Indian Pav or White Dinner Rolls

Its been just a week, I got my new toaster oven :). And till date, not even a single day i have spared baking. From Baked potatoes,lasagne,donut etc to pav, there is no stopping by. 

Pav Bhaji is a fast food marathi cuisine.Pav in Marathi means a small loaf of bread and Bhaji  means vegetable dish.

Origin:

The origin of this dish is traced to textile mill workers in Mumbai.

The mill workers used to have lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to strenuous physical labor after lunch. A vendor created this dish using parts of other dishes available on the menu. Roti or rice was replaced with pav and the curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were amalgamated into just one spicy concoction, the 'bhaji'. Initially, it remained the food of the mill-workers. With time the dish found its way into restaurants and spread over other parts of the city.

Such is the popularity of this dish, that it is common to find it on the menu of most Indian restaurants serving fast food in Asia (especially Singapore, Hong Kong), America, UK (London), Switzerland and elsewhere.

Ingredients

Bread Flour               3 cups + for dusting

Dry active yeast         1 packet (7gm or 2 1/4 tsp) Water,Lukewarm        1/4 cup Milk,Lukewarm           1 1/4 cup
Butter                      3 tbsp
Sugar                       2 tbsp
Salt                         3/4 tsp


Method

1. Add the yeast to 1/4 cup lukewarm water(The reason is because yeast is a living organism and it dies in hot water).
2. Add sugar to it(The reason because yeast thrives on sugar and becomes active).
3. Keep aside till it becomes frothy.
4. Add the butter to the warm milk and leave aside to melt the butter.
5. Sift in 3 cups flour( sifting isn't necessary but i just do it because of a habit).
6. Mix the yeast to the milk mixture and add in flour to knead a dough.
7. At first the dough would be very sticky. But consistent kneading for about 10-15 mins will make it less stickier.We need to knead the dough very very well inorder to have good gluten formation which gives elasticity to our bread.
8. Oil a bowl and keep the dough covered with a plastic wrap or damp cloth.
                      

9.After about an hour or more, we see that the dough has doubled in size. 
               

10. Lightly grease a baking tray. Take small amount of dough and make a ball and place it on the tray. Similarly make more balls of the dough and place on the tray leaving half an inch space apart.Makes about 12 balls.
               

11. Cover again with a plastic wrap and leave aside for another 30 mins or till the balls double in size.

12. we can now see that the balls have stick to each other filling in the spaces.
13.For getting a good golden color on top, you can egg wash it. If not using egg, you can wash the top with milk.(applying egg on top of bread with a brush or kitchen towel is called an egg wash).

14. In a preheated oven at about 375 F, bake for about 20 to 25 mins till the top turns golden brown.