Sprinkle the work surface with flour and then place the proofed dough. Divide the dough in half (9) and then further divide each half into 4 pieces. There will be a total of 8 dough pieces (10). Try to keep them as close to size as possible. We can weigh the dough but I usually just eye ball them.
Shape each part into a tight ball by shaping it a bit by your hands and then rolling it on the work surface keeping the dough within your fingers (11).
Place the rolls on a lightly greased tray (12) and let it rise for about an hour more or till it leaves a depression when pressed with the fingers. Cover the tray with a cloth when rising.
Once the dough has risen for the second time, it would appear puffy and will leave an indentation or depression when pressed (13). Work with one piece at a time, while we keep the others covered so they don’t dry out.
When the rolls are ready, using your fingers, form a depression in the middle. Hold the roll like a steering wheel with your thumbs in the middle and your fingers around the edges (14). Pinch the dough between your thumb and fingers, rotating as you go and gradually making the depression wider without actually poking a hole through (15). This step reminded me of making the outer covering of the Kozhukattai.
Once shaped the bialy will be about 4 inches wide, with the depression being about 3 inches wide and a 1 inch border. Press down the center of the bialy well, so they don't puff up much when baking.
Place the shaped Bialys on a lightly greased tray. I used my aluminum piza plate to bake the bialys (16). We could also use a pizza stone. Make sure to preheat the pizza stone in the oven before placing the shaped bialys.
Fill the depression of each bialy with the onion and poppy seeds mixture. Use about a tablespoon of filling in each Bialy. Overfilling will cause the center to not bake evenly because of the moisture in the onion.
Bake the bialys in a preheated 450 F oven for about 15 mins, until they are golden brown.
Cool on a cooling rack completely before storing.