For this recipe I make a levain in the morning and let it activate all day. No need to fuss. Just make and get on with your life.
I then make the dough in the evening using the active levain.
Place all dough ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and knead 3 min/Interval/dough setting.
Tip out dough into a large bowl, cover and leave overnight or 12 hours. You will have a taut firm dough but it will clearly have risen.
Line a baking tray with paper.
Use a Silpat mat for the shaping of the dough. Form the bagels by dividing the dough into 8 pieces approx 110g each. Roll into balls and flatten slightly. Push your finger through the centre of each dough ball and form the bagel by kneading the dough into a ring shape. If you don't have enough space in the centre you will end up with a weird shaped bun, so make sure the hole is visible. Place each bagel onto the prepared tray, cover and allow to rise again for at least an hour until slightly risen and smooth.
Preheat the oven to 220°C on a bread baking setting or conventional oven.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the sugar and plenty of salt.
Drop a couple of bagels at a time into the boiling water and set a timer, they need to boil for at least 2 minutes if not a bit longer. Remove with a slotted spoon or strainer and return with the smoothest side up onto the lined tray.
When they are cool enough to handle, dip the top side into the seed bowl. Return to the tray seed side up.
Bake 25 minutes until dark brown.
Serve with any toppings of your choice.
These freeze really well. Freeze in serving sizes in freezer bags, thaw and reheat briefly before serving as though fresh. You can of course toast these, though the seeds tend to get a bit overdone.