White Dinner Rolls (Indian Pav)

By DK on Dec 20, 2009
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
What Indians refer to as Pav (as in Pav Bhaji) is probably the dinner rolls to the western world! The soft textured buttery rounded bread is a world of its own! There is something to be said about the pillowy texture of these rolls which makes me go totally crazy for them! They are so versatile - use them as starters along with your soups, they make great breakfast bread with some butter and jam or use them as a side for something very spicy eg. Indian Pav Bhaji
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
Its one of those rare baked goods which finds its way in without me tinkering it to add some wholegrains in it. Of course I have some healthy wholegrain versions too like this Quinoa dinner rolls but these are also most welcomed in my kitchen. I esp. love them with some butter and jam! Bliss!
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
They are v easy to make and don't require lengthy or strenuous effort. They also make great presentation at your dinner table while entertaining. After I made them for the first time, I stopped getting the store bought ones. These are as good as any you can find and what more they are home made too! (not to say Fresh!). This is a basic dinner roll recipe.
References

my kitchen notes (original source misplaced)

Basic Information
Prep Time: 2 to 4 hours
Cook Time: Under 30 min
Yield: Makes around 12 rolls or pavs
Ingredients
  • 3 cups Bread flour plus few more for dusting (See Tips)
  • 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
Tips
1. Bread Flour : If you do not have Bread Flour, you can use All Purpose flour. It has come to my knowledge thanks to few members and others who have tried this recipe that using equal amounts of all purpose flour makes a very wet dough and you need more flour to make it into pliable consistency. Normally I would recommend not more than 1/2 cup (with 3/4 cup max) all purpose flour but many members mentioned that it was more like an additional 2-3 cups flour. But thanks to Mittu's feedback, I would stick to only 1/2 cup additional flour. Pls refer her perfectly explained comment for details.

If you want to Bake using Microwave pls refer to these articles:
1) How to Bake in Microwave
2) How to Bake in Microwave Convection Oven

For making Substitutions please refer my handy chart:
1) Baking substitutions
2) Egg Substitutions
Method
1
Warm the milk to lukewarm (not hot) and add the butter to it so that it melts in the milk. Set aside. Mix yeast and water together along with sugar. Give it a stir and set aside until frothy.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
2
Now add the salt and milk+butter mixture to the yeast and stir well. Slowly add the flour one cup at a time to this mixture until slowly incorporated.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
3
It will slightly sticky - dont add in more flour until really necessary. The stickiness will be replaced by smooth elasticity while kneading.  On a lightly floured surface , use all your muscles (or develop them!) to knead the dough very well. This exercise is important for the gluten to develop in the dough. This process (depending upon how much you have been working out at gym) takes about 8-15 minutes!!!!
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
4
Once done, the dough looks this - soft yet v lightly sticky.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
5
Place this on a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap. (or damp towel).
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
6
Place it aside in a humid place until doubled.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
7
Turn out this dough on a floured surface and roll it out into a square.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
8
Using a knife cut it into 12 pieces.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
9
Roll each piece out in your palm to form a rounded shape (or rolls). Place them side by side on a baking sheet taking care to leave about 1-1/2 to 2 inch space in the middle. Place them aside once again to double. Its fine if they dont look perfectly round.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
10
They will take a beautiful shape once they double again. They will also stick to each other once doubled giving that great roll shape.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
11
Now bake them in a pre heated 350F oven for 20-30 min until golden brown.
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
12
Cool them for few minutes before serving them
How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
We enjoyed it both with our soup for dinner and with Jam and butter for breakfast the next day! Needless to say these rolls dint last long for me to consider storage for long term! How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe They can be very beautifully pulled apart to make single serving. How to make dinner rolls (Indian Pav ) recipe
113 Responses to “White Dinner Rolls (Indian Pav)”
  1. deeba

    what measurment should be use of the homemade yeast ??

  2. deeba

    is there any substitute of yeast??
    as at my place it is impossible to find it.

  3. deeba

    is there any substitute of yeast?
    as here in my city it is impossible to find it

  4. Sneha

    Hi,
    I am keen on trying this recipe. The bread flour that I got already contains yeast. Do I still add yeast separately?

    Really? Never knew that flour comes with yeast already packed in!! How do they know how much yeast to add? Are you sure about that? Wud luv to know more info –DK

  5. imtinan butt

    Assalam o Alaikum! once your dough gets double put your dough in fridge so that it will never become yeasty

  6. Hey DK! As the most devout follower I would like to provide some useful tips. I use regular flour most of the times and I find that the more flour I add in addition to the recipe the harder the buns get. I use the recommended extra 1/2 cup of flour when needed. The Trick i have found useful to not adding too much flour when the dough seems very sticky is:
    1) let the dough rest for a few minutes in the mixing bowl(covered)
    2) Oil your hands and lightly lift the dough and dust the bottom of the bowl with some flour. This makes is easy to get out of the bowl. Oil the bowl you are going to tranfer it and let it sit.
    This has been helpful to me while making the buns. Hope it helps others too :)

  7. I’ve never tried to make pav at home…yours is inspiring me to go for one at home!! loved your detailed write ups!!

  8. A full 3+years after you post this beauty…it found its way into my kitchen! Yummy! Thank you for all the detailed instructions.

  9. Rhonda

    :roll: Wonderful recipe… love there is no eggs. I doubled the batch. My husband loves these with honey on them. Thanks for sharing!!!

  10. I love pav-bhaji and want to make these pavs as they are eggless. I have a problem- what is bread flour? Is it plain chappatti flour(wheat) or Self Raising Flour. If using Maida what is the measure?

    Please refer my Tips section below ingredients –DK

  11. Prachi Desai

    This is sounds like a fantastic recipe and I really can’t wait to try it out. When you said recommended we eat these rolls with Pav Bhaji my mouth started to water!!! I absolutely LOVE Pav Bhaji!!! Thanks for the recipe.

  12. Neha

    This looks like a great recipe. I just have 1 doubt. You’ve said “if you are adding All Purpose Flour (maida), you might need an additional 2-3 cups flour”. Just wanted to check if quantity of additional flour is 2-3 cups or spoons! Thanks for the recipe.

    Technically I would just make an equal substitution or add 2-3 tbsp more all purpose flour. But few people who have tried making this with all purpose tell me that they needed 2-3 cups more. Given that I personally haven’t tried with all purpose flour for this recipe, I have to go with what they say. I wud suggest trying equal and/or plus 1/4 cups and then take it from there. I also have a nagging doubt that there might be instances when people add more flour than necessary. The dough should be lightly sticky to begin with but if you knead it well it will be replaced with elastic and smooth dough. And this, in my opinion makes for a delicious fluffy bread. –DK

  13. eric

    sir.i make bread rolls but they keep burning at bottom can you help with this problem—i set electric at 325f for 20 mins or 25mins but they still go a deep brown at bottom—Thank you—Eric

  14. Terri

    I am new at baking. Just made this recipe and we are eating the rolls right now. Since I have a Rosemary bush I used a fresh twig and mixed it in. And instead of cooking it the traditional way I used a 5.2 Qt Dutch Oven w/ the lid on. I melted 4 table spoons (or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter and used 1/2 size balls rolled up. Coated the balls in the butter and when the pot was fairly full I sprinkled 1 1/2 or 2 cups of cheese over the top. I love sharp chedder, however, I have twin 2 year old sons that prefer milder cheeses so I used the 4 cheese pizza mix. Baked it in a micro/convection over-the range-oven at 350 for 25 minutes with the lid on. YUMMY!! I won’t use as much rosemary next time but they still turned out great and my toddlers are munching down. Breakfast of Champions! :wink: Even had enough dough left over for another batch. :-D

  15. sush

    Hi,
    Many thanks for the receipe. I tried them out today for the first time, 1st batch came out perfect and it took only about 7mins in the microwave which has a bread setting. But the second batch tasted a bit yeasty why is that? only left them to rise for couple of hrs

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