Stuffed masala aloo buns

June is a month of birthdays. Four of my lovely cousins celebrate their birthdays in the month of June. I wish I could bake a cake for each of them (well except my mother and hubby no one has ever tasted my baking experiments from family). But alas distance and busy schedules make it impossible for the time being. May be in future we will be able to recreate those birthday celebrations as in past where we cousins would gang up and had so much fun. I really miss those days where birthdays meant all home-made delicacies and memorable family get-togethers. Luckily we did not have Mc Donalds and KFC’s to take away the charm. Those were different times and we were so much different as kids.

Today’s recipe isn’t about a cake but a very popular baked bread beauty “Stuffed masala aloo buns”. Bangalore is “the” place where you get to have an amazing variety of baked items. One of the items which I tasted and liked instantly was “Stuffed masala aloo buns”. Recreating it at home was a challenge as I am still new to the world of baking breads. After pizza, it was my second attempt and I am very glad that it turned out well. When I took the buns out of the oven, I could see the shine in my husband’s eye who exclaimed “It looks completely like bakery made”. I couldn't wait, took a bite of a bun and it was yum. So the buns turned out to be soft, beautifully browned on top and baked to perfection. So here is my recipe for “Stuffed masala aloo buns”.

Stuffed masala aloo buns

Serves: 2 to 3 persons

Stuffed masala aloo buns

For bun’s dough

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour or maida-2 cups

Sugar- 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Instant dry yeast- 1 tbsp

Water- ¼ cup+ 1 tbsp

Milk- ½ cup + 2 tbsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Olive oil- 3 tbsp+ 1 tbsp

Sesame seeds- 1 tbsp

Butter- 1 tbsp

For aloo masala

Ingredients:

Potatoes (large) - 2 (boiled, peeled and mashed)

Onions (small)- 3 (finely chopped)

Cumin or zeera seeds- 2 tsp

Roasted cumin powder- 1 tbsp

Coriander powder- ½ tbsp

Chili powder- ½ tbsp

Cinnamon or dalchini powder-1 tsp

Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp (finely chopped)

Green chilies- 2 (finely chopped)

Oil- 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Procedure:

I have given separate set of instructions on how to make the bun's dough and aloo masala to reduce confusion. But to save time you can make the aloo masala while the dough is proofing or taking rest. 

For stuffing: Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds. After they have spluttered add onions, green chilies and fry them till it turns slightly brown, then add mashed potatoes, chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. Mix everything well and fry it for 5 minutes. After that add cinnamon powder and coriander leaves. Give it a final stir and switch off the flame. Let it cool down and make 6 equal sized balls for the bun’s stuffing. I had some leftover stuffing from the above quantity. So accordingly you may reduce the quantity of the potatoes used or like me preserve it to make stuffed paranthas for the other day.

For bun’s dough: Take about 2 tbsp of  water warm it up, then add sugar and yeast to it. Leave it aside for 5 minutes. If yeast foams up then it is ready to be used for the further process. Meanwhile warm up the milk and remaining water. Take maida, salt and oil in a bowl and mix it up roughly. Add yeast to it and little by little add the warm milk and form soft dough. I like to work with my dough on marbled kitchen counter and with back to forth hand movements I try to bring the sticky dough together into a soft dough. When the dough is formed, put it back to the greased bowl and cover the dough with muslin cloth and let it proof for 45 minutes. 

After 45 minutes, you will find that the dough has become double its size. After that make your hands wet and pat the dough over the muslin cloth. Then remove the muslin cloth, bring the dough back to the kitchen counter, punch it well and knead it for a minute. Again put it back in the bowl and cover it with wet muslin cloth.  Then after 30 minutes bring it back to the kitchen counter, punch it down, knead again for a minute and make six equal sized balls out of it. Flatten each of the dough balls on your palm and place the stuffing ball and then seal the edges with very light hands. Grease the tin with remaining olive oil. Then arrange the balls on a greased tin and let it stand for another 10 minutes. After that take 2 tbsp of milk and 1 tbsp of sugar and mix it well. Finally with the help of a brush, milk wash all the buns and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the buns. This is the final proofing and the balls will rise again.

 Meanwhile pre-heat the oven on 180 degree Celsius. Bake the buns at 180 degree for 20 minutes, then at 200 degree Celsius for 5 to 7 minutes. After baking it for 20 minutes take the buns out and again give a milk wash. Keep an eye on the buns when you are baking them for final 5 minutes. After the buns are out of oven, brush them properly with butter. This will help soften the buns.

Notes:

The above mentioned measurement yields about 6 large stuffed buns.

I have used instant dry yeast yet I do check if it is alive or not. If your yeast is not alive, discard it and use another packet.

The dough should be soft and pliable. So be cautious and do not over knead the dough and if your dough has become hard, sprinkle some water and knead softly.

Use soft hand movement while giving the final shape to your buns, otherwise you may fine lines on the buns.

Proofing here means giving rest period to dough to facilitate fermentation. So don’t escape the process as well proofed dough will lead to soft buns.

Always use lukewarm milk and water while kneading the dough otherwise col or even milk and water kills the yeast.

I baked in convection microwave. So remember your oven settings and performance while baking.