Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Pav / Pao

August 12

Pune is finally getting some rains and it is beautiful apart from the time you need to step out to the market. There is no issue with the market as such, but the road leading to it, is in a bad shape as usual. Pothole riddled , loose gravels underneath pools of water, slushy mud and not to mention the billions of car that ply on this arterial road - life is never easy when you try to walk down to the market. One might say, why to walk when you can take a bike or a car, but its just about a five minutes walk and moreover the lockdown has ensured that we are spending most of the time sitting at home without technically any exercise. So the walk to the market at least gives me some respite from the desk job and I love it, well when it is not raining. The last weekend, I ventured out to get some xeroxes done and get my supplies from the local shops. I had expected though it is just the beginning of formal unlock, people will still be sensitive to the situation and venture out unless absolutely required. How wrong I was! There were at least a million cars trying to hustle through the narrow road. There were hoards of people at the local chai katta without masks, enjoying their cuppa of tea and coffee. There were people thronging the vegetable vendors just like old times. And there were people who coughed nearly on your face without the slightest guilt on their face. Thus it seemed the Covid was just in the newspapers and 9 PM news bulletins; people here have already forgotten it all for good. But that didn't ease my pain of navigating though the traffic and the mud. By the time i reached my society premises, I felt like I just came out victorious from a war zone. I had my battle scars to show in the form of all the mud splashes on my culottes.

Thus even though how much ever I love to be vocal for local and buy from local stores only, the rains are a major spoilsport to my plans. Its really not easy to lug a 5 kg bag while trying to balance on the slippery mud. So eventually the fall back option is the home delivery service of the online grocery stores like BigBasket, Grofer etc just for the sake of convenience. But I don't have any gripe as the products they deliver are 99% of the time very good qualitywise.

So the other day I was just deliberating what to experiment on next. All through the lockdown time I kept seeing people make different kinds of pizza at home. I didn't have any pizza base with me unfortunately, but I did have a loaf of pav which I had just got delivered in the morning.

This is my take on the pull apart garlic bread. If you don't have bread or you can't make bread from scratch, nothing to fret, there is always the good old pav which can come to rescue. Stuff it with the filling of your choice, add in the herbs and brush it off with homemade garlic butter (garlic rosemary butter on the top corner of the picture) Bake it in the oven and you have your own easy peasy pull apart bread right out of the oven. Super easy, super delicious and an instant mood uplifter. You can play with the filling as per your mood and available ingredients and everything comes out as awesome as the rest.

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serving : 2-3 people

Main Ingredients :

• Ladi Pav - 1 loaf (6 pav) or Big Pav - 1 loaf (4 pav)
• Mushroom - 1/2 cup (chopped)
• Sweet Corn kernels - 1/4 cup (boiled)
• Red Onions - 1/2 cup (chopped) 
• Bird's eye chilli/ Any chilli - (Chopped)
• Garlic cloves - 1/3 cup (finely chopped)
• Mozzarella Cheese - 1/2 cup
• Mixed herbs/ Italian seasoning/Oregano - 1 tsp
• Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp
• Black Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
• Basil Leaves (Optional) - for garnishing
• Salt to taste

Ingredients for the Garlic Butter:

• Melted Butter - 4 tbsp
• Fresh Garlic Paste -  2 tbsp 
• Rosemary (optional) - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Start by preparing the filling. In a large mixing bowl add the chopped vegetables (Mushroom, onions, corn, chilli, garlic).

Tip: You can add any vegetable of your choice e.g capsicum, baby corn etc.

2. Now add grated cheese, mixed herb, dry red chilli flakes to it and season it with salt. Give a nice stir to fold everything in.

Tip: If you do not happen to have Mozzarella, then use any processed cheese just increase the quantity.

3. To make the butter, melt the butter either by keeping it in the open for about an hour or putting it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. To the melted butter add the garlic paste and rosemary and let it sit.

4. Now prepare the pav. Make deep cuts on a loaf of pav. You can make a criss-cross cut.

5. Fill the cuts generously with the filling prepared in step 2. You can add some shredded basil on top. 

6. Now generously brush the top of the filled pav with the garlic butter you have prepared in step 3. Sprinkle some additional seasoning on top.

7. Preheat oven / microwave (convection mode) to 180°.

Note: Do not skip preheating

8. Line a baking tray with Aluminium foil and place the filled Loaf. Now cover it nicely with another aluminium foil paper piece making sure it is well covered.

9. Bake this for about 12-15 minutes.

Remove from oven, garnish it with basil leaves and serve immediately.

Do try this out and tag me (@curriesnstories07) on Instagram on your photos whenever you try the recipe and I will give a shout out to you.