Raja Venna

about me resume thoughts

April 2026

Song of the Month: Mr.Incorrect by Malcom Todd

Book of the Month: Absolute Batman Vol. #1 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta

Bagel Recipe and Food Ideas

Back in my junior year of college, I was crushing on this girl who told me her favorite food was bagels. Finals season rolled around, and I was looking for any reason not to study so learning how to make bagels seemed like a great alternative. Best decision ever. I had three other roommates and our spot was the one our friends would always come over to. Having those bagels always made our hangouts more fun. My friend from New York said I made the best bagels he had outside of NYC. Here’s the recipe with some redactions:

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  1. Bloom the yeast by mixing the yeast, sugar, and water in a small bowl. Mix well and let it sit for ~10 minutes. The mixture should be bubbly/foamy at the top. If it isn’t, then your yeast is dead and you need new yeast (or you can call it quits and go to a bagel shop— up to you)
  2. In a separate, much larger bowl, mix the flour and salt together. I left the amount of AP and bread flour needed vague because the mix of the two flours is extremely important to the texture and color of the bagel as well as your ability to knead the dough. More AP results in a softer bagel. More bread flour results in a chewier, tougher bagel. Personally, I found the perfect split between the two, but I’m not telling. My redeeming qualities are few and far in between. If I ever bake these again for someone, I have to make sure no one else can make them how I do. That said, if you really want to know, just ask.
  3. Add the bloomed yeast mixture into your flour. Use your hand to mix the two together until a shaggy dough forms.
  4. Heavily flour a flat surface and drop the dough onto the surface. Knead the dough until you can gently stretch a small part of the dough about two to three inches without it tearing. If you hold the stretched part of the dough to a light, you should be able to see the light through the dough without the dough tearing. This should take roughly 20-30 minutes, but kneading can take a while to learn so it can take longer. You can also totally use a stand mixer for steps three and four. Back when I was a college student, I used to call it cheating because I couldn’t afford one. Now that I can buy one if I want to, it’s not THAT deep. Just use what you got. I will say, it is more fun to knead.

    5. Note: People overhype the extent to which baking requires exact measurements/is a science. If your dough is too dry to knead effectively, add more water. If your dough is too wet/sticky to knead effectively, add more flour. Keep adjusting as needed. Just remember less is more every time you add more of either ingredient.

  5. After your dough fits the stretch criteria, form it into a ball, place it in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with a lid/cloth, and let it rise for an hour or until the dough roughly doubles in size.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, place your dough and cut it into 8 pieces.
  7. Form each piece into a ball and place onto an oiled/floured baking tray. Cover and let them rest for ten minutes.
  8. After ten minutes, for each dough ball, pinch the middle of the ball to make a hole, and form the bagel into the iconic bagel/doughnut/torus (thanks google for the last one) shape. The hole shouldn’t be larger than 1 inch wide.
  9. Fill a large pot until it’s 75% full with water. Heat the water until it reaches a gentle boil. Liberally add some baking soda or barley malt syrup into the water. This will help the bagels get their color and texture.
  10. Add the bagels in the water. Don’t crowd the pot. Let the bagels sit in the water for one minute each side.
  11. Place all the boiled bagels onto an oiled baking sheet. Cheat and add an egg wash on top of the bagels for extra color. You shouldn’t need this step but it will guarantee that nice brown color on the bagels.
  12. Now is the step for toppings, I like adding cheese, bacon bits, and jalapeños on top. Make sure the jalapeños are dry if you add them.
  13. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. If you added cheese and it’s not crispy enough for you at the end of the 20 minutes, place on the top rack and broil. Keep an eye on them so the bagels don't burn.
  14. Take the bagels out of the oven and let them rest for 20-30 minutes. I don’t think I ever followed this step.

I haven’t made bagels in a long time. I don’t really like cooking things for myself because I’m genuinely content with eating the same easy four things over and over again. I do miss wanting to cook for other people though. I remember my sophomore year of college, I made these three-layered brownies three weeks in a row for my friends and I. We'd eat those while we watched Kim's Convenience and did our homework. In my junior year of college, I learned the art of the bagel as seen above. My senior year, I turned into a damn chef. I made french onion soup, eggs benedict, lobster ravioli, menemen, tomato soup, lasagna, ramen with braised pork shoulder, and so much more— I was on fire. I’m looking forward to when that feeling returns. Until then, I’ll keep a running list of foods I want to make. Here are some ideas I’ve had: