The Botanical Kitchen

Recipes, travel and the occasional rant

Cumin Bread Rolls

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This is a basic white bread roll recipe and instead of the cumin seeds on top you could use poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or even oats.

I use my KitchenAid to make bread because I’m usually short on time.  If you don’t have a mixer then just mix everything by hand and allow a good 45 minutes to do so.  You’ll also notice the measurement for water is in grams. This isn’t a typo.  It is just more accurate than looking for the absolute correct ml on the measuring jug!

You’ll need

  • 500g strong bread flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cumin/cumin powder
  • 8g instant yeast
  • 350g warm water
  • 3-4 tbsp of cumin seeds

 To make them

  1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
  2. Line a 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside.
  3. Put the dough hook on the KitchenAid or mixer.
  4. Measure out the flour and remove 2 cups worth into a small bowl.
  5. Put the flour, salt and yeast in the KitchenAid
  6. Mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes.
  7. Slowly add the water (keep mixing).
  8. Mix for 1-2 minutes.
  9. Slowly add the remaining flour and then leave this to mix for a further 5 minutes.
  10. Take the dough out of the Kitchen Aid and spread it out flat with the palm of your hand onto a lightly oiled surface.
  11. Fold the dough over and knead by hand til the dough is springy and bounces back when touched.  I usually do this for about 10 minutes.
  12. Put the dough in a large bowl , cover this with a dry teatowel and put it in a warm place for an hour or until it has doubled in size.

Shaping the rolls

  1. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
  2. Cut the dough in 2 halves.
  3. Then cut each half into 3.
  4. Then cut each of the 3 pieces in half resulting in 12 equal pieces.
  5. Flatten each portion and then bring the outer edges into the middle.
  6. Push down and turn this over and you should have a nice little ball shape.
  7. Place the balls on a baking tray taking care to leave space between them for rising.
  8. Brush the tops with a little water and then sprinkle over some cumin seeds.
  9. Cover the rolls with a dry teatowel and leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
  10. Just before they go into the oven, take a shot glass full of water and throw it into the base to create some steam.  Quickly put the rolls into the oven after you’ve done this and you’ll get a nice crust 🙂
  11. Bake them at 220C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

I eat these with sweet potato hummus, some simple salad or with curries instead of chappattis.  Strange as it seems, after years of making piles and piles of chappattis I prefer the process of bread making!