Nalesniki/Polish Crepes

Nalesniki, are thin or thick crepes filled with various fillings like fruits, cheese or else with savory fillings. Though some sites call this Nalesniki as Pancakes, personally i felt that they are bigger in size than the pancakes, hence for me they are crepes. When filled with a cottage cheese filling, these Polish crepes are called Polish Blintzes or filled crepes. However this Polish crepes are very easy to learn though cooking them need some practice. I have been looking for a different crepes and i got hooked to this Polish crepes especially those crepes prepared with the savory filling. However my family members doesnt like savory filling, hence i went with sweet filling. Do you know those traditional cream cheese filled Polish crepes, once filled and rolled, they can be baked,pan fried or dipped in beaten egg and bread crumbs and fried as much as like rolls.

Obwarzanek Krakowski/Polish Bagels/Krakowian Bagels

Seriously i want to write today's introduction by a disclaimer, yes dont try to read or spell today's post's name. Am sure its definitely a hard task to spell it. By the way, my today's post is a Polish Bagels which is a chewy dough ring sprinkled usually with salt, poppy or sesame seeds. Obwarzanki are sold from rolling carts on every street corner in Kraków. These bagels become an unofficial symbol of this city. Known as the Cracovian bagel or Krakowian Bagel, the obwarzanek gets its name from the Polish word which means ‘par-boiled'. These Krakowian bagels are very much close to bagels though this Polish bagels calls for two strands of bread dough. Obviously these bagels are bigger roll as two strands are braided before baking. You can prepare fantastic sandwich with usual Bagels but these Polish bagels are not suitable to cut and make sandwiches.

Bialys (Chewy Rolls topped with Caramalised Onions) ~~ We Knead to Bake#5

After pull apart bread,croissants,hokkaido bread and torcettini cookies, we are here with an another bread, something interesting and savoury as well, yes this month's We Knead to Bake is this beautiful Bialys, an incredible monthly baking event b Aparna. The bialy is pronounced as bee-AH-lee ressembles like bagel but its quite diferent from it. Bialys are baked while bagels are boiled and then baked. Bialys are chewy rolls which are round with depressed middle not a hole and usually filled with cooked onions or else sometimes onions with poppy seeds.People enjoy bialys with butter or cheese but i felt that bialys without any spread itself tastes fabulous.

The name Bialy comes from Bialystocker Kuchen which translates as bread from Bialystok from Poland. Bialys are rarely seen or made in Bialystick nowadays, but earlier its seems that this Bialys are eaten by rich Jews with their meals while its was the whole meal for the poor Jews. In early 1900, many Eastern Europeans including Polish immigrated to US and settled down in New York, obviously they also brought their Bialys making skills with them and that is how the New York Bialys are famous.

Bialys will have usually a thin layer of caramelised onions and poppy seeds, but i prepared my caramalised onions with dry fenugreek leaves and garlic.And this filling was amazing with a wonderful garlic and dry fenugreek aka kasuri methi flavour.

Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour
Dough:
3cups All purpose flour
1tsp Salt
1+1/4cup Water
1tbsp Sugar
1tsp Instant yeast
Milk for brushing the dough

For onion filling:
3nos Medium onions (finely chopped)
1tbsp Oil
2nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
1tbsp Kasuri methi
Salt

Take the yeast,sugar,salt and flour in a food processor,pulse it and add the warm water in a steady stream.

Knead until the dough comes together and let the dough rest for few minutes, this way the dough will absorb the water.

Knead again by adding little water or flour if needed until the dough turns smooth,elastic but not sticky.

Trasner the dough to a greased bowl,cover it and let it sit in a warm place to double.

Meanwhile,heat oil in a pan, add the crushed garlic, saute for few minutes, add the onions and cook in medium low flame.

Sprinkle some salt and saute until they turns golden brown in colour, finally add the crushed kasuri methi and put off the stove.

Keep aside and let this caramelised onions gets cool.

After 2hours, take out the doubled dough and divide into 8equal pieces, dust the pieces with enough flour and roll them as smooth balls and keep aside for an hour.

When the rolls are ready, pick up one and using fingers form a depression in the middle.

Hold the roll like a steering wheel with ur thumbs in the middle and your fingers around the edges.

Pinch the dough between your thumb and fingers, rotate it, gradually make the depression widers without poking a hole.

Once shapped, prick the centre of the bialy with a fork, transfer it over a baking sheet lined over a baking tray and fill it with already prepared onion filling.

Brush the outer dough generously with milk.

Bake bialys at 230C for 15 minutes till the crust turns golden brown.

Cool them and serve when they are slightly warm or at room temperature.