Basic Bread

This bread recipe was sent to me last year and I totally forgot about it till last weekend. It turned out to be absolutely fabulous.

 

Step 1:

– Take one teaspoon fresh yeast in a bowl.

– Add two teaspoons sugar and mix well. Add one cup of lukewarm water and stir well.

– Cover and let it sit for 10 mins.

– The yeast mixture would have become frothy.

Step 2:

– Take 2 cups of flour in any proportion – 1 cup maida + 1 cup whole wheat is ideal.

– Add 1 teaspoon of salt.

– Knead the dough gently for about 5 minutes.

– It should neither be too hard or too soft.

– Make a ball and tab it with a little water.

– Cover the bowl with a warm cloth or plastic cling wrap and let it rest in a warm place for at least an hour.

NOTE – The longer you leave it, say 3-4 hours, the better the bread. 

The first rising is over.

Step 3:

– The dough would have doubled or even more than doubled.

– Punch it down and take it out onto the working surface.

– Use dry flour to handle it if its too sticky.

– Add whatever – herbs, seeds, garlic, olives, etc.  added roasted sunflower and flax seeds.

– Knead it for a minute very gently.

– Give it the desired shape – round, oblong, long – and place it on a baking tray or place it in a tin.

– Leave it uncovered in a closed space.

The second rising starts now.

Step 4:

 

– Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

– After about 15-30 mins the dough would have again doubled and will look like the final shape of bread.

– Make 3-4 diagonal slashes very gently across the width of the dough with a knife, making sure not to punch the dough down. It is very delicate and fluffy at this stage.

– Place it in the oven in the middle rack.

– Set the timer to 40 mins.

The baking starts. 

Step 5:

– After 15 minutes, reduce the temp to 180 degrees.

– After about 20 minutes you will get a strong smell of bread wafting from the kitchen. This means that it is baking perfectly.

– Take the bread out the moment the timer switches off. Leaving it in the oven will make it dry and hard.

– Let the bread cool for at least an hour as its hot and still cooking from the inside.

This whole loaf was polished off the next morning – tomato and mixed herb bruschettas!

Zoya, the finicky eater, had a whole slice with a scrambled egg!