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Khara Buns / Savory Buns With Herbs and Spice

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I came to know about khara buns (means spicy buns) after I started blogging. I have it seen it in innumerable blogs. It is one of famous savory buns served in Iyengar bakery in Bangalore. I had once visited Bangalore, but at that time, I had not known about the bakeries, so I missed the chance of tasting their bakery delicacy. I don’t think I will be going to Bangalore in the near future. 
For a long time I haven’t baked any bread, causing an itch to try one. I wanted to try the Khara buns, but getting a recipe from Iyengar bakery is impossible, and hence looked at most of recipes on the internet. Reading most of the recipes, I came to a conclusion that they are making major blunders while handling yeast, such as some are adding salt while proofing the yeast or using active dry yeast with not proofing them, or some of them were adding onion and green chili without sautéing them. I know while making chimmichuri buns I came across a note in King Arthur flour site that you are using fresh onion you need to sauté to prevent killing of yeast. 
I found one recipe which sautéed the green chilies, curry leaves and onion, then it is mixed with coriander leaves, so taken that part from there and for bun recipe I used my trusted site King Arthur flour baking banter. I added an egg as I am not much interested in eggless baking, I know the softness which the eggs give in not easy to replace with any of substitute. Since I am making buns once in blue moon, adding an egg won’t hurt much. If you are so particular about not having an egg in the recipe, skip the egg, but you have to make little sacrifice in softness of buns.
These are delicious buns, if you make toast with little butter then it delish. I thought using one Serrano pepper and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper will makes the buns very spicy, but it turned out to be mild. It was approved by my little one, she wanted to do a taste test even from raw dough, but as I had added an egg I was not willing to give her. Finally after baking she tried it and loved it. My hubby ate buns for his breakfast and evening tea snack. Next time when I get chance to visit Bangalore I will sure going visit the Iyengar bakery and try their delicacy. Here goes the recipe.
One year ago: Chocolate coconut palova with chocolate mousse
Print recipe from here 

What you need

Unbleached all purpose flour/ Maida: 504g/3 cups + 1 tablespoon
Unsalted butter: 26g/ 2 tablespoon
Salt: 10g/2 teaspoon
Instant Yeast: 7g/3/4 tablespoon
Granulated sugar: 6g/1 ½ teaspoon
Chopped red onion: 185g/1 ⅓ cup
Green chilies: 1 ½ tablespoon ( I used Serrano pepper)
Cayenne pepper: ½ teaspoon
Curry leaves: 1 sprig( about 21 leaves)
Coriander leaves; 2 tablespon
Water:288g/1 cup/8oz ( used less than 2 tablespoon)
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon

How I made

In a medium skillet add olive oil and sauté the onion, green chilies and curry leaves until onion become translucent and change the color or until 4 minutes and switch off the flame and add chopped coriander leaves and set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl heat butter at high for 30 seconds and set aside. 
In a bowl of kitchen aid stand mixer attached with paddle attachment add all purpose flour, yeast , sugar and salt and cayenne pepper and egg and mix everything until they become dry mass, to this add melted cooled butter and mix everything once again. To this gradually add water to form sticky but soft dough. Change the paddle attachment with dough hook and add onion and coriander mixture and mix everything for about 6 minutes to make enough gluten. Dough looks soft and shiny and it should pass window pane test. 
Shape the dough loose ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for about 2 hours and 27 minutes or until the dough doubled in size.
After first rise, gently deflate the dough,( about 940g) and divide it into 7 pieces of 124g and small piece of 72g( total 8 pieces). Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour and 30 minutes, until noticeably puffy.
Preheat the oven to 375 F and bake the buns for 17 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust. 

Cool the buns on a rack, enjoy as much as you wish.

After  cutting

Preparation time: 4 hour and 25 minutes
Yield: 7 large buns+ 1 small bun
Verdict: Yummy, soft
Will you make it again: Yes I will

I am  linking this to Hearth and  Soul hop #54
 Bread baking day#41  Bread with herbs hosted by my discovery of Bread  originally started by Zorra of  Kochtopf 
 Yeast spotting and BYOB

2

More Yeasted bread

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elisabeth says

    Hi Swathi-Now that I'm able to sign in with my google acct. I'm making my "rounds" again to see who's doing, what?...looks like you're MIA!
    Are you on "holiday"? (vacation)
    Still love those delicious buns:DDD

  2. a moderate life says

    Hi Swathi! I was having serious trouble getting into blogger blogs this week to comment, but today seems to be ok. First i wanted to compliment you on your lovely header banner! So succulent and delicious looking! Then these buns look lovely but what I always love about your articles and recipes is how much work you put into showing everyone exactly how to do them! I also learned something new because I thought curry was just a spice blend and not a leaf that you could grow and pick! I would love to find some of these leaves to experiment with and these buns would be wonderful with a nice bit of fresh butter or better yet, gravy! Thanks so much for hosting and posting on the hearth and soul hop! Big hugs! alex

  3. Trisha says

    Swathi, this looks like a very interesting recipe! I would love to have some right now for breakfast!

  4. Indie.Tea says

    These look amazing - so soft and fluffy!
    And I just noticed you on Twitter, so I'm following 🙂

  5. Renata says

    OMG!!! These spicy buns look terrific! You know I love homemade bread, don't you? I'm totally drooling over your photos!

  6. RAKS KITCHEN says

    Recipe sounds so awesome,looks great and nice pictorial!

  7. Rosita Vargas says

    A real treat very aromatic and fluffy, they are perfect, as they say here's good hand, love and big hugs.

  9. Joanne says

    I love making buns that are chock full of flavor and these definitely fit the bill! They sound so tasty!

  10. Vatsala. says

    Perfectly done. First time here. Happy to follow you. Hope you will visit me too.
    Show and Tell
    Event - LGSS_Paneer

  11. Comfy Cook says

    Looking at these buns makes me aware how much better home baked breads and rolls are.

  12. kothiyavunu.com says

    Kidulam!! wat a co-incident swathi, yesterday i baked this..ur looks superb, sherikum better than mine.. ente veetil ithu bhayakar hit ayee..will post mine soon!!

  13. Sarah Naveen says

    Looks so perfect and absolutely delicious Swathi

  14. Mary says

    These rolls look truly wonderful. I'd love to have one with my meal. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

  15. Connie says

    Thank you Swathi, your khara buns look delicious. I like how you used fresh spices and herbs in your buns. What taste do curry leaves have? Thanks for baking with us. Connie of MyDiscoveryOfBread

  16. Vandana Rajesh says

    delicioua looking buns, really nice.

  17. Alea Milham says

    Yeah, I can finally comment again! Your buns look tasty! I like how the spices show in the finished product - very pretty!

  18. Alessandra says

    Brava Swathi, these are really good!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

  19. RS says

    Mouthwatering and droolyfying:)

  20. Peggy says

    This looks great! What a great combination for a flavorful bun =)

  21. Elisabeth says

    Swathi, I'm so glad to see you've made your famous yeast dough again! These buns are so incredible, and so perfect with the delicious herbs, I would love to try these...unfortunately we cannot find curry leaves in our area, maybe try for dry curry leaves!
    I am totally loving these buns...yumm:DDD

  22. Claudia says

    Today is cool and rainy, so you've put me in the mood to make those buns. They sound fantastic.

  23. Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal says

    Absolutely love them. I am going to bookmark it 🙂

  24. SpicyTasty says

    Swathi,
    The bun looks so soft and delicious..

  25. An Open Book says

    love savoury buns..esp as side to soups

  26. MaryMoh says

    Wow...beautiful bread rolls. I love all the herbs added to it. I can even eat it plain! Thanks very much for sharing. MaryMoh at http://www.keeplearningkeepsmiling.com

  27. Suja says

    Tasty and delicious buns,soft flavorful and perfectly baked.

  28. Sensible Vegetarian says

    Lovely looking buns, perfect along with a hot cup of tea.

  29. Food Glorious Food! says

    Perfect looking buns! Thanks for sharing!

  30. Nitha says

    Perfectly made buns..

  31. Ramya says

    As always a perfect bun from the bread master!!
    Love the texture of it:)

  32. sanjeeta kk says

    Perfect accompaniment with my tea!

    Lite Bite

  33. Sushma Mallya says

    wow they look so perfect!...I have bookmarked this to try 🙂

  34. Padhu says

    Wow! they look so perfect .U r an expert in baking

  35. Priya says

    Wow buns looks damn pretty and prefect, simply fabulous..

  36. ente pachakasala says

    wow ithu adipoli ayittundu ketto onnu try cheyyanam soon

  37. Rekha shoban says

    perfect n soft buns!!nice click!

  38. Kalpana Sareesh says

    they looks so amazing .. perfect for tea time..

  39. Priti says

    Looks just so perfect n yum ...

  40. Babli says

    Buns looks soft, spongy and perfect. Very well prepared and presented.

  42. Sharmilee! :) says

    Looks perfectly baked....flavourful buns

  43. Hari Chandana says

    Woww.. Looks super delicious.. Perfect step by step clicks.. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
    Indian Cuisine

  44. sonu says

    love the freshness and flavour of the buns..lovely clicks !

  45. Saraswathi Iyer says

    I love these since I am in Blr,my fav. tell me can we exclude egg?
    pls mail me at simplysara07@gmail.com thanks

  46. ? says

    Swathi, loved this post; particularly loved the first batch of 'step-by-steps'. The dish looks perfect.

  47. Prathibha says

    buns look perfect..I love the buns we get in Iyengar bakeries..they r just too good..:)

  48. Vimitha Anand says

    Perfectly done buns... would be great to have with a hot cup of chaai..

  49. kaveri says

    Perfect looking buns....Nice spongy and porous texture....very very inviting...

  50. Ms.Chitchat says

    Tasty looking buns.Nice illustrative clicks.

  51. Hamaree Rasoi says

    Delicious looking buns dear. Looks wonderful.

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

  52. SravsCulinaryConcepts says

    wow perfect buns and very tempting too !!

  53. Reeni says

    Your buns are so perfect Swathi! Now I've realized I haven't baked bread in a long time - am going to tomorrow!

  54. Reshmi Mahesh says

    Perfect and delicious looking buns...

  55. Premalatha Aravindhan says

    Perfect buns swathi,the outer layer shows how soft it is...loved the savoury buns.

  56. divya says

    wow.. looks so perfect and tempting , that I feel like grabbing it from the pic....yum yum

  57. Shanavi says

    Just perfect, feel like grabbing n gobbling one 🙂

  58. laurie says

    these look amazing,, yum.i don't think I can buy curry leaves though, I've never saw them,, thank you for sharing this lovely recipe,,I will report back as to the out come,

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