Khara Bread is a spicy Indian bakery style bread that is flavored with a sauteed onion and herb mixture. It is soft and delicious with a beautiful crumb.
We love bread in our house, especially one that is soft and flavorful. This Iyengar bakery style bread fits the bill perfectly.
If you are wondering what Iyengar bakery is - it is a popular franchise of bakeries in South India. They typically sell only vegetarian baked goodies and were quite popular while I was growing up.
Khara buns or bread were one of my favorite things to order from the bakery. 'Khara' means hot or spicy, so this bread is packed with a punch.
But feel free to make it as spicy as you want. I keep it on the mild side because of the kids.
Ingredients needed
You will the basic ingredients to make any bread:
- flour - I use a combination of all-purpose and whole-wheat flours. You can use just all-purpose or add some spelt or buckwheat or teff to add some fiber and nutrition. I recommend not more than 1 cup of above mentioned flours.
- instant yeast (aka rapid-rise, fast-acting) - if you are using active dry yeast, then use 2.5 teaspoons in the recipe.
- sugar and salt.
- milk - I make this recipe vegan and use non-dairy milk (almond or oat). But you can use regular dairy milk as well.
- water
To get the characteristic flavor in this khara bread, a spicy cooked onion mixture is added to the dough. You need the below ingredients to make that:
- onions - any colored onions will work. Feel free to use chopped scallions too.
- cumin seeds
- herbs - fresh cilantro and mint. Traditionally these 2 herbs are used, but feel free to use other herbs like parsley or dill.
- fresh green chilies - these add heat and spiciness to the bread. Substitute it with crushed red pepper flakes.
Instructions
Start the recipe by making the spicy onion mixture.
- Heat oil in a skillet, add the cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds. Next add the onions and cook till they turn translucent,.
- Add the chopped chilies or crushed red pepper flakes, herbs and salt. Cook for 1 more minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool slightly.
Next make the dough:
- In a large bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer, combine flour (s), instant yeast, salt and sugar. Add lukewarm water, milk and the onion-herb mixture.
- Mix and knead until a smooth, soft and satiny dough is formed, about 8 minutes on the machine, 10~12 minutes by hand.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
Form the loaf and second rise:
- Remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface, gently deflate the dough and flatten it into a rectangle. Roll into a tight log and pinch the edges.
- Place the log into a lightly greased 9"x5" baking pan and flatten slightly to fill the pan. Cover with a lightly greased plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour or until the dough crests 1" over the rim of the pan.
Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Brush the top of the dough with almond or oat milk and bake for 35~40 minutes or until the bread is golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
- Then invert it over a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.
Taste Test
The bread is soft with a beautiful crumb. We enjoyed the bread just as is for an afternoon tea snack and with a pat of butter for breakfast.
Bread is great to make a grilled cheese sandwich. My kids loved it.
Bread can be stored for up to 3 days at room temperature. Slice the completely cooled bread, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in a ziploc bag.
For longer storage (up to 1 month), store the well wrapped bread in the freezer.
How to make Khara Buns?
The same dough can be used to make Khara buns or rolls. After the first rise, gently deflate the dough and divide into 12~16 equal size pieces.
Follow the instructions from this spinach sandwich rolls recipe on how to shape the buns. Bake for 17~20 minutes or until the tops are golden and feel firm to touch. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.
Tips & Substitution Ideas
- Feel free to use up to 1 cup of whole grain flours like spelt, buckwheat or teff instead of whole wheat flour.
- You can substitute instant yeast with active dry yeast - simply use 2.5 teaspoons of it in the recipe.
- Use other herbs like parsley or dill instead.
- Substitute fresh green chopped green chilies with crushed red pepper flakes.
Few more interesting baking recipes
- Yemeni Kubaneh - one of the prettiest breads that you can make.
- Pletzel - flatbread that is topped with caramelized onions.
- Apricot Sweet rolls - soft and sweet rolls filled with apricot jam.
Iyengar Bakery Khara Bread
Ingredients
For the Masala/ Spice mixture:
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup Cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 cup Mint, finely chopped
- 1 ~ 2 teaspoons Green Chilies, finely chopped*
- To taste Salt
For the dough:
- 2 cups All purpose flour*
- 1¼ cups Whole-wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons Instant Yeast
- 1½ tablespoons Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Lukewarm Water
- ½ cup Non-dairy Milk*, lukewarm
Other Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons Non-dairy Milk*, for brushing the loaf
Instructions
Make the Spice mixture:
- Heat oil in a skillet, add the cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds. Next add the onions and cook till they turn translucent, about 4~5 minutes.
- Add the chopped chilies, herbs and salt. Cook for 1 more minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.
For the dough:
- In a large bowl or the bowl of the stand mixture, combine flour (s), yeast, salt and sugar, Whisk to combine.
- Add lukewarm water, milk and the onion mixture.
- Mix and knead until a smooth, soft and satiny dough is formed, about 8 minutes on the machine, 10~12 minutes by hand.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
- Remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface, gently deflate the dough and flatten it into a rectangle. Roll into a tight log and pinch the edges.
- Place the log into a lightly greased 9"x5" baking pan and flatten slightly to fill the pan. Cover with a lightly greased plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour or until the dough crests 1" over the rim of the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Brush the top of the dough with almond or oat milk and bake for 35~40 minutes or until the bread is golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
- Then invert it over a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- You can choose to make this bread with 100% all purpose flour. Use 3¼ cups of all-purpose flour in the recipe.
- Feel free to use up to 1 cup of whole grain flours like spelt, buckwheat or teff instead of whole wheat flour.
- You can substitute instant yeast with active dry yeast - simply use 2.5 teaspoons of it in the recipe.
- Use other herbs like parsley or dill instead.
- Instead of chopped green chilies, use ½~1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
- I use either almond or oat milk in the bread. But feel free to use regular dairy milk. For brushing the loaf, you can even use beaten egg to get a beautiful shine once baked.
- Bread can be stored for up to 3 days at room temperature. Slice the completely cooled bread, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in a ziploc bag.
- For longer storage (up to 1 month), store the well wrapped bread in the freezer.
Nutrition
Pavani N
Riccha, sure you can skip the onion in the filling. Hope you try it 🙂
Riccha Gala
If i am using fresh yeast hw much do i use
Pavani N
Riccha, I've never worked with fresh yeast, so I'm not really sure how much to use here. But this site gives a nifty little conversion table and it looks like for the 2tsp instant yeast in this recipe, use 6tsp of fresh yeast.http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/yeast_converter.htmlHope this helps.
Riccha Gala
Thanx ur info s very useful
Ramya Ram
Is this suitable for bread machines?
Radhika Bindiganaville
Hi Ramya,
Did you try this recipe in the machine and if so, did you have to make any modifications to the recipe?
Thanks
Radhika
Pavani N
Hi Ramya, I haven't tried this recipe in a bread machine, but I'm pretty sure it will work. You might have to adjust the liquid measure though. Please let me know if you try it in the bread machine. Thank you.
Sudha
Hi, awesome bread I must admit.. I have tried many versions to make a soft bread but had always been a disaster.. This recipe was super.. thanks a ton.. Didnt knead much at all.. still the bread was so so so soft..
Murthy
Wonderful recipe. I have baked bread with this recipe several times Andy it tastes awesome every time..thanks for sharing.
cookshideout
I'm so glad that the recipe worked out for you. Thank you so much for letting me know.
Shobha Swamy
I made this Vegan bread with 1 whole bunch of chopped dill. Omitted the onion. Kept the rest of the recipe the same. .
The khara bread was absolutely soft and brought back fond memories of Iyengar Bakery bread next to
my Tatha's home in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru. Awesome recipe a definite keeper. I am going to make khara buns from the very same recipe and give as gifts to friends and neighbors. Cant wait to make the buns.
Served it with fat free butter made out of corn kernels.
http://www.brandnewvegan.com/recipes/vegan-corn-butter
cookshideout
Hi Shobha, I am so glad to hear that you liked this Khara bread recipe. I love it too 🙂 Thank you for taking time and letting me know about it. Happy Baking!!
Priya
Wow! Such a beautiful bread. I'm.saving the recipe to try it out this Sunday.
Cate
This bread looks SO delicious and I love all the spices in it, looks so flavorful can't wait to make this!
Emily
I'm all about trying out new bread recipes during covid and this flavored bread recipe was a huge hit!
Kushigalu
This bread is one of my favorite. Love the flavors. I will soon Try your version
Biana
This bread looks delicious, I love that it is flavored with onions and herbs, some of my favorite ingredients.
Di
Thank you for this vegan version of Khara bread. I used Dill instead of mint, to replicate the Iyengar bakery khara bun taste. The process was so nostalgic, and took me back to childhood days. The texture turned out fabulous, however there is a slight bitter aftertaste to it. Is there something I can do to avoid this next time around?
cookshideout
Hi Divya, there might be a couple of reasons for bitter aftertaste: 1. how fresh the flour (especially whole wheat flour) is and 2. dill sometimes can have a bitter taste. Check this 2 things and I'm sure the next one will turn out fine. Good luck and thank you for your comment.