Eggless Whole Wheat Masala Buns | Baking with Herbs

Last weekend, I went through my old blog posts. While I knew I had tons of other work to do, especially dropping by the Blogging Marathon group members blogs to check out their posts for the Fire Up Your Oven baking series, I opened the blog and went back to the time I started posting!

Way back in December 2008, I joined a group of bloggers to do the second edition of Recipe Marathon initiated by DK.26 food bloggers joined in and we did a theme a week. On seeing the roundup post,I was so nostalgic!

Lil Angel was hardly 9 months old[and so was the blog!] and I had just moved to our home in China with the lil one. I remember that I had loads of work to do starting from unpacking the bags to doing the daily chores and yet I was so excited to blog everyday!

I also remember the ‘sibling’ rivalry that Lil Angel would feel towards the computer and will ask me to pick her up the moment I sit to write the post!

Seeing the roundup now, I find that I did very basic posts and yet at that time, I felt so happy to be part of the group many of whom were my ‘seniors’ in blogging.

And looking at the marathons I am doing right now with my buddies,I can see that the blog has come a long way! In 2008 when I started the blog, I would have never dreamt of baking cakes, let alone doing a baking marathon for a whole month!!

In a way it is so nice to go back and see the posts from the past, right!

Anyway,instead of boring you further with my nostalgic moments, let me take you to the post of the day. For the second day of this week, I have a bread roll/ bun recipe that is flavored with coriander and mint leaves.

This is one of those recipes that literally disappeared from the bread basket within a day. I loved the warm rolls with a cheese spread and I had this for dinner. The kids had this for breakfast.

Whole wheat flour – 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cup
Water -1/4 cup
Milk-1/4 cup
Butter- 25 grams
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Salt- 1/2 teaspoon / adjust to taste
Instant yeast- 3/4 teaspoon

For the masala mixture

Oil- 1 teaspoon
Carom seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Green chili paste- 1 teaspoon [Can also use finely chopped green chilies]
Chopped coriander leaves- a handful
Chopped mint leaves- a handful
Onion-1, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Other ingredients

Milk for brushing
Butter for brushing
Sesame seeds for topping 

Let us prepare the masala mixture first and while it cools,we can start the preparation for the buns.

Heat oil in a pan and add the carom and cumin seeds. When the cumin crackles, add the green chili paste, onion and saute till onion is soft.Add salt, mint and coriander leaves and saute for a few minutes till the herbs wilt. Transfer the mixture onto a plate and let it cool.

While the mixture cools, let use start the next process.

Take the flour,salt and yeast in a bowl and mix.

Pour
the water and milk in a saucepan, and heat on the stove till quite hot
but not boiling. Pour this liquid into a large bowl and add the butter.
Stir till the butter is melted.

Then add in the sugar and stir till the
sugar dissolves. Let this mixture cool down till it is lukewarm, so that
the yeast will proof. If it is too hot, it will kill the yeast.Add the flour mixture into the milk mixture and mix. Knead well for 15 minutes, dusting a little flour if needed. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.

Flatten the ball of dough and place the masala mixture in the center.Close it up by bringing in the edges together.Knead once again so that the masala mixture get incorporated into the dough. Transfer into an oiled bowl, turning the dough well so that the dough is also coated with oil. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and set aside till the dough doubles in volume.

Once it doubles, punch it down to remove the air and divide the dough into 6 parts.Roll each into a ball and place in a greased baking pan and cover with a cling wrap. Set aside for half an hour.

Brush with milk, sprinkle sesame seeds and press them gently so that they stick on the buns. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degree C for 25-30  minutes / the top starts turning brown.Once out of teh oven , brush with butter and let the buns cool on a wire rack.Serve …

We enjoyed the warm buns with cheese spread….