Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Bangalore Iyengar Bakery Style Khara Biscuits



Having heard from many of my friends about these biscuits, it was time the members of the Indian Cooking Challenge tried these at our homes. Srivalli asked Champa to share the recipe for us and we were pleased to have found a very work-able recipe which I am about to share in this post. You may find the recipe shared by Champa in her blog Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

The recipe is quite simple and I wondered at the fact that it does not use any baking powder or bi-carbonate of soda. The biscuits turned out crisp and totally addictive. As I was baking in my microwave oven in the convection mode, I needed to increase the baking time by a few minutes. The preparation time also is not much, so you can actually bake them if you have a sudden craving for some spicy snack along with your tea in about 45 minutes time including the baking and cleaning up too.

Ingredients:
250 grams All purpose flour (2 cups loosely spooned)
4 teaspoons sugar
80 grams butter softened at room temperature (1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
6 green chillis chopped finely (adjust according to heat required)
2 -3 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves chopped
2 -3 table spoons yoghurt (2 tablespoons to start with and increase if necessary)
1/2 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain/omam)



Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade/325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line your baking trays with grease proof paper or parchment. Or you may use an aluminium foil that has been lightly greased with butter.
Sieve the all purpose flour and salt together. Whisk that a bit to incorporate some air.
In a larger bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until light and creamy.
Add to this, 2 tablespoons of yoghurt and cream further. Add the chopped chillis, carom seeds and the coriander leaves.
Now add the flour mix and with your hands gather the flour and creamed mixture. Handle the dough gently.
If it feels very dry add the extra 1 tablespoon yoghurt. The quality of the all purpose flour plays a role in the recipe so, depending on that you may require this extra yoghurt.
The dough will at no point be a wet dough. It has to be stiff and very lightly crumbly.
Roll the dough on a board and cut cookie shapes.
Place the shaped dough on the lined tray and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Take them out once and reposition the cookies the down side facing up and continue baking.
Once done, cool completely and store in airtight jars.
Soon after the cookies are out of the oven, they tend to be soft. They acquire the crisp upon cooling.
These stay well at room temperature for four days and up to a week if refrigerated.



These make a great combination to have with tea, especially on a grey day when the skies are threatening to drench you.
I have halved the recipe and baked 10 biscuits, so there was no question of them staying for longer than that very day I baked....oh yes, I kept some over for the next day!

26 comments:

  1. I love spiced cookies, but never tried making them.. these flower shaped ones look so cute..

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  2. Its so cute love the design and would like to gobble it up.

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  3. They were surely addictive. I love the shape of your cookies :)

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  4. Looks so cute and perfect.. lovely presentation dear.. inviting clicks :)
    Indian Cuisine

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  5. Crispy n perfect biscuits...I luv them

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  6. Love ur flower shaped cookies, pretty and addictive cookies na..

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  7. they really look awsum...perfectly baked!!

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  8. I love the star shape of your cookies lata ji..these were so addictive..my cookie jar emptied in 2 days.

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  9. Ah the beautiful aroma the ajwain must have emitted while baking. Have to definitely try this your way.

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  10. You have got it perfect, Akka. Lovely shape too.

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  11. Wow..the clicks are awesome Lata.happy to meet you.(btw,another taurus here..foodie..)

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  12. I have not tasted iyengare khara varieties so far, this tempts very much! Nice tea time snack!

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  13. Now it's final Lataji..so the lovely shapes all the members prepared!..all without hinting too..hahah..love your cookie's shape..all shapes of card done here..:)

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  14. I am totally tempted to try this right now..they look perfect !

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  15. I love khara biscuit :D Have to try this out for sure :D

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  16. Very tempting biscuits, the addition of ajwain is a brilliant idea, they sound very delicious!

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  17. Liked the addition of omam. The cookies look cute...

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  18. I liked your blog very much. Khara biscuit looks crispy, crunchy, tasty, yummy and tempting. Wonderful presentation.
    You are welcome at my blog.

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  19. Nice shape. Wonderful addition of ajwain seeds.
    Awesom clicks as well
    South Indian Recipes

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  20. Latha , I followed your recipe to the 'T' & got the expected results.
    Now, the problem is to keep away from them.
    Turning them over & baking them again , made them more crisp.

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  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  22. I'm seeing this everywhere and yours sure look super pretty! I miss these and also my iyengar bakery hot hot puffs!

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  23. yummy khara biscuits

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Hello,
Welcome and thank you for taking time to drop by.
I appreciate your valuable comments and tips.
I sincerely hope to improve with them.
Hope we shall interact often.
Thanks once again,
Lata Raja.