Indian food is more than butter chicken and naan. It’s also baked keema bun(s)
Buns like the the baked keema bun are just one of the street food offerings you’d see in the north. So many people think that Indian food is curry and flat breads like roti, parantha, and naan. But it’s so much more. With the various occupying forces over the centuries and the silk route Indian food is an amalgamation of flavors and techniques. In the north, we share a number of similarities with middle eastern and Afghani cuisine and cooking methods. Whether that’s cooking on an open spit, roasting, or stewing meats.
If you grew up in Asia, Europe, and even parts of Africa, then you know leftovers often go into a bun. It gives them a new lease on life, if you will. In this case, I had lots of yummy keema but was a bit over eating it with roti, so a bun seemed only reasonable.
The buns are quite easy to make, just take a bit of patience and effort. Making the keema is the tougher of the tasks, but as mentioned, you could use just about anything. I’ve changed up my recipe over the years to have yeast in it versus traditional Indian leavening techniques like adding yogurt and baking soda. That makes the flavor of a the bun more like a bao bun, with it’s light, fluffy, sponginess.
As far as pointers go, I’d say just make sure you seal them properly and don’t let it proof so long that the dough begins to collapse on itself. Other than that, the directions are a bit self explanatory.
Need more appetizer ideas? Try these:
Baked Keema Bun
4
servings30
minutes20
minutes8
minutes2
hours50
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- Roux:
2 tbsp all purpose flour
100 ml water
- Dough:
1 1/2 cup bread flour
3/4 cup cake flour
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup whole milk
3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- Filling:
4 cups keema
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- Egg Wash:
1 egg, whisked
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp butter, melted
- Finish:
4 tbsp butter, melted
Directions
- Roux:
- In a small pan, over low heat, mix flour and water.
- Stir consistently until the mixture has a glue like consistency.
- Transfer the water roux into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap refrigerate overnight.
- Dough:
- Remove the roux from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature (approximately 30 minutes).
- In your stand mixer bowl, add in roux, and dough ingredients, except butter.
- Beat on low speed for 10 minutes.
- Add butter and beat for and additional 10 minutes on medium speed.
- Place in a clean bowl, cover, and set aside for the first proofing. Approximately 1-2 hours.
- Once the dough 2 1/2 times larger remove from the bowl place on a clean surface.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and gently shape into a balls.
- Filling:
- In a medium sized bowl, mix butter and keema.
- It’s best to prepare one bun at a time.
- Take one ball of dough and flatten it with the palm of your hand. Then gently stretch it gently till it’s approximately 4-5 inches in diameter.
- Pick up the dough round and cup it in one hand. This will make it easier to fill.
- Place 1/2 cup of keema in the center of each bun.
- Completely seal the bun by pinching the dough together.
- Place the sealed bun seal side down on a cookie sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
- Cover and leave to proof again, allowing the bun to nearly double in size. Approximately 1 hr.
- Baking:
- Heat oven to 355 degrees.
- Place a silicone mat on a baking sheet.
- Once the buns have doubled in size (approximately 1 hour) gently place them on the baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Brush each bun with the egg wash.
- Bake on middle rack for approximately 18-20 minutes. Or until the buns are golden brown.
- Serve:
- Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.
- Cool for a few minutes and serve.
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