aata bread – CafeGarima

The 90 Minute Single Rise Whole Wheat Aata Bread

Published on November 3, 2015June 15, 2016 by cafegarima27 Comments

The bread baking bug has bit me. Big time! I have totally stopped buying bread now and am baking it at home, twice a week. I am so happy to have learnt how to make soft and flavorous loaves of aata (whole wheat) bread. Even the kids like it better then the ‘bazaar waali bread’. I keep trying various recipes and was keen to try a single rise bread this time. This is for when you are short on time and need a quick fix solution. Else the Soft and pillowy Aata bread is my first choice. This is also a good pick for those who do not enjoy the honey flavour (which I personally love) in wheat bread.
This recipe is adapted from the Simple Whole Wheat Bread recipe at Jenny can Cook to make it completely whole wheat and eggless. You can follow the recipe as is, in case you are okay with the egg version.

2 ½ cup aata (whole wheat flour)
1 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten*
1 tsp salt
¼ cup warm water
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Cup warm milk
1 tsp Instant yeast/ 2 tsp active dry yeast**
2 Tbsp Olive oil (Or any vegetable oil)

Add the yeast and sugar to warm water and allow to rest covered for 10-14 minutes till it is all bubbly and frothy. The water should be so warm that when you dip your finger in you feel the warmth nicely but it shouldn’t burn your finger. Too cold and the yeast won’t bloom. Too hot and the yeast will die. So the temperature is important here.

Mix the aata,salt,gluten and oil in a large bowl and add the bloomed yeast to it. Add the warm milk and mix everything together with your hands or a wooden spoon.
Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface knead for 5-6 minutes till it is somewhat smooth.
Shape into a loaf and transfer to a greases 9 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf tin.***
Cover and let rise for 40 minutes till the dough rises one inch above the pan.
15 minutes before the baking time, preheat the oven to 190C , keeping both the upper and lower heating elements on.****
Bake for 30 minutes. Tent with an aluminium foil after 15-20 minutes if the top seems to be browning too quickly.
Remove from the oven and unmould from the pan. Brush the top and sides with melted butter.
Cool completely before slicing.
Store the cooled loaf wrapped in butter paper or aluminium foil.
Enjoy fresh hope made bread!
Happy baking 😀

Garima

* Vital wheat gluten cannot be omitted in this recipe. Wheat breads do need it for a soft texture. I bought mine online at bakersmart.co.in
** I use Gloripan Instant Yeast for all my bakes and buy it online at bakersmart.co.in
*** I use a non stick loaf tin and don’t have the trouble of bread sticking to the tin and am able to un-mould the loaf immediately on getting it out of the oven
**** I have a 45 Litre Bajaj oven and always bake with both the upper and lower heating elements on. However, each oven works differently and adjust according to yours.

A 100% Whole Wheat Loaf, soft and pillowy Aata Bread!

Published on October 26, 2015June 15, 2016 by cafegarima38 Comments

So a 100% whole wheat bread, a loaf of aata bread as good as the best white bread, like really!

When I got this loaf out of the oven, I all but danced with joy; absolutely soft bread with the earthy warmth of honey and the crunch from the walnuts; aha!!
I have got a decent loaf with half aata and half maida in the past, but this one was in a different league altogether. Soft and squishy and yet held its shape on slicing (My slicing skills need work, of course :P) We had some kickass tomato basil sandwiches for lunch and the whole loaf was gone. Burp!

I have been experimenting a lot with breads the last couple of weeks. The experiments have been with a sourdough starter as well as Instant yeast, thanks to an excellent baking group I am a part of. Also, I’ve been reading a fair bit and chatting up a lot with a dear friend Pragya who blogs at Cook and Share. She has been able to bake a nice and flavorous loaf of sourdough, something I am still struggling with

It has been such a great learning experience! Bread is as much about recipe as it is about technique. So, in this post I will share what I learned about technique and got excellent results with 3 recipes I have tried so far. I am sorry for the long post!

Recipe for 100% Whole wheat bread
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour and Mom Makes)
4 cups/500 grams Aata/whole wheat flour ( I used Aashiwaad aata)
1 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten*
1 ½ tsp salt
1 1/3 cup warm water (I needed ¼ cup more to get the dough to desired consistency)
2 ½ tsp Instant yeast
5 Tbsp honey (may replace with sugar but the flavour will not be the same)
3 Tbsp butter/oil
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Combine all the ingredients except walnuts. Add only 1 1/3 cup of warm water at first. Mix together. Do not knead yet. It will be a rough, shaggy dough. Add more water if the dough appears too dry. Cover and leave for 20 minutes.

Kneading the dough: Knead till you get a somewhat smooth ball of dough. It takes 7-10 minutes. Do not over-knead. Spread the dough out and add the walnuts and incorporate into the dough. The walnuts can be added right at the beginning, but I found it difficult to knead the dough with the walnuts in and hence added them after the kneading was done.

First Proof: Rest covered in an oiled bowl till it doubles in volume. The time taken for the first proof will depend on the temperature and humidity. In muggy Mumbai, it took me only 30 minutes. (The recipe at King Arthur says two hours, but this time will depend entirely on the weather where you live)
Do the Poke test :Stick two fingers into the dough till the knuckles. If the dents remain, the dough is proofed and ready for shaping. Do not over proof.

Shaping and Second Proof : Gently deflate the dough to get the gases out. Shape into a rectangle and roll up to make a log shape. Place in a greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf tin. Leave covered for the second proof till the loaf rises an inch above the rim of the pan. Again, King Arthur asks for a 2 hour rise and my loaf was all nice and puffed in 40 minutes. If fact, I feel it was a tad over proofed. Next time I will check in 30 minutes. Be very careful about not over- proofing your loaf. Else it will go flat in the oven and you will end up with a brick instead of pillowy soft bread.
To check, stick a floured finger gently into the loaf. If the dent springs back quickly, the dough is not proofed yet.
If it springs back very slowly, it is the right time to get it into the oven.
If the dent remains, the dough might be over proofed. Be careful!

Preheat your oven to 200C for 15 minutes. Put the loaf in and bring the temperature down to 190C. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Tent with aluminium foil halfway through to avoid over-browning the loaf. Remove from oven and brush liberally with butter.
(Source of information- Red Star Yeast)
Slice only when cooled completely. Please do not rush to slice, else the bread will be dense and gummy. To store, transfer the loaf to a paper bag. Keep the bag sealed to keep the bread fresh.

*To get a perfectly soft aata bread, you need ‘Vital Wheat Gluten’. I ordered it online from Bakersmart.co.in. They delivered within four days. It can be kept in the refrigerator/freezer for months. If you plan to bake regularly, so invest in gluten. Skipping the gluten will not give a soft loaf. I have tried several times before. If you don’t have gluten at hand, go for a half aata and half Maida bread rather than 100% aata bread)

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Here is the original recipe from King Arthur Flour
1 1/3 cups (10 5/8 ounces) lukewarm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil
5 tablespoons (3 3/4 ounces) honey, molasses or maple syrup
4 cups (16 ounces) King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour or 100% White Whole Wheat flour
1 tablespoon King Arthur Whole-Grain Bread Improver, optional
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) sunflower seeds, chopped*
1/4 cup (1 ounce) walnuts, chopped*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

*A quick whirl in the food processor does the job nicely.

To prepare the dough: Combine all of the ingredients, and mix them till you have a shaggy dough. Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes, then knead till fairly smooth. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for about 2 hours, or until it’s puffy and nearly doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough, shape it into a log, and place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ bread pan. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap (or a clear shower cap), and allow it to rise for about 2 hours, till it’s crowned about 1″ to 2″ over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 20 minutes of baking. Yield: 1 loaf.

No Fry Falafels with Unleavened instant Pitas aka Chapati Pitas!

Published on April 14, 2015June 15, 2016 by cafegarima9 Comments

Simple chapatis don’t cut much ice with my boys, so I play the sneak and ‘Lebanise’ them sometimes 😉
Rolled small and thick and nicely puffed up, chapatis make crisp unleavened Pita pockets. Off late I have started making no fry falafels thanks to my dear friend Sonal Kalra’s wonderful recipe. I now cook the chick peas before I grind them rather than grinding them raw. Also, I pan fry them in very little oil rather than deep frying them. As they get made very often in my kitchen, this healthy variation is a blessing. And honestly, we don’t miss then fried ones.

You need
A cup of cooked chick peas/kabuli chane/chhole
1 medium sized onions, chopped into cubes
6 Tbsp fresh cilantro/hara dhaniya, chopped coarse
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped coarse
5 cloves garlic, chopped coarse
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 Tsp lemon juice
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Oil to brush the falafels
2-4 Tbsp bread crumbs (Add slowly only as much needed to bind the falafels)

Drain the chickpeas well and grind them coarse. Do NOT add any water.

Grind the remaining ingredients (barring bread crumbs)
Mix the two.

Now slowly add breadcrumbs, a tsp at a time, so that the falafel mixture comes together to form patties.

Make all the patties as per desired size.

Pan fry the patties on a non stick pan brushing slightly with oil till they are browned on both sides.

We had them with some green pepper hummus, stuffed into our chapati-Pitas 😀

Whole Wheat Pitas

You can always got the traditional way and make the dough with yeast. I have gone completely whole wheat off late.
Knead the pita dough with 4 cups of aata/whole wheat flour with a tsp of salt, 1 tsp of instant yeast (bloomed in half a cup of warm water and 1 tsp of sugar) and rest it for a couple of hours. Here it is all doubled up and proved.

Roll out small flatbreads

Bake at full heat in the oven till they puff up and brown.
Alternatively make them on the stove top on a heavy griddle.
These will be browner than the Maida/All purpose flour pitas, but as good in taste!

100% Whole Wheat No-knead Bread

Published on September 18, 2014June 15, 2016 by cafegarima19 Comments

I have tried baking whole wheat bread a number of times, but was never quite happy with the texture. It was too dense for my taste and liking. I saw this boule on Sujit Sumitran’s blog here and was tempted to give this a go. Since my oven is small, I made small rustic loaves rather than the boule.
Honey and whole wheat are a match made in heaven and this bread has a beautiful earthy and nutty flavour. I sit chomping on a slice with my evening coffee and relish the joys of baking bread at home.
The other fun part here is,this is a no-knead bread. Just mix, rest and bake! I do sound like an instant food advert here but yeah, it is that simple!

So here goes

Aata /whole wheat flour- 3 1/3 cup
Salt- ¾ tsp
Instant Yeast – ¾ tsp (Use 20 % more if using active yeast- approximately 1 tsp and a pinch)
Lukewarm water- 1 cup plus (keep half a cup handy if more needed while mixing the dough)
Lukewarm milk- 1 cup plus (keep half a cup handy if more needed while mixing the dough)
Sugar- 1 tsp
Honey- ¼ cup
Olive oil/vegetable oil- 2 ½ tsp
Sooji/semolina and whole wheat flour to dust the surface and the loaves

Add the yeast and sugar to warm water and rest covered in a warm place for 10-15 minutes till it froths well.
Mix the flour and salt in a large lidded plastic container. It should close well but not be airtight.
Add the honey, milk and oil to the frothed yeast mixture.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour and stir with a wooden spatula to get a goopy, loose mixture, almost like a batter. Add more milk and water slowly, if needed, to get the like consistency. I had to add about half a cup more of the liquid (I made a milk water mix) This takes just five minutes as no kneading is required.

Rest covered for two hours.

Transfer to the refrigerator for 8 hours. I kept it overnight. This dough can be kept in the fridge for up to five days.
Remove and transfer to a surface well dusted with sooji/semolina. Either wet your hands or dust will flour to shape the bread. It is a very loose dough and will be very tough to shape unless then hands are wet or floured.
Shape into a boule (ball) or as I did, three loaves.
Leave to rise for another 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Sprinkle with flour, slash the bread with a knife (score) and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about 20 minutes till the base sounds hollow when tapped.
Cool, slice and enjoy.