Now, looking at the title of this post, are you wondering what weird thing this is going to be? That means you have not visited the one and only, VB bakery in Bangalore, Sajjan Rao circle recently. VB Bakery makes some of the best Dumrot Halwa ever. Not only that, they make some of the best pastries, cakes, biscuits, puffs and the list can go on and on. I think I sound like an advertisement for them:-)

This CK( short for Congress kadalebeeja) Bun was a new introduction on their list, and is extremely popular in my family circuit back in Bangalore.

If I were in Bangalore, Khara Bun and Congress Kadalebeeja would be available at any corner bakery, but here, I made my own version of the Khara bun with the bread mix that is available at the local grocer’s. I added some chopped green chilies, onions, coriander leaves and dill leaves to the dough, and they tasted pretty authentic.

I have already put up the recipe Congress Kadalebeeja here http://suruchi.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/congress-kadalebeeja , So without further ado let me tell you how its assembled-

Method-

Slice the Khara Bun in half, horizontally. Toast on a tava for a few minutes. Butter both slices well( or use Olivio, if you are on a diet). Sprinkle the Congress peanuts on the bottom half. Cover, and serve. Its real easy!!

Some days I really miss Bangalore so much………..The mood lasts for a day or two, then I chat with Mom and Dad over the phone, and then everything feels better:-) As they say, “You can take a girl out of Bangalore, but you cannot take Bangalore out of the girl”. Okay, why all this sentiment you ask? Its just a small introduction to my next recipe, which has nothing to do with any sentiment. I wanted to give a shot at baking BeNNe(Butter) Biscuits, like the one’s we get at bakeries in Bangalore. Well, It was a small craving, because I was missing home. The result was not exactly like Bakery beNNe biscuits, but more like Britannia Good Day cookies, but tasted so good. The recipe is as follows-

Ingredients-

1. Maida( All purpose Flour)- 2 Cups
2. Butter(Unsalted)- 1 1/2 sticks, at room temperature
3. Saffron- a generous pinch, soaked in warm milk for a few minutes
4. Milk- 2 Tbs, for soaking the saffron
5. Sugar- 1 cup
6. Almonds- 10 to 12, coarsely powdered
7. Cardamoms- 4, powdered
8. Baking powder- 1/2 Tsp
9. Salt- a Pinch

Method-

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together 2-3 times. Cream the butter and sugar together, till the butter becomes very soft and fluffy. A hand mixer comes in very handy for this purpose, or it can be done with a fork. Add the soaked saffron, cardamom powder and the almonds and stir well. Mix in the flour mixture, in small amounts to form a dough. Refrigerate the dough in a plastic cover for about 2 to 3 hours. Remove from the fridge and make small equal sized balls of the dough and press to make small discs( Pedas). Place almond halves on the top for decoration.

Bake the cookies on greased baking trays in the upper rack of an over preheated to 375 degrees F for about 10 to 12 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure the bottom of the cookies don’t burn. Cool the cookies on a rack for a few minutes.

Enjoy the cookies with a hot cup of Coffee or tea. The taste of saffron, and the crunch of the toasted almonds is simply heavenly.