Soft, Fluffy and Rich; these ladi pav aka homemade dinner rolls are so addictive that you would keep coming back for more. This dinner roll recipe is a keeper!!
Onto your bowl add in salt, flour, milk powder, sugar and yeast. Stir and add the lukewarm milk and combine into a dough.
Knead for 10 mins and then add in the butter and knead well for another 10 mins.
Don't be afraid to add additional 3 to 4 tbsp of lukewarm milk while kneading so that you get a well hydrated dough.
How to Knead in a Stand Mixer?
Don't be afraid to add additional 3 to 4 tbsp of milk as need be to get a moist tacky dough. When you lift the hook of your stand mixer a blob of dough should be sticking to the base of the bowl.
Add all the ingredients salt, flour, milk powder, sugar, yeast and milk to the bowl of your stand mixer. Knead for 6 mins. Then add the softened butter and knead for another 4 mins.
Place the dough in an oiled container for it to prove and double in size for an hour.
Once proved divide the dough evenly into 14 equal size portions. Roll it out to give a proper shape. I have shown the exact way to do it in the video check it out. And place it onto an oiled container close to each other and prove for another 30-35 mins (during summers) and nearly an hour (during winters). (refer video for clear picture)
After the second prove bake this in the preheated oven of 200°C for 15-18 mins or in a preheated cooker for 16-20 mins on medium flame
How to Proof Dough in Instant Pot
After the 4th step instead of oiling a big bowl, oil the inner pot of your Instant Pot. Place the dough inside. Close the lid.
Choose the yoghurt button. Set the time to 30 mins.
Once the timer goes off, open the lid and see the magic - the well rise dough. Continue the steps as mentioned above from dividing the dough, rolling, shaping and baking; same as the oven method.
Step 2 - First Proofing
Once the dough is tacky, oil the bowl in which you kneaded the dough and then place the dough in it for first proofing.
Oil the surface of the dough too to avoid it from drying. Cling wrap and cover with a tea towel and let it prove for 90 mins on your counter top.
How to Proof in an Instant Pot: Grease the Pot with some oil and place the dough in it. Cover with a glass lid.
Select the Yogurt Mode and set the time to 40 mins.
Step 3 - Shaping
Once proofed punch the dough to remove the air bubbles. And then divide the dough into 16 equal parts.
You can weigh the entire dough and then divide it into 16 parts or you can eyeball and divide too. Keep the dough covered at all times to avoid it from drying out.
Take one part, tuck the sides beneath to create a roundel. Then using your thumb and fingers start shaping the dough. Push with your thumb and roll with your fingers to tighten the dough. You can watch the video in the recipe card or click here for better understanding.
Once shaped place them in a greased baking tray adjacent to each other and allow for second proofing. Do not go by the clock here instead observe the dough. It needs to rise and double in volume ultimately sticking to each other. It took me 45 mins to reach this stage.
Step 4 - Baking
Once proofed, bake in a preheated oven of 200°C for 18 to 23 mins until light golden brown in colour.
Let it sit in the pan itself for 5 mins then invert on a wire rack to cool completely.
How to Bake in a Cooker?
Add salt to the base of the cooker and place a trivet inside your cooker and pre-heat on med high flame for 10 mins.
Then place the baking pan with proofed dough inside the cooker. Reduce the flame to med and bake for 16-20 mins until golden brown in colour and the bottom sounds hollow.
Video
Notes
The basic dinner rolls recipe just needs water to bind everything into a dough. Milk and Milk Powder are enriching agents so if you do not have milk powder handy, skip it and use flour instead. Similarly you can use water instead of milk or water and milk in 50:50 ratio too. Pav made using Milk is richer than made using water.
The total quantity of milk is 300 ml. So start making a dough with just that. However the additional 2 to 3 tbsp of milk mentioned in the recipe is to make the dough hydrated. Which means the dough should not be dry or else you will get harder baked buns. Refer my video to understand what exactly I mean by hydrated or please scroll up to read the article.
If you are using Active Dry Yeast you will have to activate the yeast. To activate the yeast just combine the yeast with lukewarm milk and sugar first. Give a stir and let it sit for at least 10-15 mins till it blooms and froths up. If it doesn't froth and bubble up it means your yeast is dead, discard that batch and start afresh. Since I used instant variety I did not do this step.
Please note that I no longer follow the method of milk wash or egg wash right before baking. I have observed that the fat and dairy in the dough is enough to give the pale golden colour on top of our dinner rolls. If you do not get that colour in your oven or if you like a darker shade on your pavs then by all means brush it with some milk or egg right before baking.
A bread dough always need to hit the hot oven. So ensure to preheat your oven for perfect results.
Keep your dough covered at all times; while proofing, while shaping, while dividing the dough in order to avoid the drying of the dough.
You can use this same recipe to make burger buns. In that case do not let it proof adjacent to each other place it far apart to make individual buns. Similarly beetroot puree or spinach puree can be added to make beetroot pavs or spinach pavs respectively. Click here for the recipe of Beetroot Pavs.
Buttery rolls taste best when you serve them warm and freshly baked. You can of course bake it ahead of time, just warm them up by wrapping in tinfoil and placing them in the oven at 300 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. These are just perfect to make ahead for holidays!
Make sure your dinner rolls are all about the same size. This would mean that they proof and bake evenly giving you the right amount of servings and would also look like a store bought one.
Check out the post for pictorial step by step recipe and also for the details all the tools and equipment, along with the details of the 5 mistakes to avoid to make the best egg-free dinner rolls.
WORD OF CAUTION :
If you are planning to double the recipe and use Instant pot for proofing make sure not to use the lid and opt for glass lid instead. The reason being the dough can rise too much and push the pin-up of the Instant Pot and lock the lid. So it is better to use a glass lid or a plate.