Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns: To take you down the memory lane...

 Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns

Do you dream of foods? After one long tired day , you close your eyes and then suddenly this delicious thing comes to your mind. All you can do at that moment is sigh and groan loudly matching the rumble of your stomach. You just wish that you could take one teeny-tine bite of that scrumptious food you have had loooooooong time back?

Yes… I am talking of such food, something you can’t find in a place where you are currently living. Apart from my family and friends, I miss quite many things that I had taken for granted in all those years I spent time in my country of birth. It is like inhaling the heady aroma of earth after first monsoon rain hits the mother earth, or the tingling taste of first tender mango rubbed with salt and chilli powder in hot summer days, or the feeling of happiness when you rest your head on your mother’s lap, or the satisfaction of hugging someone who loves you more than themselves, or the feeling of content that comes when you taste something specially cooked with lots of love by your loved ones… Yes, there are these few ‘extra ordinary’ things that can’t be experienced anywhere else. And you miss them dearly, not just when you are feeling low but also when you are bursting with happiness and happy thoughts. Because it is these few special people and interesting things that makes ones life worthwhile.

There I go again… walk down the memory lane!!! Food makes me do all the crazy things and walking down the memory lane is the least crazy things of all! While growing up, food became the major part of everyday life as it revolved around family, culture and, traditions. From simple everyday meal to exquisite and extraordinary celebratory meals, food was with us all the way. As much as I loved the food cooked at home, there were few ‘outside’ food items that made great impact in my life. It could be the simple cane sugar candy sold in the corner shop, the ripe and juicy mangoes from the fruit vendor, the very tart gooseberries from street vendor or the delicious sugar loaded milk based sweets from town’s very best sweet shop.

And one such favourite food in my life is the spicy and unbelievably tasty goodies from my favourite bakery, Spicy Stuffed Buns or Khara Buns! My Appa would buy these delicious buns every weekend and we kids would eagerly wait to get our hands on these warm, aromatic buns. Every single bite of these soft, light and sweet buns with mildly spiced potato and vegetable stuffing would not only tickle our senses but also was a pure delight to our taste buds! The simple pleasures of life, which turns simple things to very special moments. After moving away from home and country, I missed these simple delights. I tried to find the substitute for these delightful Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns but nothing came even close to what was a humble, down to earth food delight. And I being baking virgin never helped as I was petrified to go near oven.

Fast forward and few years later, I have come a long way from being a baking virgin to oven friendly. I am still very far from calling myself baking goddess and it may take years of my patience and practice!!! But these days I can confidently whip things together to create something that comes out from my oven smelling and tasting good without burning my fingers and also my pride. All this is due to necessity and also for my love for my lil sweet pea who is quite fond of things that come out of oven. So when time came, I braved everything and decided to bake my own Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns. After Googling for hours and taking tid-bids from various sites, I came up with the following recipe for Spicy Stuffed Buns/Kara Buns. So without wasting any more of your precious time, let’s grab some Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns fresh from the oven…

Spicy Stuffed Buns with Filter Coffee

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Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns (Wholemeal buns stuffed with spicy mixed vegetable mash)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Baking Time: 20-30 mins
Makes: 8-9 Buns
Shelf Life: 3 days when refrigerated and 2 weeks when frozen
Recipe Level: Intermediate
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: Serve for breakfast or evening tea or when hunger pangs strikes
Recipe Inspiration: Various www sources

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Ingredients:
For Buns:
1½ cups Whole Meal Flour or 2 cups Maida/All Purpose flour
1 packet Active Dry Yeast (7gms)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt (Adjust acc to taste)
½ cup warm Milk + some for brushing
3 tbsp Oil/Butter (I used Olive oil)
Warm water for kneading

For Mixed Vegetable Stuffing:
2 cups of Mixed Vegetables of your choice, cut into 1 cm cubes (I used potato, carrot, and green peas)
1 large Onion, finely chopped
1 small Bell Pepper/Capsicum, seeded and finely chopped
1-2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
2 large cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh Lime Juice
Salt to taste
Spices Used:
½ tsp Garam Masala
¼ tsp Haldi/Turmeric Powder
For Tadka/Tempering:
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Ajwain/Carom Seeds
¼ tsp Saunf/Fennel Seeds
½ tsp Mustard Seeds
A big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Few Curry Leaves, thinly chopped
1 tbsp Oil

Grab your own Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns

Method:

Prepare the dough:

First dissolve yeast in ¼ cup of warm water. You can either keep it aside for 15-30 minutes or if using instant active dry yeast to can simply proceed to next step.

Take a mixing bowl and add all the dry ingredients like flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and mix them well. If you want, you can sieve them so that all the ingredients get mixed well but I usually find it unnecessary in this recipe.

Make a large hole in the middle and then add dissolved yeast, oil/butter and warm milk and start to knead the dough by adding little warm water at a time, as and when needed. The dough will be little sticky compared to usual chapatti dough.

Sprinkle some flour on work surface and transfer the dough from bowl into work surface and start kneading again for good 4-5 minutes. No need to be gentle with this dough and give those muscles a good exercise.

Transfer the dough back into mixing bowl and cover it with a cling film or wet tea towel and keep it aside in some warm place for 45-60 mins. The dough will rise and double in volume.

Spicy Vegetable Stuffing

Prepare the stuffing/filling:

While the dough is rising, cook the mixed vegetables in a microwave or in pressure cooker till they turn tender and can easily be mashed. Drain all the excess water completely before you roughly mash them. Any excess water will make the buns soggy.

Heat oil in a pan and add all the ingredients listed under ‘for tadka/tempering’ one after another. Once the mustards seeds starts to crack and pop, add finely chopped garlic and cook for a minute till they turn light golden. Next mix in finely chopped onion and green chillies and cook for 2 minutes till onions turn light golden.

Add chopped capsicum/peppers and cook for 2 minutes. Next, mix in mashed vegetables, garam masala and turmeric powder and mix well. Add salt to taste and cook for 2-3 minutes for all the flavours to blend well.

Switch off the gas and mix in lime juice. Keep this stuffing aside to cool down completely.

Spicy Stuffed Buns: Work-in-progress

Prepare the buns:

Preheat the oven at 190 deg C/374 deg F.

Punch down the raised dough to release air and divide it into big lemon sized balls, around 8-9 balls of equal size.

Take one ball at a time and flatten it on your palm using your fingers. Take about one table spoon full of the filling and place it in the centre of the flattened dough ball. Start covering the edges as you would do for any stuffed parathas. Make sure that the stuffing is covered properly without any small gaps. Place this stuffed dough ball on a baking tray, lightly brushed with oil.

Repeat the same for each dough balls. Make sure that each stuffed dough ball is placed at least 3 inches apart. Lightly brush every stuffed dough ball with milk and cover the tray with cling film and set aside for 5 minutes.

Remove the cling film and place the baking tray in mid rack of your oven. Bake the buns for 16-20 minutes (depending on the size of the buns). Once baked, remove the buns from tray and place them on cooling rack.

Serve these freshly baked Spicy Stuffed Buns/Khara Buns warm or at room temperature with hot filter coffee and enjoy the goodness of home baked goodies!

Enjoy this Spicy Stuffed Buns with Filter Coffee and your fav book 

 

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Sia’s Notes:

• Since I am quite fond of wholemeal breads, I have used wholemeal flour in place of usual maida or all purpose flour. This whole meal gives the buns little chewy texture and if you are not very fond of them, simply replace them with all purpose flour.

• The stuffing for these buns can be as simple or as complex as you want it. If you are short of time, simply used mashed boiled potatoes spiced with garam masala, salt and some lime juice.

• These Spicy Stuffed Buns or Khara Buns can be easily stored in an air tight container for up to 3 days in refrigerator. They can be stored for up to 2 weeks in freezer. While freezing, cover individual buns with cling film and place them in an air tight container or zip lock bags. When needed, thaw them and heat them in microwave and serve warm.