Jeera sticks take me down memory lane to my childhood when my youngest sister was teething. To soothe her gums, my mother would give her these savoury sticks to chew on. Spiked with cumin, they were flavourful and good for digestion. An amazing finger food for babies giving them the confidence to learn how to eat independently. The family too would snack on the sticks during tea-time or enjoy some with a hot bowl of soup. They can be savoured as an appetizer paired with a dip or hummus. Loved by all, young and adults, enhanced with cumin, every bite is crunchy and irresistible. These jeera sticks are very easy to make at home with my ultimate recipe. Bake to perfection and they are super travel friendly with a long shelf life.
Besides adding flavour to food, cumin seeds have amazing health benefits. An excellent source of iron and prevents anemia. Aids in digestion, controls blood sugar, reduces cholesterol and stress. Maintains healthy skin and prevents premature ageing. Enhances memory function. Boosts metabolism and helps in weight loss. Ensure to include ground cumin or whole seeds in your diet.
Besides adding flavour to food, cumin seeds have amazing health benefits. An excellent source of iron and prevents anemia. Aids in digestion, controls blood sugar, reduces cholesterol and stress. Maintains healthy skin and prevents premature ageing. Enhances memory function. Boosts metabolism and helps in weight loss. Ensure to include ground cumin or whole seeds in your diet.
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Jeera Sticks
(Yields 20)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose, bread or pizza flour (any one)
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil + extra for greasing
1/2 teaspoon salt
Method:
Add the yeast to the lukewarm water along with sugar and set aside for a few minutes to foam and froth.
Note:
Sift the flour into a bowl. Mix the oil into the flour with your fingers and combine well. Then, incorporate the cumin seeds, salt and the yeast mixture. Knead to form a smooth dough.
Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover with a plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for one hour.
Once risen, punch the dough down to deflate the air. Weigh dough and divide into 20 equal smooth balls. Use a weighing scale. Each dough ball was 28 grams. Allow balls to rest for 5 minutes.
Lightly grease a surface with oil. Do not use any flour. Take each ball and gently roll back and forth into 12-inch sticks. The dough is so perfect to work with that it is very easy to roll each ball into sticks. In case you find the dough resisting shaping then, first roll each ball into a 4-inch stick. Set it aside to relax simultaneously, work on a couple of balls to roll them into 4-inches in length. Now, go back to the first 4-inch stick and roll it to 12-inches long. You will find that once the dough has relaxed, it is easy to roll them to the desired length. Roll gently and not firmly or else, the dough will either thin down where pressure is applied, tear or the stick won’t be uniform throughout.
Continue the above with rest of the dough balls.
Transfer each stick onto a lightly greased baking sheet placing them an inch apart from one another. Lightly touch the two ends of the sticks pushing them inward to straighten the edges. After a couple of minutes, if you find that after placing them onto the baking sheet, they have shrunk slightly, roll them lightly on the sheet itself to increase in length.
Cover with a tea towel and set aside for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 C or 190 C.
When the oven is ready, bake sticks for 18 to 20 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
Transfer onto a wire rack to cool and harden further.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Note:
(Yields 20)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose, bread or pizza flour (any one)
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil + extra for greasing
1/2 teaspoon salt
Method:
Add the yeast to the lukewarm water along with sugar and set aside for a few minutes to foam and froth.
Note:
- The water should be slightly warm to the touch not hot.
Sift the flour into a bowl. Mix the oil into the flour with your fingers and combine well. Then, incorporate the cumin seeds, salt and the yeast mixture. Knead to form a smooth dough.
Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover with a plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for one hour.
Once risen, punch the dough down to deflate the air. Weigh dough and divide into 20 equal smooth balls. Use a weighing scale. Each dough ball was 28 grams. Allow balls to rest for 5 minutes.
Lightly grease a surface with oil. Do not use any flour. Take each ball and gently roll back and forth into 12-inch sticks. The dough is so perfect to work with that it is very easy to roll each ball into sticks. In case you find the dough resisting shaping then, first roll each ball into a 4-inch stick. Set it aside to relax simultaneously, work on a couple of balls to roll them into 4-inches in length. Now, go back to the first 4-inch stick and roll it to 12-inches long. You will find that once the dough has relaxed, it is easy to roll them to the desired length. Roll gently and not firmly or else, the dough will either thin down where pressure is applied, tear or the stick won’t be uniform throughout.
Continue the above with rest of the dough balls.
Transfer each stick onto a lightly greased baking sheet placing them an inch apart from one another. Lightly touch the two ends of the sticks pushing them inward to straighten the edges. After a couple of minutes, if you find that after placing them onto the baking sheet, they have shrunk slightly, roll them lightly on the sheet itself to increase in length.
Cover with a tea towel and set aside for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 C or 190 C.
When the oven is ready, bake sticks for 18 to 20 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
Transfer onto a wire rack to cool and harden further.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Note:
- Sticks can be shaped to desired length. Accordingly, adjust the weight of each dough ball.
- Pizza flour was used for making these Jeera Sticks.
