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!