I love making biscuits at home, and these are so delicious buttery, flaky and soft at the same time. Serve them with butter and any type of jam or Chundo.
Biscuits are my favorite thing to make, one because they are eggless. Two, because they are easy and can be prepared in advance and baked just when you need to serve them. They make perfect addition to any brunch or breakfast.
This recipe of biscuits is very basic biscuit recipe, but I have added a tiny bit of my Indian background, by adding Fenugreek leaves and sesame seeds.
I love the flavor that fenugreek is giving and its earthy, slightly bitter, and overall works beautifully. The inspiration was methi thepla.
You can pair these biscuits with anything, but I loved serving them with some Chundo- a sweet, spicy mango relish. It works so perfectly!
The reason I love this recipe, as it has simple ingredients most of them are easily available in our pantry. The method is easy, you just must follow the tips and suggestions and you will have same wonderful prefect biscuits without any doubt.
It only takes 20-30 minutes to make these, and they can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer. Bake them just before serving and it works out so well.
Ingredients:
Flour – I have used regular all-purpose flour.
Cold butter – any biscuit recipe will call for cold butter, whether you use salted or unsalted in this recipe is totally up to you. The most important thing to remember is you have to use chilled cold butter for this recipe. Now, that the weather is warming up, be mindful of that. It’s totally okay to put it back in the freezer if the butter is soft and warm. This is crucial.
Granulated Sugar – I have added just a tbsp of sugar even though the recipe is savory. You can leave it out if you like. But I would suggest you add it.
Buttermilk – The recipe uses buttermilk if you do not have buttermilk at home. I took about 1/3 cup of yogurt and diluted it with water. Just make sure to whisk it smoothly.
Methi– Methi or fenugreek is the main ingredient in this recipe. I have used fresh methi leaves. They taste fantastic and other ingredients are basic salt, sesame seeds that give it nice nutty flavor.
Tips and Suggestions:
Butter should be cold/chilled. If while working on recipe, it becomes warm or soft. Just plop the prep bowl with butter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Also, if your kitchen is hot, you do same thing.
Do not knead the dough. We are not kneading dough when we make biscuits, just bring the dough together. And use folding technique. Do not overmix the dough.
If your dough feels wet, sprinkle some dry flour on the surface and some on top. Just a little bit.
Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature, they do not taste same if you store them in fridge.
The unbaked, shaped biscuits can be frozen until they are ready to bake.
You can make them smaller in size, thus doubling the serving quantity. Small ones would be so cool, for a tea party.
I am sucker for warm foods in general, so my favorite way to enjoy biscuit is fresh out of the oven with melted butter. I do love to add some jam to it too. You definitely want to try it with this particular mango relish. I promise you will love it.
If nothing else, some achaar masala with butter would also be great. I am thinking all fun condiments to use for this recipe.
You can sandwich them with soft scrambled eggs, or boiled eggs too.
If you like biscuits, try this recipe.
Methi Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick butter ½ cup cold/chilled, cut into cubes
- ¾ cup buttermilk plus 2 tbsp brushing tops (cold)
- ½ cup methi leaves
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds I used black
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and whisk it to combine.
- Add sesame seeds and chopped methi leaves too. Mix.
- Add cubed butter pieces and start breaking them down with your fingers into dough. You should be able to create pea sized coarse crumbs with butter and flour mix.
- Work as quickly as possible, so that the butter does not start softening. Make a little well in the center of the flour mixture, pour cold buttermilk and using a fork or spoon mix the flour mixture. Try to form rough, not so smooth dough and transfer the mixture to a clean flat floured surface like countertop or chopping board, parchment paper etc. Using your hands to quickly pat the dough into a rectangle. Now using a bench scraper to something sharp, cut it into four squares.
- Stack these layers on top of each other, roll it out again in a rectangle.
- Repeat the process of fold and press, few times. You will see the dough has come together, looks hydrated too.
- If your dough does not look smooth that is okay.
- Final Shaping – make sure the dough is shaped in a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Use you hands to shape the sides to tidy.
- Using a bench scraper or knife, cut it into 6 squares. If you want smaller sized biscuits, then try 10-12 squares.
- Place the biscuits on the parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them a little apart. Brush them with buttermilk, sprinkle some sesame seeds and press methi leaf in a pattern of three.
- Bake the biscuits for 17-20 minutes, or until the tops are light golden brown.
- Remove the biscuits from the oven and rub some butter if desired.
- Serve them warm with some butter and chundo or jam.
- Store them in an air-tight container for 2 days or longer in the freezer.
