For this month's Home Bakers Challenge, the theme is buns and Priya gave us options to choose from cheese stuffed buns, Srilankan seeni sambal buns, khara buns and chocolate buns. All of them were wonderful choices and it was really difficult to chose one among them. I decided upon the Iyergar bakery style khara buns because I had heard many rave reviews about these savoury buns.
Iyengar bakeries in Bangalore are famous for these khara buns. Though I have been to the bakery few times, I have never tasted these buns. After taking the first bite, I understood why the buns were so famous. The buns were soft, slightly spicy and had a lovely flavor from the fried onions. These buns would be great with a bowl of warm soup or along with your tea or coffee. Let's see how to make the famous Iyengar bakery buns.
IYENGAR BAKERY KHARA BUNS RECIPE
{ Savoury eggless buns with onion, herbs and spices }Recipe Source ~ Eat Live Burp
Makes 8
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour / maida
1 ½ tsp instant dried yeast
¼ cup milk
½ cup water
1 ½ tsp sugar
3 tbsp / 42 g butter, melted
1 tsp salt
For the masala:
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4-5 green chillies, finely chopped
⅓ cup chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste
To brush:
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp melted butter
Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When it sizzles, add onion and fry till soft. Add green chillies, salt and fry for a minute. Remove from heat and add coriander leaves. Allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl mix 1 cup flour, instant dried yeast and sugar. Microwave milk and water for 30 seconds or until its lukewarm and add to flour. Mix with a spatula.
3. Then add the melted butter, salt and mix with a spatula. Add remaining flour little by little and mix with a spatula to form a sticky dough.
4. Transfer the dough to a generously floured surface and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until the dough is non-sticky and smooth.
5. Now flatten the dough with your hands to form a rectangle. Put the onion mixture, fold from all sides and seal well.
6. Knead for another 12-15 minutes or till the onion mixture is well incorporated in the dough, adding more flour if required.
7. Grease a large bowl with oil and place the dough in it. Cover and keep in a warm place for 1 - 1 ½ hours or until the dough doubles in size.
8. Once the dough has risen, knead for another 8-10 minutes, to remove any air bubbles. Divide into 8 equal portions and shape them into buns.
9. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover and keep in a warm place for 45 minutes - 1 hour.
10. Preheat the oven to 200 C | 400 F for 10 minutes. Brush the tops of buns gently with milk.
11. Bake them at 180 C | 350 F for 15-18 minutes or until the buns turn golden. After removing from oven, brush them with melted butter.
Notes and Tips
- If using active dry yeast, dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk and water along with sugar. Leave aside for 10-15 minutes or until it becomes frothy.
- Adjust the amount of green chillies according to your spice preference.
- Kneading the dough well to form a non-sticky and smooth dough is important to get soft buns.
- After adding the onion mixture, the dough will become very sticky. Knead the dough well until non-sticky, adding extra flour if required.
