Cuisine: Himachal Pradesh
Category: Lunch
Prep: 120 min
Cook: 20 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Hard
🌿 Vegetarian
Leavened whole wheat buns stuffed with roasted poppy seed-walnut paste, steamed until pillowy — the beloved Himachali bread served with ghee and dal.
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
- 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Warm water — approximately 3/4 cup
- For the filling:
- 4 tbsp khus khus (white poppy seeds) — dry-roasted
- 3 tbsp walnuts — chopped
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp sugar
- A pinch of black pepper and salt
- For serving: ghee and thin pahadi dal
Method
- Make dough: combine atta, yeast, sugar and salt.
- Add warm water and knead 8 to 10 minutes into a smooth soft dough.
- Cover. Rest in a warm place for 60 to 90 minutes until doubled.
- Make filling: dry-roast poppy seeds 3 minutes until fragrant.
- Grind with walnuts to a coarse paste. Heat 2 tbsp ghee.
- Add paste and fry 2 minutes. Add sugar, black pepper and salt. Cool.
- Punch down the dough. Divide into 6 balls.
- Flatten each into a round 10 cm wide. Place 1 heaped tbsp filling in centre.
- Bring edges up and seal completely.
- Shape into smooth buns. Rest 15 minutes.
- Steam on medium for 15 to 18 minutes until completely cooked through — tap the top, it should sound hollow.
- Brush immediately with ghee. Serve hot with thin pahadi dal.