Welcome aboard!

Indian cuisine is a riot of colours, flavours, and spices. Every state has its own unique culture- ingrained taste bud. And, to many of us staying within familiar tastes is a sacrosanct act. Of course an occasional trip to a speciality restaurant that serves another fare is ok. But, as a matter of routine ...at home...NO!

One of the benefits of being born to parents who dared an interstate marriage (am talking about India of the 70's) was being able to widen a regional taste bud to accept, experiment and, relish eclectic cuisines :-)

I love food! Be it traditional or fusion, cooking is all about turning out fare that is tasty and healthy.I welcome all lovers of good food to come on aboard and share your kitchen adventures.

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Happy cooking!

Dershana

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Spicy brown bread

I have two major culinary blind spots. One, I cannot make deep fried snacks that look like what they are supposed to look. Two, I cannot bake without trying to sneak in something that's wholesome and cutting down on even essential fat with the result that the end product isn't always the best textured! As a result, I stay away from both these methods of cooking most of the time.
But I took the plunge and made a spicy, wheat flour bread yesterday! All because it's almost time for me to fly back home to India for delivery because international flights don't allow you on board once you cross the 32 week mark! So, what's that got to do with baking, you might ask. Back in India, my mom's house is in a little town in Kerala where maida (AP flour) rules the roost! The buns, cakes, breads, halwas, puffs, samosas...are all made with white flour! I sure am going to miss my trips to the local bakery out here that allows me a range of freshly baked multi-grain products.Don't know if I will actually bake once am back there, but anyway thought I'd give this a try here in my very own kitchen. A couple of months ago had attempted 'masala buns with potato stuffing' in whole wheat. Made slight alterations to it this time since the buns though they tasted good enough, were a little too chewy !



Whole wheat flour - 250gms
Fortified all -purpose flour - 150 gms
Oat flour - 50 gms
Instant yeast - 10gms
Baking powder - 5 gms
Extra virgin olive oil - 50 ml
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Buttermilk - enough to make a soft dough
Egg white - 1 (to egg wash the crust to prevent it from drying up)

The spice mix

Dry red chillies - 2 large (dry roasted and hand crushed)
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon (dry roasted)
Garlic - 2 large cloves (minced and dry roasted)
Fresh Mint leaves - a generous handful (roughly chopped)

Sift the flours, baking powder, yeast, and salt a couple of times together so that they mix in well. In a deep dish, throw in the ingredients along with the olive oil. Add the buttermilk little by little and knead the mixture into a soft, pliant dough. The texture should be a little sticky and easy on the palms. Continue kneading till the dough turns smooth and stops sticking to your palms (approx 10-15 minutes of kneading). Cover with a cotton/muslin cloth and allow to rise for an hour.

After an hour you will find that the dough has almost doubled in size. Add the spice mix, a little more olive oil and knead again for 10 minutes. Place into a greased baking dish and allow to rise for another 30-40 minutes.
Whisk the egg white and brush it on liberally over the top of the dough. Use a fork to stab a few air holes into the dough.
As for the baking,I have a very basic OTG that I preheated for 10 minutes at 100°C. The actual baking took 12 minutes at 250°C and another 5 minutes at 150°C to get the bread done.

The bread tasted quite nice with a warm cup of tea and even better the next day when I used the leftovers to make a quick sandwich with light mayonnaise and cabbage shreds.

32 comments:

Unknown said...

wow.. looks perfect & soft.. lovely...nice click..

Chitra said...

bread with wheat flour is a nice idea..good replacement for maida:)yummy bread..

Sunshinemom said...

It looks great despite your doubts!!

FH said...

Baking is tricky if you alter the ingredients but doable. Did you look at my Potato bread at Aroma? That's a easy one, never fails. Your's looks good, love the spices in there. Enjoy! :)

Malar Gandhi said...

Healthy bread post! Sounds simple and nice...wish now I could try!:)

Indian Khana said...

Now that's a healthy bread and looks so gud...

Vani said...

I'm not much of a baker. Exact measures bother me and the kneading and waiting for dough to rise all seem like a lot of work! OK, so I;m lazy, alright? :)
The bread looks delicious, Dershana.
Best wishes for a safe flight back home and a smooth delivery! All the best! :)

Cham said...

The bread looks simply beautiful!

Priya Suresh said...

Very good n healthy ingredients for the bread, Bread looks scrumptious...

Manju said...

mmm..bread that is spicy..lovely!!

Vaishali said...

That's one delicious-looking and healthy bread, Dershana. And maybe you can get your family in Kerala into whole-grain baking! It's definitely worth a try :)

AnuSriram said...

That looks lovely! Will surely vote for u...

Varsha Vipins said...

Bread looks great Dershana..lovely crust..:)so you are half mallu huh..:)..

KonkaniBlogger said...

Spicy bread is always so tasty to eat, wheat and oats make it healthy too. Wishing you a safe delivery Dershana.

Prarthna said...

Hmm, looks yummy :-). I never do any baking simply because i am scared of the end result since i have never baked anything :-). hope to break this vicious cycle soon :-).

Good luck with your third trimester and your trip back home for delivery :)

Unknown said...

bread looks perfect...have tried sweet breads only..have to move onto the spicier versions

Purva Desai said...

Hey Good to hear about new progress in ur life....wishing you happy journey and safe delivery...
Spicy bread looks fluffy and soft nice try dear

Usha said...

The bread looks yum, loved the spices you have used in it !

Deepa Hari said...

Bread looks great Dershana...nice and spicy...My best wishes for a safe journey and smooth delivery.

Preety said...

nice bread..looks perfect to me..i found baking the most fun way to cook because as per me you can never go wrong in baking as you measure everything and bake at some recommended temp..

And travel safe dear..good luck

Nithya Praveen said...

It looks great,perfect for breakfast/snack.

Paru ... said...

wow, brown bread looks so very amazing..I am sure it must taste awesome when toasted with butter..

Adlak's tiny world said...

healthy as well as spicy... looking gr8 dershana...

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

spicy bread sounds wonderful..adding mint should add nice aroma to the bread..

Unknown said...

great try dershna bread looks so yum and have a safe flight and TC dear

Andhra Flavors said...

loved bread with wheat flour. nice click.

Sum Raj said...

perfect and soft..

A_and_N said...

That looks delicious! so what if you missed the deadline....there is always a next time. But the fact that they came out so well and they must have been finished in 10 mins must make you happy ;)

Yasmeen said...

Delicious wholesome bread.I know ,we need more enlightenment in Indian bakeries,I'm not sure the current influence,but just 5 years back it was still all white bread that was popular.Gosh,you must be excited to be home with mom for the d-day,wish you good luck:)

Uj said...

You are daring enough.. I am yet to try my hand at baking breads.. Wish I could! Have a safe flight and safe delivery dear.. Loads of love and hugs to you

Purva Desai said...

Participate in Colourful event of Holi....follow the link for further information
http://purvasdaawat.blogspot.com/2009/03/event-announcement-holi-hai.html

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

hey,
the sweetness of the cake was just fine for me.. since i didn't put any icing, it was perfect.. ofcourse, we can make it sugar less.. next time i am going make a healthier version.

 
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