Mini Croissants with Tandoori Paneer Tikka and Nigella and Poppy

Hurry up with my croissants...

I'm waiting for the flaky beginning of my day...

Butter and the aroma of baking bread..,

Saturday mornings cant get any better.

Croissants and the promise of all things Parisian and flaky and buttery and yummy and Indian.

Tandoori Paneer Tikka in my bread...

These incidently were prepared for a high tea for someone who is allergic to egg...

So here goes the easy way out.

No EGG!

Totally desi flavours...

Desi sprinkled seeds of Nigella(Yes ,Madame Nigella Lawson is named after these seeds,she admitted that on television)to make these French beauties even more Beautiful Desi Indian Soni Kudis...

OK these pics are croissants with poppy seeds...

Its all about variety!

I made them to scale,all croissants started out as 3 inch by 4 inch rectangles and then divided diagonaly...Being a math teacher really did'nt really make too much of a difference here...

Folded and resulting in at least 729 layers separated by butter...that just melted away and enriched the layers of flour...

I started with restaurant bought Tandoori Paneer Tikka,who wants to make tandoori paneer tikka when they want to make croissants?Not me!

I just wanted the croissants...

Mini  and pretty.

So this is how I started out.

I have made croissants before but they were never good enough to be talking about...

But believe me,these are!

These are,mes amis!

Totally Francaise!

And worth their butter weight in gold!

for the 

 Mini Croissants with Tandoori Paneer Tikka and Nigella and Poppy...

you need

for the Detrempe(pron: de tr-ompe)

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup milk

2 cups flour plus almost 1 cup more for rolling

1 tsp salt

Filling

One plate Tandoori Paneer Tikka

Milk to wash and Nigella and poppy seeds to sprinkle.

A littel butter to polish 

for the beurre buerrage(pron: Berre -Be-rr-age )

240 gms/2 sticks /1 cup butter at room temperature(salted is better)

2 tbsp flour

Start with the buerre buerrage .Whisk the flour into the butter really well . Place the butter on the butter paper that the butter came in,shaped into a 4 inch by 4 inch square,that will be about a centimetre thick.

Place in the fridge to chill.Under no circumstance must you freeze it.

Patience pays here.

Nor the detrempe or the dough.

Warm 1/4 cup of the milk and add the yeast and set aside for a few minutes.Sift/whisk  the flour and salt together and place on your work top and make a well.

When the yeast  begins to bubble,add it to the remainder of the milk and the sugar and pour into the flour and mix in.You'll need a bench scraper here,to cleanly lift off the dough.The dough will be very sticky.But don't overwork the dough or your mind.

Place it on a plate liberally dusted with flour and make an inch deep cross on the top with a sharp pair if kitchen scissors.dust again with flour and cover and replace in the fridge.

After about half an hour bring it out on your flour dusted worktop.Lots of loose flour needed here...

using the cross as a guide make four petals and roll them out with a rolling pin.Spread the petals like little paddles.

Place the set buerre buerrage in the centre and the cover the buerre buerrage totally ,on all sides.

Like so..

Covered from all four sides?Right?

Now we are ready to go.

With the seam side down,liberally dust the counter top with flour.And roll the dough gently away from you.Keep dusting the counter top with flour.Roll out to a  reactangle about 6 by 8 inches.Maybe more or less.Depending on when your butter starts to loose shape.

September in Jalandhar is warm .What with the freak wind storms and torrential storms we are witnessing,life is difficult!

Difficult to roll indeed.

Once the dough is rolled out fold into three. Divide the dough into three longitudinally and fold one part to cover the centre and the third part to cover the middle. Wrap in film and chill again.

You'll need to repeat this at least thrice.As the dough becomes colder,you can do the roll and  fold and roll and then fold in one go. Six folds Minimum you need.
Ideally do this one day before.
Now that you are ready,divide the dough into two parts and place one on the counter top which is so liberally dusted with flour that it is almost white.(Chill the other to work with another day.Believe me,you wont want to eat all the croissants the same day.You may want to eat,but you will not want to roll.)
Chop the paneer tikka into fine dices and get your pastry cutter,sharp knives and Ruler/Scale out now.
So Now carefully roll out a rectangle that should be about 16-17 inches by 8 to 9 inches.Use the metal ruler to guide you while you trim it to a rectangle 8 inches by 15 inches.
Divide into two,so now you have 4 inch into 15 inches.The scraps you store to male simple rolls,not perfect croissants.They may not be as pretty but they will be yummier because a lot of the butter will be there.
Now 3 inch wide rectangles...you'll get 5 of them.Diagonal cuts give you 10.

Pull and stretch the dough gently ,the tip of the triangle to make it a little thinner and make a cut at the bottom.You need sharp points for the base,and  your dough will look a little like the Eiffel tower here.
A little stuffing and you are ready to roll.
Oops oven at 190C-375F and baking tray lightly greased.
Start rolling keeping the stuffing inside,towards the thin point...

Tuck the ends and the tip under the belly of the croissant.The shine on the baking tray is the tray grease. Let these babies sit for about 25 -30 minutes and you can do the next lot too...

When they have been sitting for a while,brush them with milk and sprinkle some Nigella on them-seeds people,seeds!
Pop them in the oven ,23 minutes is all they took.

Crisp on the outside,flaky and soft and yummy on the inside...
And totally desi...
Tandoori Paneer Tikka...
And Eggless!
Allergy care here.
What a wonderful hostess am I?

These were the fruits of my labour...
The pics are not all there...
New phone people.
I cant be pawing it with my flour covered hands yet!
Coffee and Croissants anyone??
In Jalandhar!
How French is that?

I'm coming back with more.I have leftovers ...my dough is still sitting in the freezer...
So Tandoori Chicken Tikkas in my croissants...
Or maybe Chocolate Croissants...
Yeah...
Drooling...
And Oh I also made Chocolate and Kiwi tarts...
And Lemon Tarts...
And Spinach and Cheese Triangles...
All eggless of course...

So Nigella and Poppy-even if they are seeds really add to the appearences!


So what are you baking today???