Bread

yeast is something I used to find very very tricky to work with...till the lockdown started. bread was rarity and then the whole teach a man how to fish scene happened. I learned how to generate yeast at home and worked with Lucy ( active starter)  till we both got in sync together.

freshly toasted basic bread slathered with buttter or jam in the morning glugged down with coffee is a happy place for many to be in

Time-

Dough kneading- 20 minutes

Dough proofing- minimum 2 hours if you don't have much time, 4 hours if u can spare some. overnight if ur ok with sourdough bread..but that's for another time

baking time-

otg- 20 minutes pre-heat, 20 minutes baking.

Ingredients-

200gms- Whole wheat flour ( I used the Bigbasket royal one, you can go with any of the brands you prefer)

100gms- All purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar to make sure that the starter behaves

Active starter- 1 and 3/4 cup

        or

Dry instant yeast- 2 teaspoons

100gms- curd

50gms- Ghee ( I prefer ghee coz butter and its texture is dicey as of now for me to play along with)

100ml milk at normal temp.

200ml water to knead the dough

Process-

With the summers in Delhi, Its way more easier to not bother much on the temprature factor for the dough. Bread making requires practice and patience yet  I dont yet have thermometer for same so I work with how well the dough looks proofed.

first step-

Knead the dough  by mixing the ingredients. use the stretch and fold method. once done leave it for an hour in this summer. I have also invested in this amazing sillicon rolling mat which really helps while rolling the dough and stretching the same. stretch and fold nicely till the dough becomes smooth..I wet a cheese cloth and cover the dough with same. It swells up nicely within one hour. Pic attached for reference.

I always knead an extra quantity since that leaves some for dinner rolls.

once done proofing, ensure that you save some for buns and put the loaf out in the bread pan. let it proof there for 20 minutes so that you get an idea as to how much it will rise. If the ban is smaller the bread will be dense in the centre. once done bake in preheated oven at 210 degrees for 10 minutes and then knock down temp to 180 and do it for another 20 minutes. Once done, take the loaf out and leave it on cooling rack to dry. store in air tight bread box