Masala Bun / Spicy dinner rolls

It has been a week, for some reason I feel its been a long time since I did a post. Last week, was the week of spring break (for finally teen), so we were doing a little exploring both inside the kitchen and outside. March was a hectic month, so the break was really a welcome change. It's not been easy to go back to routine...I miss having finally teen home for the day and definitely miss sleeping in. The weather got a is getting a little warmed up ( is it ?) and I can resume my late morning walks, something I really miss during the long months of hibernation. It's amazing that last year at this time we had cherry blossom blooms and the trees were beginning to get visibly green...right now I see no signs of any blooms or green, my tulips have not even sprouted. Finally teen was going thru my blog and she showed me pictures of blooms from last year. Here is this post, and coincidently the recipe is very similar too. I think I should go out and capture the cherry blossom tree....and get myself a cup of coffee. I am going to be right back.... Am back with some coffee, an apple and armed with evidence on my camera.....and here it is. The middle picture in the top row is this year ( right now) and the rest are all from last year (April 3rd). Hmmm! I really need to complain someplace for the inconsistency :( in weather patterns....well, it's nature and a lot like life it is full of surprises. Sometimes good and sometimes things that we just have to deal with. Am glad am dealing with some soft and spicy masala buns or dinner rolls....

Don't these look gorgeous, they are perfect with a cup of coffee and it was not really an apple but half masala bun that I have here. Hey ! it's all about real time and it does not get more real then this :))

So I stuffed these cuties with two different stuffings, one a paneer-potato with garam masala, with a hint of garlic and the other with a potato-onion subji prepared in a south Indian style. When I asked finally teen and my other half there preference, they said both were very different and it's hard to pick. I personally loved the paneer one and even thou we could not reach a consensus on which was better, we all agreed it was an awesome recipe here to stay.

Filling 1

7 oz - paneer crumbled

1 - mashed potatoes

1/4 tsp - turmeric

1 tsp - garam masala

1 tsp - red chili powder

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp garlic paste 

1 tbsp cilantro finely chopped 

salt - to taste 

Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside.

Filling 2 

1 small onion

1 mashed potato

2 green chili

1/2 tsp ginger finely chopped

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard

1/4 tsp chana daal (bengal gram)

1/4 tsp urad daal (split black gram)

juice of half lime

salt to taste

pinch of turmeric

1 tbsp cilantro finely chopped

Heat oil, add mustard, let it splatter, add chana daal and urad daal, followed by onion, green chili and gainer. Sauté till the onion is transparent, add the mashed potatoes, along with salt, cilantro and lime juice. Mix and keep aside 

For the bread 

1 cup -warm water

1 1/2 tsp - rapid rise yeast 

1 tsp - sugar 

1 1/2 tsp - salt

1/3 cup - olive oil

3 cups - all purpose flour

1 egg white for egg-wash ( optional) 

Mix all the ingredients for the filling and keep aside.
Measure 1 cup of water at room temperature and heat it in the microwave for 30 sec, add rapid rise yeast, salt, sugar and oil and mix well, till the yeast is dissolved. 
In a separate bowl mix the all purpose flour with the yeast mixture (a little at a time) till you have an elastic soft dough, use extra all purpose flour if the dough is too wet.  Kneed for about 5-6 min.

Take a small ball of the dough roll it into a circular shape, add the filling in the center and seal the edges. Cover it with wet muslin cloth. Repeat till all the dough has been utilized.

Lightly oil a bread pan and place bun on it, seam side down. cover with a damp cloth. Preheat oven to warm setting or 150 F. Turn it off and keep bun in the oven and allow the dough to rise for about an hour. After that,( optional) give the buns an eggwash, for a glazed look. Add 1tsp water to the eggwhite, whisk and brush over the buns.
Preheat the oven for 450 degree F ( 232 C) and then reduce it to 425 degree F (218 C) . Bake the bread for about 25-30 min till the crust is nice and brown.
Place on the cooling rack for about 30 min.
The amount of stuffing is a personal choice, I love to have a good quantity of stuffing. Serve warm with some butter and it could almost pass as a meal or a mid morning snack in my case ;)