These gorgeous little Indian morsels make a superb snack; the sweet, brioche-like bread, and the warm, creamy, buttery dhal go beautifully together, and served with a minty lassi they will delight every palate. It really does have to be butter or ghee for the dhal, by the way. Also, once you’ve assembled the puffs, they can be frozen uncooked

The Bread:-

250g strong white flour

3.5g fast action yeast mixed with 75ml hand hot water

½ tbsp. honey

1 ½ tbsp ground nut oil

1 tsp salt

The Dhal:-

80g unsalted butter or ghee

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 tbsp coriander stalks, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

10 curry leaves

150g chana dhal (dried yellow split peas)

3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped

To bake:-

1 egg, beaten with 1 dstspn of water

2 tsps black mustard seeds

To Serve:-

Plain salt yoghurt lassi, with chopped mint and/or lemon balm

• Soak the chana dhal in water for two hours

• Meanwhile make the bread mixture, by mixing all of the bread ingredients together, and kneading on a floured surface for 5 minutes. Cover with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place, until the dough has doubled in volume, usually 2-3 hours 

• To make the dhal, melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan, and cooked the onions and coriander stalks for 5 minutes, until softened but not brown. Add the curry leaves, chilli, and spices, and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add 350mls of water and the drained chana dhal, and bring to the boil. Clamp on the lid and cook slowly for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop it from catching. The mixture should be quite dry and have a risotto -like consistency.  Add a splash more water if it is looking too dry 

• Once cooked (the dhal should still have some bite to them), remove from heat, stir in the coriander leaves, and pop in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool down a bit 

• Switch the oven on to 200C for a fan oven, 220C for a conventional one. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until about 3mm thick. Cut into 8cm circles, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Put 1 teaspoon of the chana dhal in the centre of each disc and gather the edges and press together  to make a ball. Put them onto a sheet of silicon paper, seam side down. Brush with the eggwash and sprinkle on the mustard seeds sparsely, just a little pinch per bun.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.  Allow to stand for at least 20 minutes before serving to allow flavours to come through (if you can!). Serve with a glass of minty salt lassi