A joint exercise with my kids, who loved helping me make them! We spent a fun summer afternoon, as they eagerly helped me fold, shape and proof the dough…and excitedly watched the Paus emerge from the oven…..Yeah time to make my daughter’s fav Vada Pau!
Or will it be my son’s fav Pau Bhaji or hubby’s Keema Pau.
Sigh….I guess I’ll just have to bake another batch soon! 🙂
These are especially rewarding to make, as their texture is far better than the bakery ones and come with no added preservatives to increase shelf life!
As you bake them, your whole house smells wonderful.
As you break open each Pau, you will marvel at the fabulously soft texture and as you take a bite,
Mmmmmm…You will soon be finding excuses to enjoy them with any and every thing!
Courtesy: Jeff Yankellow
You will need:
5 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup milk powder
2 cups luke-warm water
1 heaped tsp instant Yeast
2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp butter
Some extra flour for sprinkling.
Note: recipe makes 16 large or 24 medium size Paus.
Method:
Making the dough…
Empty out some flour in a mixing bowl.
Using a spoon or whisk, aerate the flour by whisking it.
Now measure out 5 level cupfuls of the aerated flour in another large mixing bowl.
Add the salt, sugar, yeast, butter and milk powder to the measured flour.
Add the 2 cups of Luke warm water.
Using a wooden spoon, slowly bring the dough together.
At this stage the dough will look rough n shaggy.
Sprinkle some flour on top of dough…
and flip dough onto work surface.
Folding the dough…
Pick up top corners of dough,
and fold to meet bottom corners.
Using palm of your hand gently push dough back.
Give a 90 degree turn to the dough, so that the seam faces left. Repeat this process folding
and pushing dough for the next 4-5 minutes.
Now mid-way cover dough and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Once again, fold and push dough for another 4-5 minutes, till it resembles a smooth ball.
Grease a mixing bowl.
Transfer dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap.
Allow to rise for 1 hour or till it more than doubles in volume.
Shaping and proofing the dough…
Once the dough doubles, transfer dough to a lightly floured surface.
Lightly pat with fingers and flatten slightly.
Cut horizontally into two sections. Each section will make about 8 large or 12 medium Paus.
We will work with one section at a time.
Starting from the top gently, yet tightly roll dough, pinching down seams after each roll.
Repeat rolling and pinching till…
the entire section is rolled into a uniform cylinder, with the seam tightly pinched close.
Now flip roll so that seam side faces down. Gently roll the dough with your hands to make a thin uniform cylinder.
Mark and cut into 8 (for large size) or 12 (for medium size) uniform pieces.
Repeat the same process with the second half of the dough to get 16 (large) or 24 (medium) Paus in total.
Shaping the rolls…
Take 1 cut piece of dough. Flip to keep the smooth side at the bottom. Press gently with fingers to deflate slightly.
Using your fingers, pinch corners, fold and bring to the middle.
Move in a concentric circle, till all the corners are pinched in.
Flip dough to bring smooth side on top. Then using your hands, tuck dough in from all sides to further tighten the ball of dough.
Repeat this process with all 16/24 pieces.
Baking the rolls…
Place the shaped Paus on a greased rectangular/loaf tin, placing them snug against each other. By aligning them close together, you ensure that they rise upwards more than side ways, lending good height to your Pau!
Now cover with a damp cloth and proof the Paus for 30-40 minutes, till they almost double in size. Poke lightly with finger to see how well they have proofed. They should slowly spring back.
Brush the proofed Paus liberally with milk using a pastry brush
And they are now ready to be baked.
Place them in a 375F preheated oven in the middle rack for about 20 minutes. Increase temperature to 400F for the last 2-3 minutes of baking for a darker crust.
Once out of the oven transfer rolls to wire rack to cool.
Enjoy fresh baked Pau…with your fav foods, like Vada Pau, Pau bhaji or Keema Pau….Yummmmy!
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EASY 1-STEP CROCKPOT PAU BHAJI
