Khaliat Nahal - Honeycomb buns

Khaliat Nahal, which in Arabic means bees' hive, derives its name from the typical honey comb like pattern in which this bread is baked. It can be made either sweet or savory. I have made the sweet version with its traditional cream cheese filling, and coated it with sugar syrup after baking.
This recipe makes 17/18 smallish buns. The buns are baked close together in a round pan, giving it its characteristic honey comb shape. The recipe is one I'd bookmarked when I was part of the We Knead to Bake group and thanks to Blogging Marathon #64 where I'll be posting three different shaped yeasted breads this week, it is finally moving out of my bookmarks folder and seeing the light of day.

Khaliat Nahal - Honeycomb buns

What you need:
All purpose flour - 2.5 cups
Sugar - 3 tbsp.
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Instant yeast - 1.5 tsp
Melted butter - 3 tbsp.
Lukewarm milk - 1 cup
Cream cheese - for filling
Some milk for brushing on top of the buns

For the sugar syrup:
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Mix the melted butter, flour, sugar, salt and yeast using your finger tips. Add the milk, a little at a time and knead until your dough is smooth, pliable and elastic. You may not have to add all the milk.
Coat with a little oil on all sides, cover and leave aside in a warm place to rise. It should double in size in about an hour.
While the dough is rising, you can make your sugar syrup. To do this, bring the sugar and water to a boil and then let the mixture simmer on low heat for a few minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Keep aside to cool until needed.
Once the dough rises, divide it into two parts. Roll each part into a rope that is roughly 9 inches long. Cut each rope into nine parts, so that you have eighteen parts in all. Flatten each part of dough a little, place a little of the cream cheese inside and close the seams and smoothen the dough into a round ball. Place the balls of dough in a well greased 9 inch round pan, arranging them in concentric circles, filling the base of the pan. Cover with a wet paper towel and let it rise for about an hour. Brush the tops with milk.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes or until the tops are well browned.
Remove from the oven and while the buns are still hot, pour the sugar syrup on top of them. If you want your bun to be only mildly sweet and not sticky, you could just brush the sugar syrup on top of the buns. Let this sit for a bit so that the sugar syrup sets a little.
Serve warm.

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Pav bhaji with a twist

 In keeping with the name of this blog, most of the time I experiment with ingredients in the kitchen. Today's dish was born in one such moment of madness. My theme for this week's blogging marathon is stuffed breads and I had kneaded dough to make bun/pav. I was wondering what to stuff it with and that's when this mad, mad idea came into my head.
Mumbai is synonymous with pav bhaji. Almost every street has a vendor who sells the lusciously red, spicy bhaji with generously buttered pav. The food stalls of Juhu beach with an array of appetising smells and sights are a gastronomical treat in themselves, and the Pav bhaji they serve are absolutely, wonderfully the best.
Do you see where all this is leading?

I decided to make bhaji and stuff that into the pav. I did warn you that it is a mad idea, didn't I? But I assure you it is excellent madness and madness that will be repeated henceforth in my home because the end product turned out to be surprisingly good.

What you need:
For the bun/pav:
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Yeast - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Vegetable shortening/vanaspati - 3 tbsp (can be substituted with butter)
Milk - 2/3 cup
Curd - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/3 cup(start with a little less and then add only as much as needed to make a dough)

If using active dry yeast, proof it by dissolving it in 1/4 cup of water to which 1/2 tsp sugar has been added and let it stand covered until frothy. I used active yeast.
Take the flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center. Add all the ingredients except water and mix well.  If needed, add water, little by little and knead to a smooth, pliable dough. Cover and set aside until it doubles in volume.

For the stuffing:
Potato - 1, peeled and chopped into large chunks
Carrot - 1, chopped coarsely
Green peas - a handful
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Tomato - 1, chopped fine
Green chilli - 3, minced
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Pav bhaji masala - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt
Chopped corriander leaves

Microwave the potato, carrot and green peas with just enough water to cover them until cooked. Mash well with a potato masher and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add the green chillies, ginger garlic paste and onions and saute till onions are lightly browned. Add turmeric powder, salt and chopped tomatoes. Cook till most of the moisture from the tomatoes evaporates. Add the mashed vegetables, pav bhaji masala and chopped corriander leaves. Continue to stir on a low flame until all the moisture evaporates and the bhaji thickens.

To make the stuffed buns:
Preheat oven to 175 degrees centigrade.
Divide the dough into 8 parts. Roll them into balls. Pat out into a thick circle using your palm and fingers. Place a little bit of the filling inside it, close it again and smoothen. Keep it covered under a wet cloth for 20 minutes. Brush some milk over each bun and sprinkle some sesame seeds over them. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the top is well browned.








Do check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#24

Iyengar bakery style stuffed potato buns

These buns are fresh off the oven. I just made these, ate one.....have a plate with another one on my side.....and am typing out this recipe as I take generous bites. These are seriously so soft,so good and so tasty......just like you would get at any of the Iyengar bakeries in Bangalore. I have decided that whenever the craving for these strikes, I am making them at home, and not buying them. They are that good.
Before I tell you again how good they are, I must thank Lata for giving me this recipe, and also for being kind enough to convert the recipe from measurements in grams to cups. Thank you, Lata.
Before I start raving about how good these are AGAIN, let us get to the recipe.
What you need:
Maida/All purpose flour - 2 cups, heaped
Active dry yeast - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Milk - 2/3 cups
Softened butter - 2 tbsp (heaped)
Vanaspati/Vegetable shortening - 1 tbsp
Curd/Yogurt - 1 tbsp
For the masala/stuffing:
Potato - 3 small, cooked, peeled and mashed
Carrot - 2 small, cooked and mashed
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Corriander leaves - a little, chopped fine

Heat oil in a pan. Add the onions and saute till they begin to brown. Add turmeric powder, mashed vegetables, garam masala and salt. Add 1/4 cup of water. Stir well and then heat until moisture evaporates completely and the masala comes together. Garnish with corriander leaves and keep aside.

To make buns:
Take the maida,salt and sugar(keep aside a tsp for proofing yeast)in a large mixing bowl. Add a tsp of sugar and a little lukewarm milk to the yeast. Keep it covered until it starts to bubble. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the yeast in. Mix in butter, vegetable shortening, milk and yogurt. Knead to a soft, pliable dough. Keep covered until it doubles in volume. This take about an hour and a half. Punch down and divide the dough into eight equal balls. Divide the prepared masala into 8 balls that are half the size of the dough balls. I had some left over masala which was tasty enough to eat on its own. Now, take one ball of dough in your hand and flatten it into a circle. The dough has enough butter in it to not stick to your hands. Place the masala ball in the centre and then pull the sides to close the masala. Flatten and smooth into a circle again. Place it in a greased baking tray with the closed side facing down.
Cover with a wet towel and set aside for 15-20 minutes for it to rise again. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 175 degrees. All my baking is done in a convection microwave oven. I do not have a preheat function in my oven....so usually I just turn it on for 10 minutes at 175 degrees and that does the trick.
Just before baking, apply an egg wash to the top of each bun. To prepare egg wash, lightly beat an egg, along with a tbsp of water and then brush it over the top of the buns. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the top turns a nice brown and the centre, when touched, has a nice spring to it.
Eat hot off the oven, or warm up and serve later.

This is my first post for Blogging Marathon#6 week 2, under the category picnic food.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#6 hosted by Srivalli