Ladi Pav is an Indian style soft bread used in many recipes, especially roadside snacks like Pav Bhaji and Vada Pav. As the name suggests, “ladi” means a line and the bread is baked in a row to be broken apart. There is nothing fancy about this and is the simplest form of bread you can make, but oh so delicious! They are light brown, small and fluffy, and when compressed, they easily bounce back without breaking.

Until now, the Indian stores in our area did not sell Ladi Pav. We had to resort to burger or hot dog buns when making Pav Bhaji and Vada Pav. I never liked the taste or texture of the burger buns with the Bhaji and it almost ruined the experience for me. And Pav Bhaji is one of our favorite Indian street food!

I realized that there was an immediate need for me to bake Ladi Pav at home. And oh my god! What a huge difference it has made. The first time I made it, my husband requested that the only time I should make Pav Bhaji was when I had time to make Ladi Pav. Because this recipe is so simple, I don’t mind making it at all! You just have to plan for the dough to rise. I usually make it earlier in the day if we are eating it for dinner that night.

Substituting Whole Wheat Flour for All Purpose Flour in the Ladi Pav recipe

The original recipe I made for years had full 3 cups of all purpose flour. I am always trying to incorporate more whole grains in my family’s diet without compromising on the taste or looks of the final product. After some online research I and found out that for any bread recipe, you can safely substitute one-fourth to one-third of the all purpose flour called for in the recipe with whole wheat four, without altering the recipe or taste too much. You just need to add some additional water as whole wheat soaks up more moisture and give it additional rising time.

This was totally doable so I experimented with one-third of the flour, replacing it with whole wheat flour. I added additional ¼ cup water and increased the rise time to 1 hour for the final rise. I could see very subtle differences in the handling of the 2 doughs, but the final product was to my satisfaction. No one in the family even knew there was a difference between the two recipes. Why not include more whole grains in our diet, so this is the recipe I use now!

Note on yeast

I have used Active dry yeast in this recipe. It is different from Instant yeast. Active dry yeast needs to be proofed in warm water as the recipe indicates. I also keep my yeast container in the refrigerator once opened and buy new yeast every 6 months. The quality of yeast really makes a huge difference.

Leftover bread can be packed in a ziplock bag and stored in the refrigerator for a week, and in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Please note that the pictures here of the final product are not lathered with butter to make them look shiny and presentable. That is not how ladi pav is. It is a very simple peasant bread. You can apply extra butter when you toast it to use in recipes.