Masala/Savoury Buns

                      Have you heard of the Bangalore Iyengar Bakery? If you have then you would have certainly heard of  their famous khara buns a.k.a masala buns etc..I came to know of this bakery through blogosphere, people were just gaga over almost every baked item from this bakery. So me being in Chennai, thought well I can't travel all the way to Bangalore just to have buns from that bakery!..may be just may be if I am lucky.......then after some more digging about this bakery I came to know that they where in Chennai tooooo wow..after a few months I forgot about all this...

During my regular visit to Chennai I accidentally came across this bakery(i was in a car) and I was thinking..well that looks  familiar hmmm...then it struck me!  And guess what I am lucky after all, I went to their bakery the very next day & bought the buns, dilkush, honey cake..seriously I didn't know what to buy (this happens to me whenever I visit a bakery ;P). 

I really loved their masala buns, it was buttery soft just melt in the mouth..

OKK! lets go the recipe now, shall we..I got his recipe from "the chef & her kitchen" . Do not let the lengthy procedure put you off..I have added pics. If you are new to baking bread..just go through the recipe once incl. the pics..I promise this is a simple recipe..once you get a hang of the proofing, kneading process.. baking a bread will be a breeze..and you will never buy your bread from stores again.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour  -  1½ cups 

active dried Yeast  -   1½ tsp. 

Milk  -   ¼ cup 

Water   -  ½ cup 

Sugar    -  1½ tsp. 

Butter    - 2 Tbsp., melted 

Salt     -  1 tsp. 

Onions  -  1 big, finely chopped 

Green chilies  -  5-6 ,coarsely ground

a sprig of Curry leaves,finely chopped

Coriander leaves -  ¼ cup, finely chopped 

Cumin seeds - ¾ tsp. 

Salt to taste

Oil  -  1 tsp. 

Butter,to brush the buns about 1 Tbsp.

Method:

1.  Combine the milk & the water in a big bowl.(this mixture should be lukewarm NOT hot)

2. Dissolve in the sugar & yeast in the milk + water mixture & mix well until dissolved. Set this aside for  about 15 mins or until the yeast mixture becomes frothy(if the yeast is good, it wont take more than 20 min. to proof).

3. In the meantime heat oil(any oil will do) in a pan and splutter the cumin seeds,  add chopped onion and saute until it is transparent. Now add coarsely ground green chilies and fry for a minute or two.Add little salt, chopped coriander leaves & set aside to cool.(salt will be added in the dough too.)

4. Now back to the frothy yeast mixture..Stir in the melted butter and salt to the  yeast mixture and  add 1 cup of flour to begin with & combine well. Gradually add the remaining flour & mix well.

5. Now prepare(clean, dry & sprinkle little flour) some space on the kitchen counter to knead the dough.  Place the dough on the floured surface & knead it well for at least 10 mins. At the end the dough should be soft & non sticky ball.( add very little flour if you feel the dough is sticky, too much flour will make your masala buns dense) .

6. Roll out the dough ball with a rolling pin & add the prepared onion mixture(which would have cooled by now) in the center  cover it up with the dough and knead again to form a soft ball (about 10 min)(add flour only if needed).

7. Place this dough ball in a oiled big bowl, roll the dough in the bowl so that it is oiled as well , cover with a kitchen towel or cling film & set it aside for the dough to rise(double in size) for about 1.5 hrs.(depends on the weather)

8. After the first rise, place the dough again on a floured surface & knead for another 7 mins.(this is to remove the air bubbles from the dough)

 9. Roll the dough in to log shape & Divide the dough into 7-8 portions and shape them into smooth buns and place them on a baking tray with adequate space in  between.(I lined my tray with parchment paper). cover the tray with a kitchen towel & set aside for the second rise(do not skip this step) for about 45 mins.

10. Preheat the oven at 220 º C for 10 to 15 mins. After the second rise, brush the top of the buns with little milk. 

11. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 º C. Place the buns in the oven & bake for 15 to 20mins.(the buns will sound hollow when tapped.By now the  buns would have turned to  a  golden brown in color. Remove the baked buns from the oven & immediately brush the buns with butter & serve..Serving suggestions:You can  slice these buns, slather butter  & serve &/ sandwich some spicy peanuts too..