Khara Buns/Spicy Buns

When baking your own fresh breads/buns is so easy, it's a load of fun to experiment with different tastes and get creative! I tried creating my version of the very famous "Khara Bun" which every good bakery has people lining up for it in downtown Bangalore! The result - the whole lot of buns I baked were gone very quickly :)

Here it is, my version of KHARA BUN / SPICY BUN:

Ingredients: For the bread dough, 2 cups self-raising flour sifted, 3/4 cup of natural yogurt, 2 tablespoons melted butter, pinch of salt, water and olive oil as required. For the masala, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 tomato chopped (only if desired, I usually omit tomato), 1 onion chopped finely, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon ajwain, 2/3 green chilli chopped finely, chilli flakes as required, handful of coriander and curry leaves finely chopped, salt to taste, sesame seeds.

Make: Mix the flour, butter, ajwain, yogurt with water and olive oil to form a firm bread dough. Kneed well and wrap in glad wrap. Leave it covered for at least two hours. 

Meanwhile to make the masala. In a nonstick pan, saute chill in some oil. Add in the cumin , onion, curry leaves, tomato if using and garam masala, mix well with salt. Let it cool.

When ready to mix the masala with the dough, kneed the dough well again and add in cooled masala plus chilli flakes and chopped coriander.

Portion into small palm sized balls then shape nicely. Brush each bun with melted butter then sprinkle sesame seeds. Bake in a pre-heated fan forced oven at 170 deg for about 30 minutes. They are ready when they look golden brown and well rounded. Enjoy the soft, spicy, hot Khara Buns with a hot cuppa!

 

Masala Buns

Who loves the scent of freshly baking bread? Count me in...add to that the scents of spicy masala and you most certainly have a winner in the oven :) That nostalgic feeling of biting into hot baked masala buns is actually so easy to create as I now know.

Quick, easy and so so delicious! Here it is, my version of MASALA BUNS.

 Ingredients: For the bread dough, 2 cups self-raising flour sifted, 3/4 cup of natural yogurt, 2 tablespoons melted butter, pinch of salt, water and olive oil as required. For the masala filling, 2 potatoes boiled and mashed, handful of peas, 1 onion chopped finely, 1 teaspoon cumin and mustard seeds, chilli flakes as required, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt to taste, sesame seeds.

Make: Mix the flour, butter, yogurt with water and olive oil to form a firm bread dough. Kneed well and wrap in glad wrap. Leave it covered for at least two hours. Meanwhile, make the potato masala. In a nonstick pan, saute chill flakes in some oil, adding cumin and mustard seeds, turmeric powder and chopped onion. Add in the mashed potato, peas, lemon juice and mix well with salt. Let it cool.

When ready to fill the dough, kneed the dough well again and portion into small palm sized balls. Scoop in 1 tablespoon of the potato masala and fold dough over to close completely. Brush each bun with melted butter then sprinkle sesame seeds. Bake in a pre-heated fan forced oven at 160 deg for about 25 minutes. They are ready when they look golden brown and well rounded. Enjoy the soft, spicy, hot Masala Buns!