Sunday, March 6, 2011

Na'an (Indian style bread loaves)

I don't make this often. It is so good that I would just sit and eat the loaves until they were gone. Not great for watching my weight. They also take some advance planning as they have to rise for about two hours.

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast
5 oz warm water (140º works nicely)
2 c flour
3 oz melted butter (or ghee if you have access or make your own)
1 tsp salt
1 egg yolk, beaten

Combine sugar, yeast, and water. Whisk well and rest until it froths up.
Sieve flour and salt to mix them thoroughly. (In practice I generally just mix them with a whisk in the mixing bowl.
Make a well and pour in yeast mixture and melted butter.
Mix together with your fingers. Rub your hands with a little butter and knead to make a soft smooth dough, about five minutes.
Cover dough and allow to rise for about two hours.

Divide into six portions and gently roll into small loaves on a lightly floured surface.

Brush with egg yolk.

Bake on greased baking tray for 10 to 15 minutes at 450º.

Serve immediately and be prepared to have people swooning at the goodness of them.

5 comments:

  1. I'm not very experienced at baking, but I'm thinking of trying this one. My question is: what do you mean by gently? What happens if you're too rough on the dough?

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  2. If you knead bread dough after it has risen it knocks it down and you have to let it rise again. This is common in regular bread, to do two risings. For the Na'an you just want to shape it into loaves without causing it to fall so that it needs to rise again.

    Hope this helps.

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  3. Yes it does, thanks.

    I've tried it twice, and my dough didn't rise at all. A little internet research tells me it was probably bad yeast (I wouldn't know proper frothing if it jumped up & bit my hiney).

    I'll get some good yeast & try again.

    Even though the loaves came out like little dough bricks, they were still pretty tasty, and very easy to make.

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  4. You will know frothy when it happens to you. Your yeast mixture should foam up and over the edge of the container in which you are mixing it. Takes a few minutes.

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  5. After a few YouTube tutorials on yeast frothing (turned out I wasn't stirring it vigorously enough before letting it sit) and dough kneading, I got it to work right.

    That mastered, I moved on to adding flavors. So far I've done cinnamon/dried apple, cinnamon/raison, and onion/garlic.

    Delightful, all.

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