Surti Butter recipe From-Crumbs! Bread Stories and Recipes for the Indian Kitchen by Saee Koranne-Khandekar
Surti Butter or Batasa or Jeera butter biscuit are a popular tea time snack sold in most bakeries or Irani tea houses in India. These are small, crisp,dried bread buns (or savoury cookies) with a light texture. The rich cookies are a great accompaniment to Indian masala Chai or go well with soups.
Servings Prep Time
20-25cookies 20minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60minutes 180minutes
Servings Prep Time
20-25cookies 20minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60minutes 180minutes
Ingredients
  • 20g yeastfresh or instant (~ 5 tsp)
  • 7.5g sugar(~ 1 tsp)
  • 500g maida(plain flour) (~ 4 cups )
  • 300ml waterlukewarm (I needed about 1 cup)
  • 7.5g salt( ~1 tsp. I skipped this since I used ed butter)
  • 10g cumin seeds(~ 4 tsp)
  • 275g margarine butteror (I used 100 g packs of Amul )
Instructions
  1. Place the yeast and sugar in a small bowl/cup.
  2. Pour over half of the lukewarm water.
  3. Give it a quick stir and leave in a warm spot to froth for 5-8 mins.
  4. Place the flour, salt, cumin seeds, margarine/butter in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer)
  5. Mix and rub the fat into the flour using finger tips (or the dough hook).
  6. Add the yeast ferment to the flour mixture and knead to a soft dough. Add more water if required. You may either not require all the water or you may need to add even more than the recipe specifies depending on the flouru2019s gluten content.
  7. Knead for 3-4 minutes, until the dough feels light and soft. Cover with plastic wrap or damp muslin and leave to rise for an hour.
  8. Knock back the dough to degas it and knead briefly. Pinch off small portions of dough about the size of a small lime and roll them to smooth balls. Place slightly apart on a greased baking sheet.
  9. Mist the tops lightly with a little water to prevent premature crusting. Allow the balls to rise for an hour, until they are almost double in size.
  10. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. When the balls have risen sufficiently, place them in the hot oven and bake for initial 20 mins. Then reduce the temperature to 120 deg C and continue to bake for another 30-40 minutes or until crisp.(This time may change depending on your oven or the size of the cookies)
  11. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight jar for up to 3 weeks.