Khari Biscuit, Puff Pastry Biscuits recipe with step by step photos
Dough for Khari biscuit-
For making the khari biscuit recipe | puff pastry biscuit | Indian vegetarian khari biscuit | at home, in a deep bowl take plain flour and make a well with the help of a spoon. We are making regular khari but, you can give a variation and make masala khari, jeera khari, cheese khari or cinnamon khari.
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Add salt.
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Add vinegar. It is a bleaching agent that provides whiteness to the dough and acid helps relax the gluten in the flour which makes it easier to roll out. You can add lemon/lime juice or even citric acid powder instead of vinegar.
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Add gluten to provide our khari biscuit dough with elasticity and stretchability that our regular flour won’t be able to provide alone.
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Add ½ cup of ice cold water first and try to combine all the ingredients. Do not use ice or else it will be difficult to work with the dough.
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Mix well and knead into a stiff dough using approx. 1 cup of ice cold water.
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At this moment the dough is stiff and tearing, we want it to be smooth so, transfer it on a clean dry surface and start to knead.
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After about 7 minutes, you will see the gluten has formed due to which you can stretch the dough more than before. More the better stretch, the better the flakes you get.
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Make sure you knead the dough lightly, while stretching it and pulling it for about 10 to 15 minutes or until it is smooth and glossy.
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Rolling Khari biscuit-
Dust a clean, flat surface with plain flour. Take enough flour so it is easy to roll.
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Place the dough on it and roll it using a thick rolling pin into a 250 mm. × 150 mm. (10” x 6”) rectangle.
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Spread margarine evenly on two-third portion of the rectangle with your hands in such a way that it forms a flat surface of fat. It is important to keep the fat away from the borders/edges so that it doesn’t leak when we fold the dough. Also, ensure you use lily margarine only as the water content in this specific brand is quite less which helps in layers to separate and puffs to flake.
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Fold 1/3 of the dough with no margarine side till the centre 1/3 of the dough with margarine.
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Then fold the margarine portion over it so that both the portions overlap each other.
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Press and seal the two open sides using your finger tips. If you are afraid of laminating the dough and creating your homemade puff pastry then simply, buy readymade puff pastry dough or sheets.
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Again dust the flat surface with a little plain flour. Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it using a thick rolling pin into a 300 mm. × 150 mm. (12” x 6”) rectangle. Roll it lightly, the margarine should not come out of the dough.
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Again fold one side of the rectangle till the centre. It is important to work quickly through this process so that the dough will remain nice and cold and the margarine won’t melt. At any stage if the dough and butter warm up and soften, just quickly put it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm up the butter again.
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Then fold the other side overlapping the first side. Make sure the edges are also overlapping each other perfectly.
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Dust the dough surface with a little plain flour on both sides so it is easy for us to roll.The more you fold it, the more flaky layers our khari biscuit will have.
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Roll it using a thick rolling pin into a 300 mm. × 150 mm. (12” x 6”) rectangle.
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Again fold one side of the rectangle till the centre.
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Then fold the other side overlapping the first side.
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Roll it using a thick rolling pin into a 300 mm. × 150 mm. (12” x 6”) rectangle.
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Lightly fold the dough in half to get an approx center and now bring both sides together in the centre but do not overlap them.
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Press it lightly and keep the edges of the fold together. Overlap the two folded sides over each other to form a book.
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Wrap it with cling wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes to rest the gluten in the dough. The benefit of cling wrap the dough is it prevent from drying and the dough will turn cool and the margarine will harden and help us in rolling better.
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Remove the cling wrap and dust the dough with flour.
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Dust the flat surface once again with a little plain flour, place the dough on it and roll it using a thick rolling pin into a 250 mm. × 150 mm. (10” x 6”) rectangle.
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Trim and even all the sides of each piece lightly using a sharp knife. You see these edges are closed and won’t flake so it is necessary to trim them.
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Cut it into 8 equal pieces of 1” pieces using a sharp knife. You can make them tall to easily dip in tea or bite-sized if planning to make an appetizer using it. Dust the knife if required. Make use of sharp knife so they do not stick while cutting.
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Cut from the center and get 8 more pieces of khari.
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Baking Khari biscuit-
Keep the oven to pre-heat at 180°C ( 360°F). Place all the pieces in a baking tray at regular intervals. If you want to give your khari biscuit a beautiful, golden brown sheen, brush it with milk or beaten egg.
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Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C ( 360°F) for 25 minutes or till the top is slightly brown.
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Lower the temperature to 160°C (320°F) and bake for another 25 minutes. When the cold margarine goes into a hot oven, steam is released, causing all those layers to separate and make the khari biscuit puffy and flaky.
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Cool the khari biscuits | puff pastry biscuit | Indian vegetarian khari biscuit | lightly and serve warm or store it in an airtight container. Use as required.
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If you liked this recipe of homemade khari biscuit, also check out other popular Indian tea time snacks like Rusk, Nankhatai, Kesar Pista Biscuits and Hyderabadi Osmania Biscuit.
Frequently Asked Questions -
Q. Is there any substitute for lily puff margarine? Lily puff margarine has only 10% moisture as compared to normal margarine. This property is what makes lily puff margarine ideal for khari biscuit. Thus, there is no substitute for lily puff margarine.
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Q. How to make jeera flavored Khari biscuit? You can add 2 tsp jeera to the dough right before kneading.
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Q. What is gluten? Gluten is a protein naturally found in wheat grain. This protien gives the dough its elasticity and softness.