2.5cupwhole meal flouryou may use plain flour if you like. refer notes below
¼cupflax seedswith 250 ml/1cup warm water
5teaspoonyeast in 1 cup water +1 teaspoon sugar
½cupoil
¾cupwater to knead the dough
2.5teaspoonsalt
Instructions
Mix the flax seed meal with 1 cup water and keep it aside.
Add sugar to lukewarm water, mix until it dissolves. Add yeast to sugar water, so that it activates. This will make the mix frothy and activate in 15 minutes.
Add this yeast and flax seed mix to the flour with salt.
Start mixing the dough while adding the remaining water.The dough needs to be a little wet and sticky but smooth, this will help the buns to rise and come out with a soft texture.
Knead the dough, this will be sticky at the start, Add oil to remaining ingredients. Keep it aside for 30 minutes to rise.
Once it has doubled, punch it down and knead it again.
Divide the flour in 9/16 equal portions, give them a round shape using oiled hands,and arrange them in an oiled baking tray with some space in between the buns.
Let it rest for 30 minutes. You will see the dough rise and sides might touch each other.
How to make pav in oven?
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees(fan forced) for 10 minutes.
Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees. Check the readiness, by knocking on the top of the buns, if they sound hollow then they are ready.
Take out the tray and brush the buns with butter/oil.
Let is rest for an hour so that it cools down.
How to make pav in air fryer?
Follow the same steps to make the dough as above. Make round balls of same size, set it in a baking tray to rise
Once risen(after 30 minutes), bake in a preheated air fryer at 180C (bake/roast option) for 15 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you tap it on the top.
Brush with the butter/milk mixture at the end and allow them to cool completely.
Serve fresh with butter /fruit preserve/jam.
Notes
To make sure that the buns are super soft, the dough needs to be sticky and a little wet.You may replace wholewheat flour with plain flour for plain buns recipe, in that case,use 3 cups of plain flour instead of 2.5 cups of wholewheat flour.