Ingredients:
- 140g Maida
- 140g Aata
- 10g fresh yeast(crumbled)
- 15g granular sugar
- 10g Pure Cow's Ghee
- 1 tsp. table salt
- 2 tsp. melted butter(preferably salted; Amul butter)
- Some water
Procedure:
- Mix the maida and aata, and make a well.
- Put the yeast and granular sugar.
- Add a bit of water to just cover the yeast and sugar mixture. You should see some bubbles some time after adding water. This is the CO2 expelled by the yeast on eating the sugar in the presence of moisture(water in this case).
- Make a dough and keep adding water till the dough "just" starts sticking a little bit. The trick is to add just enough water so that (a) the dough is workable and (b) the water should be in good enough quantity so that the dough is not "dry". So the balance is reached when you realize that adding more water will make it sticky and very difficult to work with.
- Cream the Ghee and salt well.
- Knead this mixture into the dough. The dough will now stop sticking to your hand till all the fat is incorporated into the dough. Try to knead it as much as possible, because once the fat is incorporated, it will start sticking again. This will take approx. 7-8 mins. depending upon your speed. Try to work fast. There reason we add a sufficient quantity of water is because we want a soft dough and some protection against over-baking.
- Make a big smooth round and keep it on a slightly greased surface(grease with with ghee) to prevent sticking of the dough to the surface. Cover with a moist cloth and let it rise in a draft-free place till it approximately doubles in size. It will take about 25-35mins.
- Divide the dough into 9 equal parts(do NOT stretch the dough. Use a knife or dough scraper to cut) and make rounds. Use "very" little of dusting flour(aata or maida) if the dough sticks to your hand.
- Set your oven temperature to 210C and set it to pre-heat.
- Line the rounds in a 3x3 grid, cover with a moist cloth, and place them in a draft-free place to let them again double in size. Approx. 35-50 mins.
- Place the tray in the oven, and bake till you get a nice brown top on each "Pav". This will take about 8 mins. but keep a close eye. It may take +/- 2mins. depending on the temperature error in your oven and the size and aeration of the oven.
- You can(to be on the safer side) over-bake for about 1 min. by turning off the TOP header coil so that the buns get cooked well, and the browning of the tops is unaffected. (Remember we used sufficient water?)
- The buns are done when you hear a "hollow" sound when you tap them on the top. Don't worry if the tops feel really hard. They are supposed to be that way. Now quickly, using a brush, apply the melted butter evenly and uniformly on top of each of the buns. This will soften the tops and give them a nice shiny finish.
- Don't forget to remove them from the baking tray and keep them on a "wire-rack" to cool off or else the bottoms will get soggy from the condensed moisture!
Link to photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dhruvbird/WheatPav
