Bread - A humble & comfort food made at home.

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” — James Beard

Have you ever gone past a bakery and got a whiff of freshly baked bread? Hmmm!!!!! Just the smell of that makes one feel so warm and comfy inside. 
It's always easy to buy a loaf from your local super market or from the bakery, but why not make one at home. 

Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods. It has been and still is a staple food in many countries of the world. We have it for breakfast along with eggs, butter, jam and cheese or as an evening snack like bread pakoda, we make sandwiches and it's great as desserts too like warm bread pudding or the shahi tukda. So many ways to eat such a humble food like bread. 

Not only is it an important source of carbohydrates, it’s also portable and compact, which helps to explain why it has been an integral part of our diet for thousands of years. 

In fact, recent studies suggests humans started baking and eating bread, in some form or the other, for 30,000 years. Prehistoric man had already been making gruel from water and grains, so it was a small jump to starting cooking this mixture on heated rocks. But how did humanity get from this prehistoric flatbread to a fluffy, grocery store loaf? 

Until Egyptian times bread was 'unleavened'. 
Leavening is what makes bread rise into a light and fluffy loaf. Bread without leavening is known as flatbread, and is the most closely related to mankind’s first breads. 
Examples include the Middle Eastern pita, Indian chapati and Central American tortillas.
It was 4,000 years ago that the Egyptians discovered a kind of yeast to add to the dough called 'Barn', to make bread 'leavened' or risen.

Most breads today are made using four basic ingredients : flour, yeast, salt and water. As Indians, we regularly make chapatis, rotis and parathas at home, which involves kneading. Bread too involves a similar kind of kneading of the dough. It's easy cooking. 

I know people think making your own bread takes too much time… but actually it doesn't...you put in about 10 mins at the beginning and then its 5 mins here 5 mins there...it's really just a lot of rising and baking time.

Check out this recipe for a basic white bread. Once you get it right, you can try a wheat or multi grain bread and even make in different shapes and sizes. 

Ingredients
2 teaspoons active-dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
5 1/2 - 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Method
Make sure the water is warm to the touch. If you can't comfortably hold your finger in the water for several seconds, wait for it to cool. Pour the water into the bowl of a standing mixer or large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let this stand for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.

Melt the butter in the microwave. 
Stir in the milk, sugar, and salt. 
Pour 1 cup of flour and the milk mixture over the yeast. 
Stir until this comes together into a loose, lumpy batter.

Add another 4 1/2 cups of flour, reserving the remaining cup if the dough is sticky during kneading. Stir until a floury, shaggy dough is formed.

Using the dough hook attachment on a standing mixer, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. Alternatively, knead the dough by hand against the counter. If the dough is bubble-gum sticky against the sides of the bowl or the counter, add extra flour a tablespoon at a time until it is no longer sticky. 

The dough is kneaded when it is smooth, feels slightly tacky, forms a ball without sagging, and springs back when poked.

Clean out the mixing bowl and film it with a little oil. Form the dough into a ball and turn it in the bowl to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about one hour. 

Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and turn the dough out on top. Knead again and shape into a loose ball. Transfer it to the greased loaf pan.
It's important that the surface of the loaves be stretched out; this helps them rise and prevents an overly-dense interior. Let the loaves rise a second time until they start to dome over the edge of the pan, 30-40 minutes.

Heat the oven to 220°C about halfway through the second rise.

Slash the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife and put them in the oven. (Did you know, that Baker's marks were among the first trademarks)
Immediately turn down the heat to 190°C and bake for 30-35 minutes. 
Finished loaves will be dark golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove the loaf from the pan and let them cool completely before slicing.


Loaves will keep at room temperature for several days.

As I mentioned earlier, using the same dough we can bake in different sizes and shapes. Here's one where I made mini buns and sausage rolls. For the glossy look, I brushed a little egg wash and sprinkled a bit of poppy seeds for that nutty aroma.

There you go. It's healthy and yumm!!

This does take a few hours to make, although, the extra time is mostly waiting for the bread to rise, but the amazing aroma it gives to your home is absolutely DIVINE! And well worth the wait!


Try making one!!