it easier. Do not add more flour, as it will result in hard dinner rolls, add few tablespoons flour at a time if it is still very sticky or simply grease your palms with more butter if required. Once the dough is done, poke it with your finger, if it springs back, it is ready for the next step.
- Tuck the edges of the dough towards the center to form a ball and transfer it to big greased bowl. Spray some oil spray on the dough or apply little oil over the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen napkin, and set aside in a warm place to proof or double in size. It may take anywhere from 45 mins to 1.5 hours depending on the climatic conditions.
- After the dough has risen, deflate it and transfer to the working surface. Knead again for another 5 minutes at least, add very little flour if the dough is too sticky.
- Cut the dough with a scraper/dough knife/ regular knife into equal portions and shape them into rolls. Tuck the edges underneath towards the center, roll the dough against your work surface or between your palms to form a smooth round ball. If you have a weighing scale, you can divide the rolls equally. I just eyeballed it.
- Place them in a greased 9 x 13 greased tray. Leave little space between each. Cover with a damp kitchen cloth and let it proof for the second time. This will take approximately 30 minutes depending on the weather conditions.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, Brush the risen dough balls with milk for a nice brown colored crust. Bake for about 15 -18 minutes or until they are done and the top is golden brown. The top of the rolls will appear hard as soon as you remove it from the oven. You should be able to hear a hollow sound when you tap on top of the roll, that's how you know it is well cooked. I remove mine at 18 minutes.
- Remove the prepared rolls from the oven and brush with remaining 1 tablespoon of butter whilst still warm. They will soften once they start cooling down. Enjoy these, slathered with some butter or with bhaji or any curry of your choice.
Notes
- To store the rolls, place them in an airtight container or ziplock bag. They stay good for 2-3 days at room temperature.
- If you buy yeast in packets, then 1 packet i.e 2 & 1/4 teaspoons are sufficient for this recipe too.
- You may use half milk and half water.
- This same recipe can be used to make homemade buns too. Only remember to place them at least 3 inches apart so that they the buns don’t touch each other after proofing, and they maintain their round shape.Â
Absolutely delicious and loved the detailed recipe. Being a mumbai girl myself, I can imagine how important Pao is for all of us and nothing better than homemade paos Freda! I started baking 3 years back and do not buy store bought stuff anymore. So relaxing knowing good ingredients have gone into the making! Cheers!
Exactly why I love to make homemade bread! Thanks, Vidya 🙂
Can tell me how much of sugar tohh be added for 2 cups of flour? 1/2 tsp is it? Also whenever i bake pav i get lot of yeast smell in it why? What should be the ratio of flour: water:sugar:yeast. Please help
Hi Anjali! Can you try this recipe, it’s a foolproof pav recipe tried by many with great results. You can cut the recipe by half for a trial purpose. All the ingredients are in the recipe card.
Freda darling…i have tried this recipe twice…and i cannot tell how awesome it feels to see this gorgeous baked bread when done…so fulfilling…every step is so adventurous…love love baking bread just bcoz of your fail proof recipe…makes us feel so proud..God bless you dear.
Awww thank you so much for your awesome feedback, Jasmine:)
Hi Freda, can we make regular bread using the same measurements and technique or will it be different?
Hi Gayathri, simply reduce the water to 1.5 cups for sandwich bread, rest everything will stay the same. After the first proof, deflate the dough and shape in a 9 inch long. Then transfer to a greased loaf pan, and let it proof until it is 1 to 1.5 incheso over the rim of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. If you think the bread is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with an aluminum foil after 20 minutes of baking, and continue baking for the next 10-15 minutes until done. Remember to cool it completely before slicing, or else the texture of the bread will change.
Hi….if using fresh yeast, what is the quantity to be used for this recipe?
You need the double the quantity, so 4 & 1/2 tsp of fresh yeast, proceed the same way by activating it like the active dried yeast.
Thanks Freda.
Hi Frieda, I tried pav today, everything went well till the pav i had made was risen beautifully. but i went to bake them after 2 hrs n that time i saw they were flat. is it because i took long to bake after 2nd proofing?
Hi Sarika! Oh yes, you must avoid over proofing the dough after the second rise, once they rise and double up they are good to hit the oven. Over proofing causes more yeast to be used up which in turn will not help the dough rise in the oven, secondly, over proofing also causes the gluten structure to weaken, which causes the dough to go flat. Hope this helps.
How much flour would be 4 cups of flour in grams.That will give more accurate measure while baking rather than in cups.Did you use fat in this recipe because I am little confused hand written recipe says 30gms of fat but in your recipe there is no ingredient as such.What kind of milk did you use in your recipe vitaminD milk,1percent ,2 percent or fat feee milk?Waiting for your reply so that I can bake delicious bread at home without any preservatives and chemicals.Thanks in advance
Hi Bella, I’ve mentioned in the post, 4 cups is 576 grams. The fat mentioned is the butter used in this recipe. You can use any milk you wish. I always buy whole milk, so that’s what I’ve used here.
I’m gonna try this for sure… Just a li’l query.. Can we make a white bread loaf of the same recipe… If ys the how much dough will go in a 10/5 tin. Is there sm way or a standard of weight of dough for dimension of tin..? Pls help
I tried these today and my search for Pav ends here…. these are soooooo amazing. Totally in love with them, thank you so much for the awesome recipe with all the tips.
So glad to know, Rakhi 🙂 Thanks for sharing your feedback.
Which brand of yeast did you use in the US?
Hi Donna, I’ve used Fleischmann’s.
Dear Freda I am yet to try this out. It looks so good! But do you know whether I can make the dough the night before and bake in the morning. What will be the process? I know that many friends of mine in Europe freeze bread and bake in the morning. I am skeptical in the time needed in the morning of this process. Your thoughts or guidance on this would help.
Jenny
Hi Jenny! You can freeze this dough after the first rise, punch down the dough and place it in a cling wrap. Freeze it. Before baking you will need to thaw it for 2-3 hours, divide the dough, shape the dinner rolls, let it rise the second time then bake. Hope that helps 🙂
Fabulous post Freda. Love the detailed instructions.
Thanks so much, Dhwani 🙂
Home made dinner rolls are best:) looks very delicious!
Thanks Uma 🙂
Hi ! Can you please tell of we have to bake it with only bottom heat or both top and bottom
Hi Dhrisha! Yes, heat both.
Tried and tested!! This is a well explained Recipe and nothing can go wrong if you follow this recipe! Thanks !! Its a keeper in my kitchen 🙂
Awww thanks sweetie <3 Love how they turned out 🙂
I have not made Pao before. I know, I know… ^.^ Why I hadn’t made pao was because in europe we would always make something else such as Semmel or black bread or sunflower bread just to name a few. So it would not occurs to me to make any pao in Europe. In Goa I have always struggled to bake bread. I can make a pizza dough, but not bread, even if I use the European yeast, The commercially available dry yeast is of a bad quality in Goa and fresh yeast is not always available. I know people who travel 60 minutes just to get fresh yeast for their pizzerias etc. Also I believe baking successfully bread has a lot to do with the humidity and I still believe humidity doesn’t do bread rising too well. You might proof me wrong here, but its a fact that I have only managed to rice pizza dough in a dry AC room. I love the way you show how to make pao, you make it look quite simple. I don’t particularly like the pao in Goa these days as it is kind of tasteless. Bread baking is an art and bread bakers are dying out in Goa. At some point I might just make my own pao at home, thanks to your recipe. 🙂
Thanks Helene. The only reason I ever ended trying this was coz I really missed the ones we get back home. Am so glad I did. I’m sure you will never go back to the store-bought pao once you try making your own 🙂
Nice post and your buns have come out well. Thanks for sharing
Thanks, Jayashree 🙂
Tried your recipe, turned out well and gave me the confidence to bake bread, thank you
Hi Nitish! Thanks for sharing your feedback:) Glad to know!
My Pav always come out light brown. Which rack should I put?
I always bake in the middle rack , Arshi. You may need to check your oven temperature using an oven thermometer, just to make sure it’s calibrated.
Thanks, made the pau yesterday and the results were phenomenal!!
Thanks for your feedback 🙂 glad to know !
When do we add the sugar? I have already starting making this recipe so I’m assuming it goes with the yeast? Also the list of ingredients doesn’t mention how much butter we need to add, so I am going with the pictorial and adding approximately 2 tbsps. Really great recipe but I would appreciate if you could update it with the couple details that I thought were missing. I’m sure you all can probably still make this recipe without those details but it will help a first timer like me!! Thanks from a fellow Goan..
Hi ! Thanks 🙂 I guess you’ve missed out step 1 where it’s mentioned to add sugar to activate the yeast, quantity of butter is already mentioned in the ingredient list.
Beautifully explained Freda! You are tempting me to put on my baker’s hat and try this today 🙂 They look gorgeous…
Thanks a lot 🙂
Can you please explain how do these rolls are connected after baking? We place them with a distance in the baking tray, correct?
Yes they rise the second time, you can check the pictorial
Thank you Freda for the amazing recipe. i had tried making dinner rolls from some other recipe and it never really turned out the way they should & i was disappointed, had given up until i came across your recipe and decided to give it one more shot and i can’t explain the excitement as all was going as per your instructions & they turned out fab. Thank you so much…..
Most welcome, Evra! I’m really happy that this detailed recipe helped you 🙂 Thanks for sharing your feedback.
Thank you for the detailed recipe.. Tried it.. n the rolls were so soft n wonderful.
HAppy to know! Thanks for your feedback Aparna:)
Lovely will try is there a recipe for the kadak version which we eat with sorpotel
Hi Rochel! Thanks 🙂 For the kadak version, bake at 400 F for 30 minutes.
How spoons to use for instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons for instant yeast
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again Freda. You really spent a lot of time on this wonderful post. Thanks for all those tips and tricks, it makes the tutorial so much easier to understand and replicate. Just as I was thinking of cutting out carbs from my diet, I see this flash on my screen…..I’ll just have to delay that thought now 🙂
Thanks a lot Loretta 🙂 After so many trials, I finally got the little nuances that are essential in getting these right. I hope these pointers will benefit others too 🙂 Carbs are ever so tempting, Sigh!!!
Can I halve the recipe??
Yes you definitely can, adjust the quantity of milk accordingly 🙂
They look so light and fluffy, Freda! Will go great with pav bhaaji 😀 Yumm! Thanks for the detailed instructions!
Glad you liked it, thanks Shamira 🙂
Hi Freda, will definitely try. Can I use a microwave n what is the temperature n timing.
You mean to say microwave convection mode? Then it would be the same timing and temperature.
Omg! Thanks to you and your mom for this recipe! I always stay away from bread making, but the other day I was like maybe I should start with pav buns cause what’s there to not love about them…If you have the traditional bhaji recipe, please post that too..my bhaji is okayish but pretty sure not like Mumbai streets’ pav bhaji. I’ve never been there so don’t really know how they taste?
Hi Lina! Thanks so much 🙂
Will definitely be posting the bhaji recipe, but probably in the next few months. If I can’t will definitely mail you my way of making it 🙂 Well it is spicy and loaded with butter, if you must know 😀
Bread baking has long been on my list of kitchen fears as well! Your bread is lovely, Freda! You are encouraging me to give it a go! Ive made a few but still have a lot of hesitation.
Thanks for the great recipe and wonderful photos!
Thanks Laura, I’m glad you found the post useful 🙂
Freda , came across this post on foodgawker 🙂 wow amazing and beautiful photos. Your pao recipe is so tempting.Adding this to my never ending to do list .Thanks for sharing your Mom’ recipe.
Hi Sravanthi! Thanks for stopping by! I get you, my list is never ending as well. I hope you get a chance to try these 🙂
Such detailed recipe; hope to try it out as I’ve never baked bread – thank you so much for being an inspiration!!
Most welcome, Alcina! Would love to know your feedback 🙂
Thanks for sharing Freda could you please give the recipe for Hot Cross buns sweet buns Thank you
Hi Diana, the recipe is more or less similar to this. You will have to add 1/2 cup sugar to this recipe, and for richness you can add in an egg yolk. You can add in raisins and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg powder. Finally after the second rise, pipe a batter of equal parts of all purpose flour and water ( 1:1 ratio) in the shape of the cross over the bun and bake at 375F until golden brown. You will have to place the buns some distance apart, so they don’t stick to each other after the second rise and on baking, in order to retain the shape. I hope to share the recipe in detail around Easter 🙂
Awesome recipe
Thanks a lot 🙂
They look so soft and fluffy!!! Anytime better than store bought pav buns.
Thanks so much 🙂
Such delicious Pav buns Freda 🙂 Cant take my eyes off them!
Thanks dear 🙂
Love the crispy finish! Thanks for sharing.
By far my most fav post of yours.. Just loved everything about this recipe..
Thanks a lot dear 🙂
Those rolls are amazing Freda, your tutorial is perfect and so are the rolls. Really well done,
Thanks a lot Suzanne 🙂
Superb colour. Will definitely give this a shot. 🙂
Thanks Sonal, please do share your feedback 🙂
Freda! These look absolutely perfect; so fluffy and light on the inside. Very impressed 😀
Thanks Jess 🙂
Detailed recipe… Great job Freda ☺…Rolls look perfect ?
Thanks dear 🙂
I made very similar rolls today for the first time turned out really good too. Next time I will try your recipe!!
Thanks Tarina, it is pretty much a basic recipe, I have tried to add in technical details as much as possible 🙂
Superb post Freda!!! Love the recipe and the detailed instructions. 🙂
Thanks dear 🙂