Thursday, July 22, 2010

Masala Bread - Taming The Yeast!!

I am on a real high since yesterday!! Baking bread has been an intimidating thought for me as my first two attempts were not-so-successful. Thanks to Champa for being a constant source of inspiration and guidance to me for baking bread. She blogs at Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen and has a huge variety of breads, muffins,cakes among a lot more scrumptious stuff, making her a truly versatile foodie. Who can resist the idea of recreating the magic of  Iyengar Bakery style Stuffed Potato Buns, Iyengar Bakery Toast, Pav buns and a whole lot of fresh home-made baked goodies?? You can't resist right?? Neither can I!! And to top it all, she also does a lot of cake decoration too. Do definitely visit Champa's blog for all this and more, if you haven't done so yet. You will be glad u did!!

I made Masala Bread from this recipe of Basic White Bread from Champa's blog. It was so satisfying to see the dough double in volume(not withstanding the dreary, cloudy weather and no sun) and rise so beautifully in the oven.Sigh! The bread tasted wonderfully good, what a keeper of a recipe!!

I have made some modifications(as suggested by Champa) to make a savory masala version of the white bread. Here is what I did.

Ingredients:
  • Warm water - 3/4 cup
  • Sugar- 2 TBSP
  • Oil - 2 TBSP
  • Salt - 1.5 tsp
  • Active dry yeast - 2 1/4 tsp or 1 packet
  • Bread flour or all purpose flour - 3 - 3 1/4 cups 
  • Finely chopped onion - 3/4 cup
  • Jeera - 1 teaspoon
  • Finely chopped fresh mint leaves - A generous handful
  • Extra 1 teaspoon oil for sauteing the onions 
  • Finely chopped green chillies(optional, I did not use any)
      For the masala: 
      Heat one teaspoon oil in a pan. Add the jeera, saute for a few seconds. Add the onion, saute till translucent. Add the mint leaves just a minute before you turn off the heat. Keep aside.
      In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Let it sit for about 10 minutes or till frothy. Now add the salt, oil. Mix well. Slowly start adding flour and then the masala to make a smooth dough.  Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. I started with about 3 cups of flour (as suggested by Champa) as the onion would leave out water while kneading and I would need to add more flour. I eventually ended up using a little more than 3 and 1/4 cup of flour. (would the bread have been more lighter if I had used only 3 1/4 cup I wonder??)

Coat with oil, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for about an hour or till double in volume. (I kept my dough in  a vessel covered with another vessel, covered by fleece material - Champa's tip, and then kept the whole thing in the microwave to help the dough rise The dough had doubled in 1.5 hours.)

After the initial rise, deflate the dough gently and on a lightly floured surface, shape into the loaf. Grease a 9 X 5 pan with vegetable oil spray and place the shaped dough in it. Cover loosely with an oiled aluminum foil and place in a warm place till double about 45 minutes to an hour.(Mine took almost 1.5 hours again to double) Towards the end of the final rise, preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. When ready to bake, place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160 degrees C and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes or till the crust is nicely brown and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. If you feel it is browning too fast, cover loosely with an aluminum foil and then bake. (Do this after the first 20 minutes of baking) Cool on wire rack. You could brush with some milk or milk and oil mixture before baking to get a nice color.
When still warm, brush with butter to get a softer crust.

Champa advises to take the loaf out of the tin within 10 minutes of baking the bread and cool it on a wire rack. If baking in an OTG, lower the temperature by 25 F and bake for 5- 8 minutes longer.

I did not leave it in for the extra time, may be the reason for the bread not being real light. But it was light enough texture wise and great taste wise. And I could not wait till the bread cooled fully before I sliced it:-)) The bread is supposed to be still cooking when it is warm so needs to be sliced once it cools completely. Yeah, these notes are for me to refer next time I bake and for beginners like me. Thanks so very much Champa!

Champa has a great giveaway from CSN Stores for 60 dollars!!! Isn't that cool??? You just need to bake or cook something form her blog and post it on your blog with a link to Champa's blog to get a chance to win this giveaway. More details here here.

I can see myself trying breads more often...breads here I come!!  This goes to Champa's weekly Bake Off.




46 comments:

Champa said...

Wow Suma. I am so humbled by nice words. Thanks for trying my recipe. As I said earlier in an email, to my family, what I do is waste of time on the blog. It is outsiders like you who make me feel I am doing something good here. Thanks for the bake-off entry. Yeast is not hard to handle at all. You'll be in love with yeast once you have baked couple more loaves of bread.

Vrinda said...

Bread looks perfect...nice texture

Indian Khana said...

Looks yum ....bread looks gr8 ..nice colour

Sarah Naveen said...

i love masala bread..looks so yummy!!!!!

Satya said...

masala bread looks so soft n yummy ...its my favorite too

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Veggie Hut said...

Looks like its time I must try my hands on breads.. My first few attempts have been.. phew.. preety much not encouraging..

Nandinis food said...

Wow! Flavorful bread! I will try soon:)

Suman Singh said...

this is something really good..love to try this bread sometime soon..thanks for sharing this!

Nitha said...

Perfect bread.. I need to master this..

Sushma Mallya said...

Perfectly baked bread,looks yum

Nithu Bala said...

Wow..lovely and flavorful masala bread..looks so good..

chef and her kitchen said...

Even I made this yesterday.....It tasted wonderful...lovely baked bread

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Masala bread looks real good!

Kiran said...

Masala bread looks very delicious.

Sandhya Hariharan said...

Perfect... and I loved ur clicks.. accidently dropped in from Townsquare.. and glad that I m here!!

Do sneak a peek in my blog . Event on Flat breads on . Do participate...


CHeers
Sandhya
http://www.sandhyas-kitchen.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

That looks sooooooo wonderful !!!

Nithya said...

Looks perfect.. :) bookmarked.. will try and let you know the result too :)

Priya Suresh said...

Gorgeous bread, very flavourful and awesome..

Divya Kudua said...

I love this Masala bread but you know,yeast features in my nightmares.I had beginners luck with yeast but after a few bakes,it let me down.I so badly want to try this one!!

Spice said...

Perfect masala bread....I too made plain white bread from champa's recipe today....should post it in a day or two....

Rekha said...

Good to see a bread recipe on ur blog finally, i remember posting a request once when I had just begun baking. Let me tell u a secret, my bread baking was initiated by champas blog too..:) I have made a lot of bread since then.

Anonymous said...

nice...sometimes there is nothing moe pleasurable than the aroma of awesome baked bread coming from our own oven...YUM.. Yiour masala bread also looks very flavourful and light and airy...all the best for more baking soon!!!

Shobha

Padmajha said...

Looks so delicious,I would definitely love to have this with a cup of tea :)

PranisKitchen said...

really delicious masala bread. love to have it with tea.. good one

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow, that looks fabulous, loved the ingredients gone in them...perseverance paid off:)

Nithu said...

Masala bread looks so good...

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Congratulations on taming the yeast beast and baking that lovely bread.

Anonymous said...

Gawd, I really dont know how I missed leaving you a comment on such a wonderful bread, that too when you finally conquered the yeast! The bread looks airy and flavourful. Love the way the crust has turned out. Im sure the bread will pair perfectly well with a nice hot cuppa. I would definitely want to try this, prolly with whole wheat flour. You know my latest obsession right? So I might come up with something soon ;) Who knows, maybe as soon as today!! :))

Spice said...

Hey Suma, Congrats for the win.

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

wonderful treat to the tummy....simply yum n delicious....craving for some...

shahana said...

grt recipe.Will try this soon will let you know soon.thanks for sharing!

Namitha said...

Thats a perfectly baked bread..Grt job !

Sweet Artichoke said...

Congratulations for this lovely bread! I can imagine how nice smelling in must have been in your kitchen while baking it!!

Preeti Kashyap said...

These remind of iyengar bakery....loved it!

Smita Srivastava said...

Thats looks absolutely yummy .... i'm craving for the freshly baked spiced slice .....:) :) :)

- Smita
@Little Food Junction

Smita Srivastava said...

Thats looks absolutely yummy .... i'm craving for the freshly baked spiced slice .....:) :) :)

- Smita
@Little Food Junction

M D said...

Hey Suma, sorry about the delay in visiting you. Loved that masala bread. Reminds me of Iyengar bakery. That looks so perfectly baked. Loved the pic too. You are getting to be a perfect baker, by mastering the art of making perfect bread loafs.

Panchpakwan said...

Wow Suma, Masala bread looks so perfect as we get in bakery..
Too good..Love to have with tea..

Aparna S Mallya said...

Masala bread sounds and looks nice!

Akila said...

first time here and your cakes looks delicious.... i simply love your spacea nd added yours to mine blog list....

When you find time, do visit my blog..

thanks

http://www.akilaskitchen.blogspot.com

sangeeta said...

First time here and loved your blog.
This masala bread looks perfect to be enjoyed with tea.

It's worth baking your own bread as it is so satisfying ...

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Anonymous said...

Good point, though sometimes it's hard to arrive to definite conclusions

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious! I live in the US now and miss masala bread loads! definitely going to try it- Iyengar bakery here I come!

veena said...

Suma, I ried this out and it came out very well. Tahnk you for this wonderful recipe. You can see it here
http://veenasvegnation.blogspot.com/2011/12/masala-bread.html

Shri said...

Hi Suma, this has been my second bread bake in a week's time and this one baked very well.... my first successful loaf...whoa am flying high ! after several failures while baking a basic white bread loaf, this one's outcome has made me feel Good :)
I gave it a milk wash before baking but the crust did not brown as much as the one here in the picture, guess I need to try with an egg wash next time. I am off to your recipe list to pick the next bake.