Soya Masala Buns

I love playing with yeast, though it has not been much of late. I have been wanting to bake bread from scratch but I am yet to pull up my pants for this challenge. Many of my blogger friends have already proven that it is all a matter of time. I guess I have to spare one weekend to bake fresh bread at home, as that is the occasion when I will have ample time to wait for the yeast to do its action.

While I procrastinate on that, let me share with you one of my recent yeast bakes. These buns were so soft and pillowy! You can see that from the below picture. Biting into a nice spicy soya filling was really a good experience. Somehow, though soya is not something that the folks at home like, I make it once in a while for a change. After making the paneer soya cutlets, the remainder chunks were just lying in the pantry and this is how I utilized it. I was mighty happy with this. Meanwhile, I have also made some mince pies before with soya filling, you can refer to the recipe here. Off to this recipe...



Ingredients:

For the buns:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tbsp instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water (as required)

For the filling:
1/2 cup soya chunks
1 small potato
1 tsp oil
1 small onion, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method:

For making the dough, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the olive oil and milk. Add the water slowly and start bringing the dough together. The dough should be soft and non-sticky. Add more water or flour as required. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest for an hour or till it doubles.

Let's make the filling. Cook the soya chunks in water till soft. Drain and wash till the smell is gone. Squeeze off the complete water. Grind into a paste. Boil the potato till done, peel and mash. Heat oil in a small frying pan. Add the onion and saute till soft. Add the powders and saute till the raw smell is gone. Add it into the soya and potato and give a nice mix. Sprinkle in the garam masala powder and adjust the salt. Mix well finally. Divide into six portions and set aside.

Cover a baking pan with parchment paper.


Now, go back to the dough. Punch down the dough slightly. Divide into 6 equal portions. Just leave to rest for 10 minutes. The dough will puff up slightly. Spread out one ball in your palm, place one portion of the masala and close it, to shape into buns. Place on the pan. Repeat till all the 6 are done. Cover the pan.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake the buns for 20 minutes. Brush with butter on top as soon as the buns are out. Cool and enjoy with a cup of chai!