Laadi Pav: (honeycomb bread)

Laadi pav is so often eaten on the streets of India with Pav bhaji, wadaa pav or missal pav. But, since I came to the US, I couldn’t find good and non sweet pav anywhere. All the pav/bread was either sweet or very fatty with maida in it.

So, I decided to try out a laadi pav recipe using wheat/spelt flour. The original recipe uses all purpose flour (maida). At least now I know what ingredients go in this recipe and I am happy eating this pav instead of loading myself with butter, maida and sugar.

I have tried this recipe twice- once using spelt flour and second time using durum wheat flour. Both the results were awesome and the pav turned out soft and fluffy.

spelt/wheat flour

spelt/wheat flour

Adapted from Shital's Kitchen
http://shitals-kitchen.blogspot.com/2014/03/pav-bread.html

Ingredients:

3 cups spelt flour or durum wheat flour

1 dry yeast packet

Salt as per taste

2 tablespoons of clarified butter or you can use oil

1 tablespoon sugar

Oil spray to grease pans

The method for both the flours is exactly the same.

Step 1: Mix one packet of dry yeast with 1 ¼ cup of warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar in a bowl and let it rest for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add a pinch of salt and 3 cups of flour and 2 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) in the bowl and mix to form a soft dough. Keep kneading the dough for at least 10 minutes.

Step 2: Now keep the dough aside in a greased bowl and let it rest for 1 1/2 hours. You will notice that the dough has doubled in size. Now start kneading it again and knead well for 10 more minutes.

Step 3: Now, grease the pans in which you will put the pav to bake. After kneading the dough, make about 15-18 small balls out of the dough and lay them in the greased pan about 1 inch apart from each other. Let the balls rest in the pan for about 1 more hour.

Step 4: You will notice that the balls have risen again and doubled in size. Now bake them for 10 minutes till they change color on 400 F.

Eat with Potato wadaa, missal, or pav bhaji.

Red quinoa and oatmeal bread

½ cup cooked red quinoa

½ cup cooked steel cut oat

2 cups whole wheat flour

¼ cup millet flour

¼ cup sorghum flour

2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tsp salt

2/12 tsp vegetable oil

3tsp honey

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp flax seed

1.             Cook the quinoa in 2 cups of water for 10 to 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Cool to room temperature.

2.            Cook the oatmeal in the water and milk until liquid is absorbed. Let cool. 

3.            Pour the yeast in the mixing bowl.

4.            Add honey, oil into the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon. 

5.            Add 2 cups of the wheat flour and the millet and sorghum flours , flax seeds with the salt and stir well.

6.            Add the cooked quinoa and oatmeal and stir.

7.            When the dough starts to get stiff, turn out onto floured surface and begin to knead. Keep adding flour and kneading until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes with a mixer, or 10 to 15 minutes by hand. Dough should feel slightly sticky but should not be wet and slack. You should be able to form it into a ball and it should hold its shape.

8.             Lightly oil a large bowl with vegetable oil and place bread in the bowl, turning to coat lightly with the oil.

9.             Let bread dough rise in a warm spot until double in size, about 2 hours.

10.        Oil a large loaf pan (9 inches by 5 inches). Punch down dough and shape into a ball. Pat/flatten into an oval shape about the length of the bread pan. Fold long sides in and tuck them underneath as you place the bread into the pan, so that the top surface of the bread is smooth and without seams.

11.        Brush top of load very lightly with water and sprinkle with quinoa seeds.

12.       Let rise in warm place until bread has almost doubled in size. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

13.       When oven is hot, place bread in center of oven. Throw a handful of ice cubes into bottom of oven to create steam. Bake for 30 minutes. Cover bread loosely with foil if the top is getting too brown and bake 15 minutes more. Bread should sound hollow when tapped. 

Adapted from: Marian Blazes