56gramsWhole Wheat Flouror the flour base of your starter
56gramsWaterat Room Temperature
Sourdough Pav Buns –
168gramsSourdough Levain (with above ingredients)¾ cup
288gramsAll Purpose Flour2 cups
127gramsWarm Milk½ cup
40gramsButter at Room Temperature2 tbsp
25gramsSugar1.5 tbsp
¾teaspoonSalt
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Instructions
12.30pm: begin making the Sourdough Starter from your mother starter. To make 168 grams of Ripe Sourdough Starter, I mix equal amounts – 56grams of starter, flour and water and let it double in 3 hours.
3.30pm: measure all the ingredients and keep them ready. In a mixing bowl add all purpose flour, sourdough starter, butter and sugar.
I used my kitchenaid stand mixer to knead the dough on lowest speed for 3 mins until it is crumbly. You can mix it with hands too.
Now add milk and continue kneading the dough on lowest speed for another two minutes. The dough sticks to the hook and the bottom of the bowl. If kneading by hand, knead for 4 mins gently.
Make it into a ball and add salt on top. Leave it covered for 20-30 mins. This is called autolyze.
4pm: knead the salt into the dough. It is slightly difficult doing it by hand, but it still works.
For the next one hour, keep it covered with a clean shower cap and let it raise at room temperature. It increases in size.
5pm: Now pick the dough from below and pull it over to the top, called as envelop fold. We will do exactly 4 folds.
5.45pm, 6.30pm, 7.15pm: Tuck the dough, smoothen and let it rest for 45mins. Again, we will do 4 folds. Repeat this over next 1.5 hours with two more folds. In total, we will do 16 envelop folds on the dough. The dough should look very smooth and shiny at the end of this. Leave it to rest for 30-45mins.
7.45 to 8pm: Carefully remove the dough from bowl and onto a lined/lightly floured kitchen counter.
Cut the dough into half by using a dough scrapper/sharp knife and further cut each half into 4 equal pieces. I used a weighing scale to ensure each ball of dough weighed exactly 84grams.
Tightly roll each piece of dough into a ball as smooth as possible without any creases.
Repeat this with rest of dough balls and place the prepared buns into a lined greased baking tin at equal distance from one another. I used 9” round pan.
Leave them to proof on the kitchen counter for about 8hours or overnight or until the rolls have tripled up in size. It is important for the dough to triple up in volume for soft and fluffy rolls. Depending on the temperature and season, this could take anywhere between 6-16 hours.
8am next morning: Preheat the oven at 180°C. Bake the buns at 180°C for 25-30 mins until there are golden.
Remove from oven. Apply a layer of butter on top and bake again for 5 mins on broil (both top and bottom filaments turned ON) to get the golden color.
Serve as Pav Bhaji or as rolls on the side of soup. To store them, place in airtight container in fridge. Reheat in microwave for 20 secs before serving.