Paav Buns - Eggless Dinner Rolls recipe - Step by step

          Paav buns or dinner rolls , are usally served with bhaji or a mashed vegetable sabzi. Paav bhaji is a very famous street food from Mumbai. My dream come true recipe. The paav was very soft and delicate to touch.Initially, I was not aware of how, big the rolls are going to rise. I used a 8 inch square pan. But after baking it, thought ,I should have used 10 inch pan. Because, the rolls started to rise drastically and overcrowded. Next time, going to use a bigger pan. for the rolls to bake evenly. Enjoy these lovely paavs for your dinner.The rcipe calls for bread flour, if you don't have bread flour, use all purpose flour. But increase the quantity, till your dough is non sticky and pilable. If it is sticky, use some more flour.

Preparation time : 10 mins

Proofing time : 1 hour

Baking time : 30 mins

Cooling time :20 mins

Recipe : Here

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Bread flour plus few more for dusting 
• 2-1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
• 1/4 cup lukewarm Water
• 1-1/4 cups milk ( replace 1/4 cups with 1 beaten egg if you prefer)
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 3/4 tsp Salt

Method:

* Take yeast,sugar and water in a bowl .Let it sit for 3 minutes or untill the yeast turns fuming mixture. When your yeast turns into a fuming mixture within 10 minutes, then it is a sign that the yeat is active. Always try to use the yeast,within the expiry date.If not the bread will not rise properly.

* Take a bowl and melt butter with milk. Keep it aside, till it cools a bit.If you want to use egg, we can replace 1/4 cup milk with one egg and use only 1 cup of milk. The egg should be beaten well.

* Now take flour,salt in a bowl. If you don't have bread flour, we can add normal all purpose flour .But use 31/2 cups of all purpose flour for 3 cups of bread flour.The dough should be soft and smooth. It should not be sticky.

* Now add the melted butter and milk to the bowl and mix it.If the mixture is too runny, we can add flour more.

* Transfer the mixture to the stand mixer now. Knead the dough for atleast 10 minutes. We can knead the dough using our hands too.But make sure the dough is soft and smooth and not sticky.

* Place the kneaded dough in a greased glass bowl .Cover it with a cling wrap and place it inside a oven,with lights turned on. Or if you are living in a humid country, then place the bowl on a warm place.

* The dough would have doubled in its volume after 30 minutes. See who is so eager to punch down the dough. Its my younger one ,keen to open the wrap.

* Dust the working space with flour. Punch down the dough to release the bubbles in the dough. Take a rolling pin roll into 1 inch thicknessed rectangle. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into 12 squares.We can also wiegh each portion to have a equally divided paav buns.

* Grease a 10 inch square pan with oil. I used a small 8 inch square pan. At the end I thought that the rolls over flowed the pan. So use a bigger pan for the buns to rise ,without over crowding the pan.

 

* Roll the dough into small balls .Place them in the pan, with little space between them.(But my pan, didin't have much space, so use a big pan.) The balls should be equal sized, if not they will not rise uniformlly.Cover the pan with cling wrap and place it in a warm place to rise it .It took for me almost 30 minutes, for the rolls to rise ,double the size.Pre heat the oven  @350 Degrees .

* After 30 minutes, the rolls doubled beautifully.Brush the rolls with milk.If you want ,we can brush with beaten egg.Bake the paav buns .Bake the buns for 20 - 25 mins. Once you get the brown spots on the paav, its time for us to take them out. Since,my pan was over crowded, I baked for 5 more minutes, for it to cook evenly. Remove the pan out of the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.

* Initally, it will be hard on the outer side. But when we tap it , we can hear a hollow sound, this represents the doneness of the buns.Cool it completely and slice it. Have with butter and jam or use as a base for Paav bhaji.Finish the rolls within 2 to 3 days.

Notes:
* The milk and butter should be at room temperature,while we are adding it to the flour.
* We can also replace the bread flour by all purpose flour by 31/2 cups.
* The yeast should be active. If not the rolls will not rise properly.
* Always bake the rolls in lower temperature.
*  Divide the rolls into equally sized and wieghed balls.
* Bake them in a pan, which can hold all the rolls,with space.