Stuffed Caterpillar Buns

(Adapted from Caterpillar Bread by Fauzia's Kitchen Fun)

 

The days that little S has school, are governed by that million-dollar-question: "What do I put in her tiffin box?" You can imagine my annoyance when I open the box and find half-eaten food in it. (My face become red and steam comes out of my ears. :-))

 

I remember the words of a wonderful writer (mom and) grand mom "My grandchildren wont eat anything that has not danced on TV!" Left to her own devices, S would like to eat Maggi or Top Ramen every day of the week. Now I am not against her occasionally eating instant noodles, but sometimes it is good to eat healthy home-cooked food too. (Try explaining that to a 6 year old!) The poor child suffers from peer pressure. Her parents are not so "hep" because they want to give her rotis and paranthas for lunch.

 

While hunting around for interesting tiffin ideas, I got this wonderful recipe of caterpillar shaped bun from here.

 

 

 

These buns are easy to make, and I can experiment with any number of fillings. Home made, preservative-free, portable, and they look cute too!

 

In this recipe I have used spicy chicken kheema filling. Alternatively, paneer bhurjee or even some leftover sabzi can be used as a stuffing.

 

Here is how I made it:

 

 

Ingredients:

For the filling:

Chicken kheema - 250 grams

Onions - 2 (ground to paste)

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 teaspoon

Graram masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon (more can used if you want it to be more spicy)

Tomato - 1 large, chopped

Turmeric - 1/4th teaspoon

Oil or butter - 2 tablespoon

Amchur powder/lemon juice - 1 teaspoon

Coriander leaves (chopped) - 2 tablespoon

Potato (chopped into small pieces and fried) - 1 (optional)

 

For the bread base:

I used the bread dough that I make at home. You can get the recipe here.

Egg wash:
Egg - 1 (Beaten and mixed with 1/2 cup water)

Process:

Preparing the filling:

 

1. First heat oil/butter in a pan. Add the onion paste and ginger-garlic paste. Fry for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, and red chili powder. Stir fry till oil separates.

2. Next add the chicken kheema. You can steam the chicken keema beforehand to reduce cooking time but I generally avoid this step.

3. Stir fry add in pan till the meat starts changing colour. Add garam masala powder. Sprinkle some water on top of the meat to prevent the meat from sticking to the pan. |Continue to stir fry over medium flame. When the meat takes up a darkish colour, add some water. The amount of water should not be too much. The meat should not be immersed in the gravy.
4. Cover the pan and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Open the cover. The water will have dried up. Stri fry for 1-2 minutes till the kheema filling is completely dry. Add the lemon juice and mix. Garnish with chopped coriander and leave aside to cool.

Stuffing the buns:

1. Take a round disc of the bread dough. Roll it into a roti. While rolling the roti, do not use any dry flour. Rather use oil/butter to roll the disc and prevent sticking.


2. Brush one end of the roti with egg wash.













3. Add the filling at one end of the roti.

4. Roll the outer flap of the roti and cover filling with the roti. Slightly press it down with the fingers.

5. With a knife, give longitudinal cuts in the remaining roti as shown in the picture:















6. Roll the roti in form of a roll. Add two cloves in form of eyes.

7. Brush with egg wash.


Baking the buns:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C for ten minutes.

2. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. Set the oven to Grill mode. Grill for 5 minutes at the same temperature.

3. Cool to room temperature. Serve and enjoy!