Lightly warm 1/4 cup of milk. Proof the yeast in 1 tsp sugar mixed with 1/4 cup lukewarm milk.

You can mix and knead the dough by hand or with a machine. As usual, I use my food processor and finish the kneading by hand. Put all the ingredients in the processor bowl, including the remaining sugar and proofed yeast, but not the remaining milk.

Start kneading, adding as much milk as necessary, to obtain a soft, smooth and elastic dough. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a well-oiled bowl. Turn the dough around to coat completely with oil. Cover loosely and let it rise till double, about 1 1/2 hours or so depending on ambient temperature.

Gently flatten the dough and pat it out into a circle. Cutting it like you would a pizza, divide the dough into 12 equal sized wedges. Shape each wedge into a ball and then flatten it slightly. Again, cut like a pizza, into four equal quarters. Shape each quarter into a small ball.

Lightly grease the wells of the square muffin tins. Place the four small dough balls into one square muffin well. Repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. And fill all the 12 wells of the muffin tray. If you’re using round muffin trays. Divide each of the 12 wedges into 3 portions and place three small dough balls into each well.

Cover loosely and let them rise till almost double in size, about 45 minutes to an hour. Brush the tops of the risen dough with milk. Bake at 180C (350F) for about 15 to 20 minutes till done and golden brown on the top. Do not over bake. Cool on racks and serve slightly warm.