Why have Kheema with pav when you can have Kheema IN your pav !
Pav or the indian bread roll is a favourite across households in the country and more so on the streets. A spiced up veggie mash with a sprinking of onions on top and a squeeze of lime is the favoured match with the pav. But a spicy minced meat side goes down equally easily for the non vegetarians !
For some reason , I had thought of trying stuffed pav for a while . As obvious , i went with the kheema filling but you can go with a potato filling or any other veggie filling as well.
So the pav is really easy to make . A quick dough that is left to rise for a while. As it rises , you can make and cool your filling. The trick here is to keep it on the drier side or filling the bread will be a messy affair ! Portion out the risen dough and place some filling in centre before shaping and letting them rise again before they go into the oven .
For these Kheema stuffed pav , I used Matt & Keith’s Premium Bread Flour . You can use all purpose flour as well . But the bread flour gave superb results !
But ofcourse ,you can make the pav plain or unstuffed as well . And keep your kheema /bhaji on the side . Totally understand that need to dunk your piece of pav before popping it into your mouth !
Kheema stuffed pav
Ingredients
For the Pav (bread):
- 500 grams or 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 28 grams or 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature or melted
- 240 ml or 1 cup water
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast
For the Kheema filling ( minced meat stuffing)
- 350 grams minced chicken
- 1 large onion
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 3/4 – 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Also
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 /2 teaspoon sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
For the pav :
- Warm the milk and water together until it is lukewarm ( you should be able to dip your finger in but not keep it in for long) .
- Add the sugar and yeast. Let this rest for 5-10 minutes until it becomes frothy . This is called blooming of yeast.
- In a large bowl, mix together 3 1/2 cups of the flour and salt.
- Add the yeast mixture and the butter
- Stir together until it comes together to form a sticky , uneven dough. Add more flour if the dough is too wet
- On a well floured surface , knead for few minutes until smooth.
- Place in a lightly greased bowl , cover and keep in a warm spot for around 45 minutes to an hour , or until doubled.
For the kheema stuffing :
- In a pan , heat up some oil.
- Once the oil is hot , add finely chopped onions and sauté
- Once the onions are browned, add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a couple of minutes or until the raw smell goes.
- Add the spice powders and mix well
- Add the minced chicken and salt.Mix well
- Cook on medium high heat uncovered for about 8 to 10 minutes while stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked .
- Check for seasoning and continue cooking on high until all the water has evaporated and the mixture is dry.
- Let this kheema cool down until needed.
For the stuffed pav :
- Lightly butter or oil a 8x 8 inch square pan.
- Once the dough has risen , punch out the air and divide it into 16 equal pieces .
- Roll each dough section into a ball , flatten against your palm and place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the stuffing on the centre. Bring up the sides to cover the filling and pinch the dough closed on top.
- Place the stuffed dough piece ( sealed side down ) in the pan.
- Continue with all the dough and place next to each other in the pan – in 4 rows of 4 pavs each. They will be slightly touching each other
- Cover and let rest for 20- 30 minutes for the second rise.
- Meanwhile preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F.
- After the rising time, mix together the 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon sugar . Brush over the pavs
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until well browned on top.
- Take out of the oven and brush some butter on immediately .
- Serve warm with some sauce or chutney !
Notes
Think of these as Indianized pull-apart stuffed bread. The pav is so light and fluffy and some sauce or green chutney is all you need to polish off a batch . And if you do have left overs , consider reheating on a pan with some sizzling butter for an elevated experience!
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