I was thinking of posting a suitable recipe for Valentine’s Day for quite some days. At last I settled with this sweet bakery dish Dhilkush- meaning “making mind/heart happy ”, which appeared to me well apt for the occasion.  Dhilkush is basically sweet, soft, buttery bread filled with sweetened coconut, tutti-fruiti and nuts. You can see multiple variants of dhilkush recipe with slightly varying ingredients for filling and richness in appearance in Indian Bakeries.

Ingredients

1. All-purpose flour ( Maida  )       : 2 cups
2. Active dry yeast            : 1 ½ T sp.
3. Warm milk        : ~ ¾ cup
4. Oil                        : 2 Tbl sp.
5. Salt                  : A pinch
6. Sugar               :  2 Tbl sp.
7. Egg -white    : 1

For filling :

1. Grated coconut            : 1 cup
2. Chopped cashews         : ¼ cup
3. Tutti-frutti        : ¼ cup
4. Raisins              : ¼ cup
5. Sugar   : ½ cup
6. Dates (chopped)           : 5
7. Cardamom powder       : ¼ T sp.

Method

• In a bowl take half cup of warm milk, add the sugar along with yeast and mix it well. Keep it covered for 5-10 minutes , it will rise double in size.
• In a vessel add the flour and salt and mix it well, then add the yeast mixture and knead the dough, with remaining (~ ¼ cup) warm milk ,adding little by little to get soft, smooth and non-sticky dough.
• Finally add 2 Tbl sp oil and knead it again and keep it in an airtight container for fermentation for about 3 hours.
• After three hours the dough should be double in size and become very soft. So make sure to use a container of sufficient size .

Filling

• Keep a kadai/ pan on the stove and add the coconut and roast it for about 2-3 minutes and then add the sugar
• Stir it until the sugar melt completely
• Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix it together and switch off the flame.

• Make the dough into four equal parts and take one portion and roll it with the help of a roller pin about 7-8 inch diameter . 
• Add the filling in the middle leaving some space at the edges.
• Now Roll dough into the same size and gently keep on top of the first one and seal it well on the edges (see the picture). May use a fork for sealing which will be useful for adding some design, same time making the sealing perfect
• Now do an egg wash generously to the top part.
• Keep a baking tray with parchment paper and grease it with oil and keep the pastry on it.
• Do the same process again for remaining dough.
• Preheat the oven for ~ 350 deg F
• Keep the tray in the oven and bake it for ~ 17- 20 minutes

Tips:-

• While baking open and check the oven after ~15 minutes whether it’s baked enough to golden brown on top, there may be heat variation between ovens. For me it took 20 minutes.
• Cut to serving sizes only after the bread is cooled to room temperature