From many days I am terribly missing these khara(spicy) buns available in Bangalore bakeries. These buns are nothing but very soft bread stuffed with some kind of very spicy vegetable. But I have a very bad history of baking breads. I must have attempted it atleast 5-6 times(that I know of) and consistently I got rock hard products which I am sure would work great as cricket balls 
. But no matter how many times I failed, I wanted to try it again, I am pretty optimistic when it comes to cooking.
Then last week when I was blog hopping, I came across Sunitha’s amazing bread creations. While reading through her post, I came to know it was November daring baker‘s challenge. Now my next stop was Meeta’s blog. I have been reading Meeta’s creations for this “event” for last few months. I didn’t know Sunita was also a part of daring bakers till now, as soon as I came to know, I spent next few minutes digging her old posts. I am always bowled over by the amazing creations by these two for the challenge every month. Though all of their creations were very tempting, they looked very difficult to me. But this bread looked very very simple. With lot of difficulty, I postponed the baking for over a week. Finally I baked it yesterday.
I had very less hopes because of my previous attempts, but since all the daring bakers had created such nice results, I ordered my mind to keep cool 
. When the bread dough beautifully rose, I was sure the bread would come soft. It was amazing . Very soft and very tasty.
Since I am not officially a daring baker (or to be honest, I missed one step while reading it), I kind of took a slight shortcut – I added all the flour at once instead of adding it in steps. It made my life much easier, because the dough was not very sticky and therefore easily manageable. I made a very small batch, I didn’t want to throw a big batch if I messed up this time. Try it, its the best. Thanks a lot daring bakers and to Tanna for coming up with this recipe. Here is the measurements I used-
I use the measuring cup+spoon set, so measuring was exact.
Ingredients for bread:
1 medium potato
1 cup water
1/4 tbl spn + 1/4 tea spn salt
1/2 tea spn active dry yeast
2 and 1/8th cups all purpose flour
1/4 tbl spn unsalted butter
1/4 cup wheat flour
Method:
Put the peeled and chopped potato in 1 cup water, 1/4 tea spn salt and bring it to boil. Cook till the potatoes are very tender.
Drain the water (save the water). Mash the potatoes. Measure the saved water. If it is less than 3/4 cup, add extra water to get a total of 3/4 cup.
Take the mashed potatoes and water in a big bowl. When the mixture is cooled to about 70-80F (ie, when it is still a bit warm but not hot), add the active dry yeast. Add all purpose flour, mix and leave for 5mins (According to original recipe, at this stage only 1/2 cup all purpose flour is added. so the dough was not at all sticky).
Add remaining salt, softened butter and wheat flour and mix well. (According to original recipe, at this stage 1/2 more cup of all purpose flour is added. Remaining flour is used to dust the surface where the bread is kneaded. I am not sure what difference it makes if I add the flour at once because the dough rose well without any trouble).
Now take the dough on a clean surface and knead it well for 10mins (if you follow the original recipe, the dough at this stage has only 1 cup of flour, so dough is very sticky. Keep adding flour to get a dough that can be easily managed. Since I added all the flour earlier, I didn’t dust the surface at all).
Leave the dough in a warm place for about 2hrs or till the dough doubles in volume.
Stuffing:
1 cup onion
3-4 green chilies
1/2 tea spn garam masala
1 tbl spn chopped coriander leaves
A pinch turmeric
Oil
Salt
Method:
Heat a little oil and add green chilies, onion, turmeric, salt and fry till the onions are translucent. Add a little water, close the lid and let it cook. Add garam masala, coriander leaves. Cook till onions are completely cooked and the mixture has become very dry. Take off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
How to make the buns
Preheat the oven at 400F for 10mins.
Take the dough and knead for some more time. Make big balls of the dough. (For above measurements, divide the dough into 8 equal parts).
Divide the stuffing into 4 equal parts.
Take one ball of dough and keep one part of stuffing on it. Cover with second half of dough and Cover properly from all sides. Make sure all the edges are sealed properly, otherwise the buns open up while baking. Slightly flatten with hand.
Drizzle some olive oil or butter on top of the bun. Spread some oregano on top (optional). Repeat same for remaining dough and stuffing to get 4 buns.
Bake in the oven for about 10-12 mins (or the top becomes brown).
Cool on a wire rack.
Note : This is by no means a simple recipe. As you all see, it’s a daring bakers challenge recipe. Daring bakers is a group which takes up very difficult challenges every month and tries to bake them. Whatever I knew about the recipe, I have already posted here. So, try on your own risk .
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
75 Responses to Spicy stuffed potato buns (Khara buns)
Leave a Reply
Sponsored
Sponsored
hi shilpa,
thanks for helping me get bangalore ‘Butter spong’ khara bun right out in my home in mumbai.. I had filled two buns with onion palya and two with alu..
I love making bread and cakes as well and anything to do with baking and cooking so I will try this tomorrow
I am making this tomorrow! I miss the khara buns of VB Bakery in Bangalore and this looks like a good replacement.
The buns were very hard when I made. Can
you please tell me what should I do to make
it better
Knead the dough well. Ideally when you mix yeast, water (the water should be luke warm and yeast should be dissolved in it with a small teaspoon of Sugar) and then mixed with dough. The dough should be kept aside for an hour…and when it doubles its size, the kneading should be done well again.
Try it this way!
Good luck
Savitha
Hi Shilpa,
I loved the way you wrote about your experience of making buns. Your comparison with cricket ball was just hilarious. I could not stop laughing. I never had them. So I don’t know. Lately I have not baked anything due to the antique oven I have in my apartment. Otherwise I love baking and cooking. So far I have baked mostly Cheese cakes, Biscotti, cookies and bars. Have to try out your recipes, looks yummy.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Happy cooking
Sree
Tried making them over this weekend. Tasted fabulous. I now visit your site quite regularly and check on the reciped. Great work. Keep going.
Hi shilpa,
looks great.It does look like a big challenge to make this recipe.Will give it a try.
sudha borkar
Hi shilpa
after going thro’ all the bread recipes and ur love for baking bread ,I want to give it a try tomorrow but CAN i bake this in microwave (convection mode)?unlike oven this does not have a coil on downside so I am doubtful.only after u give me go a head signal will i try.waiting for ur reply.
sudha borkar
I don’t know Sudha, sorry. Never tried baking anything in microwave. You need to do some research on google.
HI SHILPA
I WILL BE TRYING THIS RECIPE ON MONDAY BUT THE PROBLEM IS MY HUSBAND LEAVES FOR OFFICE AT 6:30 AM.CAN I KEEP THE DOUGH OVERNIGHT AT ROOM TEMP OR SHOULD I KEEP IT IN THE FRIDGE.PLEASE DO REPLY AS I AM DYING TO TRY THIS RECIPE.
SUDHA BORKAR
I don’t think keeping it at room temperature is a good idea. It will start rising and may become sour
HI SHILPA
can i keep the dough at room temp overnight or in the fridge since my husband leaves at 6:30 am for office.
If you store in fridge, you need to wait till it comes to room temperature before baking it.
I tried baking these buns, and they were not different than cricket balls
Tried this, but came out hard. I think the measurements are very complicated. Instead of 1/4th or 1/8 th, it would be much easier if it was in grams/ mls. Difficult to measure exactly 1/4 or 1/8 th of cups, it can be very subjective.!
Hey!!
I tried these buns this weekend and had a great time. I used mushrooms, cream cheese, bell pepper and couple of shallots in the stuffing. My buns were really soft and fluffy and we loved them. They tasted more like pies.
Since his was only the second time I was baking (The first time being a cake) I wa just on top of the world
Hi Shilpa,
Did u make this when you were in India? I have heard the yeasts in India are not very good so do not rise. Can you tell me the brand of yeast you use for breads. Is it availble in India?
Sorry Varsha, I haven’t tried it in India. Here in use this brand.
I tried this today and the exterior was so hard. I tried the recipe just like you had given and even the dough rose well but after baking the buns exterior was hard as rock. The interior was soft and tasty
Any advice!
Hi Shilpa,
I’m Egyptian girl but falling in love with everything relates to india..I always eat and cook indian food
I made thes buns to my family and they were amazed..thnx a lot for yr wonderful recipes..I’m planning to try another recipes of yrs..Thnx again
Shilpa, We don’t use onion or garlic. So what would you suggest we use as stuffing instead of onions? Thank you!
You could try a potato bhaji or tomato bhaji
Thanks for the recipes..I always like your recipes i read here.
LOved this recipe,and i tried it,it came out so good,thanks shilpa for wonderful recipe….