Ladi Pav – Eggless Dinner Rolls
Ladi Pav or dinner rolls are pillowy soft, light, and fluffy breads. These ladi pavs are so delicious and satisfying at the same time. Homemade dinner rolls are so addictive that you will want to bake them frequently.
Pavs are very popular in Mumbai and they are easily available at many bakeries. These ladi pavs taste so good with so many Mumbai dishes like Pav Bhaji, Bhajiya Pav, Vada Pav, Misal Pav, and many more.
When we moved from Mumbai to Hyderabad for my husband’s work back in 2002, we were desperately searching for the Mumbai style pavs. We couldn’t find them. We used to bring a few pavs from Mumbai whenever we visited there or ask someone to get them.
After moving to the USA, we found similar looking bread and felt so happy. After tasting those store bought dinner rolls we realized that they were too sweet and would not go well with Mumbai style dishes. We tried a couple of Indian stores but couldn’t find any good quality pav back in 2005.
I decided to make my own ladi pav after a couple of years. At first, I was feeling intimidated before I started baking my first bread. My first ever attempt of making ladi pav totally failed and I was so disappointed. I literally stopped thinking about baking my own ladi pav until 2019. My trial did not turn out that bad. After so many trials and errors, I finally found The Perfect Ladi Pav recipe to share with you all 🙂
I tried making eggless ladi pav in different ways and finally found out my perfect recipe. I tried the recipe by making various variations – using milk or water, with milk powder or without milk powder, all purpose flour, wheat flour, bread flour, with or without using butter, and using the active yeast in different ratios.
What Is Ladi Pav?
Pav is a type of bread and Ladi is a line of breads stacked with each other. Ladi Pavs are similar to dinner rolls in the USA.
The main difference between them is the sweetness. Ladi pavs are not that sweet and much lighter than dinner rolls.
Ingredients
- Bread flour
- Milk powder
- Active dry yeast
- Milk
- Butter
- Oil
- Sugar
- Salt
Why add sugar?
Sugar provides food for the yeast, which converts it to carbon dioxide and alcohol.
It will also speed up your rise time during proofing.
Sugar enhances the bread flavor and gives the crust a golden color. It helps retain moisture in the bread as well.
How To Proof Bread?
What is proofing?
Proofing is the step in the bread making process that activates the yeast and helps the dough rise. It creates the desired texture of the bread.
The proofing can refer to any stage of fermentation, but it is especially associated with the final rise after shaping the bread, just before baking.
Ladi Pav Step By Step Recipe
Activating The Yeast
In a large bowl, add warm milk (about 105℉), sugar, and active dry yeast. Mix and cover it. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes and allow the yeast to bloom.
Making The Dough
In another mixing bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, and salt. Mix everything well. Add the flour mixture little at a time to the yeast mixture.
Begin to mix the dough with your hands or use a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Knead the dough for about 7-8 minutes at medium speed until it is smooth and elastic.
Kneading The Dough With Hands
Turn the dough out onto your clean kitchen countertop and start kneading the dough. Personally, I use a dough mat. Knead the dough by pushing with the base of your palm and bring the dough back to you to reform into a ball. Keep kneading the dough for about 8-10 minutes or until it feels soft and pillowy. It should have a stretchy and smooth exterior.
You can drizzle a few drops of oil on the work surface if the dough is too sticky to handle or add 1-2 tbsp water if the dough is too dry.
Add 2 tbsp butter to the dough and combine everything together. If you find the dough is sticky, add sprinkle some flour and keep kneading it until the dough forms together into a smooth ball for about 4-5 minutes.
Proofing The Dough
Grease some oil into a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl. Spread some oil on the top of the dough. Cover it with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to proof in a warm place for about 1 to 1 ½ hours or until it rises double in size. In colder temperatures, you can keep the bowl covered in an oven by keeping the light on, which will help the dough rise faster.
Shaping The Bread
Lightly punch the dough down with your fist and transfer it to your clean countertop or dough mat. Lightly knead the dough for 1 minute and divide it into 12 equal parts using a sharp knife or dough cutter.
To get an even shape and size you can weigh the dough on a kitchen scale. Divide it evenly to get 12 equal sized pav.
Roll each dough ball and set aside.
Grease a square baking pan or line it with some parchment paper.
Take one part of the dough, lightly knead it for 10 seconds, and pinch the dough at the bottom to form a roundel.
Cover the roundel with your palms and make circular movements to create a smooth and round-shaped bread. Gently flatten the pav a little with a dough scraper from the top and straighten the sides for the perfect shape.
Transfer the pav to the greased baking tray. Repeat these steps with the rest of the dough balls, keeping very little space between them so they will stick to each other.
Proofing The Bread
Cover the baking pan with a kitchen towel and allow the pavs to proof for about 45 minutes or until they double in size.
Baking The Bread
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃
Bake them for 17-20 minutes, or until they turn golden on the top and sound hollow when lightly tapped. Take them out of the oven and let them sit for 2 minutes on the countertop. Brush some milk on the top of the pav before baking – the milk wash provides a semi-gloss shine and helps to brown the crust. You may skip brushing some milk for a pale color pavs.
Transfer the pavs on a cooling rack, brush some melted butter on the top if you like, cover them with a kitchen towel, and let them cool completely before slicing.
How To Bake Ladi Pav In The Pan?
In a large pan, add some salt at the base and preheat the pan on medium heat for 12-15 minutes by covering with a lid.
Gently place a trivet and a baking pan with the proofed pavs, cover the pan with a lid, and bake the pavs for 15-20 minutes. Make sure that the baking pan is fitting into the large pan before proofing the pavs.
Tips For Making Ladi Pav
- Activate the active dry yeast before proceeding to the next steps. If the yeast is not active do not proceed.
- Measure the ingredients correctly. Do not add too much flour or else your bread will turn hard.
- Milk powder will help the bread remain soft and fluffy. Do not skip adding it.
- The dough should be soft, smooth, and not sticky for making perfectly soft pavs.
- Grease the work surface with a few drops of oil before kneading the dough. I highly recommend using a dough mat for kneading the dough – I have found that the dough will not stick to it and is easy to handle.
- Use a sharp knife or a dough cutter for dividing the dough into equal parts and avoid tearing the dough with your hands – it will reduce the gluten strands which you have formed while kneading the dough.
- Brushing some milk before baking the pav will give a brown color to them. If you skip brushing the milk, it will give a pale color to the pav.
Variations
- You can use all purpose flour instead of bread flour in the recipe.
- Combining half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour will result in beautiful pav – keep in mind it will be a little dense.
- I have tried making the bread with simply warm water and it turned out good but milk gives a rich flavor to the ladi pav. You can add half water and half milk as well.
- Use the same recipe to form into 8 buns, brush some milk, sprinkle some sesame seeds, and bake them in the oven.
How To Store Ladi Pav?
Homemade bread doesn’t have preservatives so it cannot be stored at room temperature for more than 2-3 days.
Store the ladi pav in a plastic bag or in an airtight container once cooled down completely for 2 days at room temperature.
You can store the ladi pav in a plastic bag or an airtight container for 8 days in a refrigerator.
They can be stored in a freezer for 2 months in a freezer safe bag. Take them out on the countertop for 30 minutes and warm them a little in the oven just before serving them.
How To Serve Ladi Pav?
Enjoy the warm pav with some butter and jam.
These ladi pav taste simply divine with bhaji, usal, misal, batata vada, bhajiya, and much more.
Use the same recipe, shape the dough into a bun shape, add some burger patties, and serve the burgers.
Other Bread Recipes To Try:
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I will love to hear from you!
Ladi Pav – Eggless Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 3 cups Bread flour or all purpose flour
- 1.5 tbsp Milk powder non fat
- 1 tbsp Active dry yeast
- 1 1/4 cup Milk I used 2%
- 2 tbsp Butter unsalted
- 1 tsp Oil to coat the dough
- 1.5 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
Activating The Yeast
- In a large bowl, add warm milk (about 105℉), sugar, and active dry yeast. Mix and cover it. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes and allow the yeast to bloom.
Making The Dough
- In another mixing bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, and salt. Mix everything well. Add the flour mixture little at a time to the yeast mixture.
- Begin to mix the dough with your hands or use a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
- Knead the dough for about 7-8 minutes at medium speed until it is smooth and elastic.
Kneading The Dough With Hands
- Turn the dough out onto your clean kitchen countertop and start kneading the dough. Personally, I use a dough mat. Knead the dough by pushing with the base of your palm and bring the dough back to you to reform into a ball. Keep kneading the dough for about 8-10 minutes or until it feels soft and pillowy. It should have a stretchy and smooth exterior.
- You can drizzle a few drops of oil on the work surface if the dough is too sticky to handle or add 1-2 tbsp water if the dough is too dry.
- Add 2 tbsp butter to the dough and combine everything together. If you find the dough is sticky, add sprinkle some flour and keep kneading it until the dough forms together into a smooth ball for about 4-5 minutes.
Proofing The Dough
- Grease some oil into a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl. Spread some oil on the top of the dough. Cover it with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to proof in a warm place for about 1 to 1 ½ hours or until it rises double in size. In colder temperatures, you can keep the bowl covered in an oven by keeping the light on, which will help the dough rise faster.
Shaping The Bread
- Lightly punch the dough down with your fist and transfer it to your clean countertop or dough mat. Lightly knead the dough for 1 minute and divide it into 12 equal parts using a sharp knife or dough cutter.
- To get an even shape and size you can weigh the dough on a kitchen scale. Divide it evenly to get 12 equal sized pav.
- Roll each dough ball and set aside.
- Grease a square baking pan or line it with some parchment paper.
- Take one part of the dough, lightly knead it for 10 seconds, and pinch the dough at the bottom to form a roundel.
- Cover the roundel with your palms and make circular movements to create a smooth and round-shaped bread. Gently flatten the pav a little with a dough scraper from the top and straighten the sides for the perfect shape.
- Transfer the pav to the greased baking tray. Repeat these steps with the rest of the dough balls, keeping very little space between them so they will stick to each other.
Proofing The Bread
- Cover the baking pan with a kitchen towel and allow the pavs to proof for about 45 minutes or until they double in size.
Baking The Bread
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃
- Bake them for 17-20 minutes, or until they turn golden on the top and sound hollow when lightly tapped. Take them out of the oven and let them sit for 2 minutes on the countertop. Brush some milk on the top of the pav before baking.
- Transfer the pavs on a cooling rack, brush some melted butter on the top if you like, cover them with a kitchen towel, and let them cool completely before slicing.
How To Bake Ladi Pav In The Pan?
- In a large pan, add some salt at the base and preheat the pan on medium heat for 12-15 minutes by covering with a lid.
- Gently place a trivet and a baking pan with the proofed pavs, cover the pan with a lid, and bake the pavs for 15-20 minutes. Make sure that the baking pan is fitting into the large pan before proofing the pavs.
Notes
- Activate the active dry yeast before proceeding to the next steps. If the yeast is not active do not proceed.
- Measure the ingredients correctly. Do not add too much flour or else your bread will turn hard.Â
- Milk powder will help the bread remain soft and fluffy. Do not skip adding it.
- The dough should be soft, smooth, and not sticky for making perfectly soft pavs.
- Grease the work surface with a few drops of oil before kneading the dough. I highly recommend using a dough mat for kneading the dough – I have found that the dough will not stick to it and is easy to handle.Â
- Use a sharp knife or a dough cutter for dividing the dough into equal parts and avoid tearing the dough with your hands – it will reduce the gluten strands which you have formed while kneading the dough.Â
- Brushing some milk before baking the pav will give a brown color to them. If you skip brushing the milk, it will give a pale color to the pav.
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