Bialys (Chewy rolls with caramelized topping)

We Knead to Bake : May 2013. I am lagging behind, but I am finally done with the May bread baking project. Bialys(pronounced bee-AH-lee) are Polish bread, similar to bagels, but bagels are boiled and baked whereas bialys are just baked. A bialy is round, with a depressed dent in the middle, filled with caramelized onions and poppy seeds. We do not get poppy seeds in Singapore, so I made the filling with just onions and some tomatoes and yellow pepper. A good bialy should have springy soft crumb and chewy and soft crust with holes inside. Bialys are eaten slathered with butter or with cream cheese. Here is a Video which shows how bialys can be eaten :) It's best to consume them within 5-6 hours of baking. I had them after 5 hours, I reheated in the microwave and they were good as when they were freshly made. 

Bialys are best made with bread flour, but if you do not have it, they can be made with regular all purpose flour with a tbsp of vital wheat gluten for every 3 cups of flour. I didn't have either the bread flour, nor the wheat gluten (I do not know what that is, need to search in the baking section)... I made it with regular all purpose flour and they seemed ok... just like other bakers of the group(similar to their pictures, I mean). I haven't tasted an original bialy ever... :)

Ingredients:

For the dough

• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 and 1/4 cup warm water
• 3 cups of all purpose flour

For the filling

• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 2 small red onions
• 3-4 garlic flakes
• 1 tbsp mixed herbs
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 yellow pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

• Take the flour in a large bowl. Add salt, yeast and sugar to it.
• Mix it well with a spatula or a wire whisk.

• Heat the water in the microwave till it is just warm but not boiling. Add it to the flour.
• With the dough hook in the hand whisk, set it on lowest speed and mix till everything comes together. 

• Leave the sticky dough for about 10 minutes, so as the flour absorbs water.

• Let the dough hook run for about 7-8 minutes, till you get a smooth elastic dough.
• You can add about 1-3 tbsp of flour and knead the dough with hands for another 3-5 minutes. 

• Put the dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap. 
• Allow the dough to rise for 2 hours (or till it has doubled in size)

• Punch down the dough and divide the dough in 8 equal parts.

• Form the dough in circular balls and leave them covered on a baking sheet. Let the dough rise again for 45 minutes to an hour.

• Make the filling. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and saute the vegetables on high heat. 
• Add salt, pepper, mixed dried herbs. 

• I crumbled 2 whole wheat bread slices in a food processor to get bread crumbs. Added half cup of the bread crumbs to the above vegetable mix, so as to dry out any liquid.
• Cool the filling in a separate bowl. 

• Now shape the bialys. Here is a good video which shows how to shape a bialy.
• Fill the dent with the vegetable filling. Keep the balls of dough covered while you are shaping the bialys, so that they won't dry out.

• I also added some mozzarella cheese to the topping.

• Bake in a preheated oven at 230 degrees for 15 minutes. 

Quantity:

• Makes about 8 bialys (about 3 inches in width)

Notes:

• Bread flour can be used. If you do not have bread flour, use regular all purpose flour with a tbsp of wheat gluten(for every 3 cups of flour). 
• Traditionally, only caramelized onions with poppy seeds is the filling used for the bialys. 
• However, you can make your own filling using the ingredients in your pantry, or something you like.