Calcutta Indian Bread
Barbara is adventurous in her cooking and especially enjoys experimenting with breads of all kinds, adding mustard, cheese, herbs, and minced vegetables from time to time.
Barbara is adventurous in her cooking and especially enjoys experimenting with breads of all kinds, adding mustard, cheese, herbs, and minced vegetables from time to time.
Yield:
Makes 2 loaves.Ingredients
1 envelope (1 scant tablespoon) dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallots, or 2 garlic cloves, finely minced, combined with enough finely minced green onion to make 1/4 cup
1 teaspoon mild curry powder
3 to 3-1/2 cups flour (2 cups high-gluten flour and 1 to 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Cornmeal
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Combine yeast, sugar, and water, and let stand until yeast is foamy. Melt butter in a small skillet over low heat and add shallots or green onion and garlic mixture. Add a bit more butter if necessary, and stir in curry powder. Turn off heat and let mixture stand for 5 minutes. Combine 2-1/2 cups flour, the curry mixture, 1 teaspoon salt, mustard, and the yeast mixture, and beat for 5 minutes. Cover bowl and let rest for half an hour.
Turn out dough on a floured work surface and knead in remaining flour to make a soft, pliable dough, adding more all-purpose flour if needed. Knead about 10 minutes. Place in oiled bowl and let rise, covered, until doubled; punch down and let rise again until doubled. Turn out dough on a floured work surface and divide dough in half. Roll out each half into a rectangle and roll up into an oblong loaf, pinching ends and seam tightly. Place seam-side down on a cookie sheet sprinkled liberally with cornmeal. Cover loaves lightly with a damp cloth and let stand in a warm place until almost doubled about 45 minutes.
Slash tops of loaves with a sharp knife or razor. Beat egg with 1/2 teaspoon salt and brush over loaves, being careful not to drip glaze onto pan. Bake in 425 degrees F oven until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom about 25 minutes. Cool on racks before slicing.
