Brown Rice Bread in a Pot (Vegan)

A bag of brown rice was delivered at my dad’s place by his friend a few months back. In spite of ill health his friend remembered dad’s love for brown rice and carted personally all the way from his farm in the interior hills. Home grown in the salubrious Himalayan clime and packed with love, the rice was indeed precious and price less.

There is an element of simplicity in people who live close to nature. Those living in the interior hills, away from the modernism are selfless, pure and humble. Perhaps it is the influence of the nature that makes them so exalted. My dad’s friend has all these qualities that make him a great human being.

Half of the brown rice was passed on to us by my dad. We savoured every bit of it. Last week, some brown rice was left after lunch. I did not want the birds to feast on it which is generally the case with the leftover food in our home. Rice had to be used while it was fresh and the only way I could think of using it was to bake bread. I had never baked brown rice bread before. Most of the brown rice bread recipes that I found did not prove to be of much help. I got some help here and for the rest, used my generic recipe for simple bread. I let the bread rise in a pot. I wasn’t too sure of this bread that was being baked without a tried recipe, mainly, to salvage brown rice. But the bread turned out to be a stunner. It rose exceptionally well. It was soft and mildly sweet with occasional grains of rice in the crumb making it chewy.

Our Indian gooseberry (Amla) tree promises a bumper crop this year.

 Bael (Wood apple) too, promises a good produce.

Here is my recipe for Brown Rice Bead in a Pot.

You may use leftover brown rice or cook some especially for the purpose. Mash the rice well, and then measure it. I used a pot, but I recommend baking bread in a bread pan.

Brown Rice Bread in a Pot

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup brown rice (cooked and mashed)

1 ½ tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast

½ cup warm water.

Method

Dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.

In a kneading plate whisk whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and salt.

Add olive oil and mix well.

Add brown rice and mix well so that the mashed rice is distributed evenly in the flour mix.

Add water and knead for about 10 minutes to get soft dough.

Cover the dough and leave it for 20 minutes.

Transfer the dough to the counter, oil your palms and knead for 6 to 8 minutes. By the end of kneading, the dough should be smooth and supple, Soft but not sticky.

Grease a bread tin (7 inch x 3 inches).

Now shape the loaf. Stretch the dough to form a rectangle, now wider than the loaf pan you are using.

Roll the dough towards you, tightly. Pinch seams to seal.

Place the roll in the greased loaf tin with the seam side down. Cover and keep it to rise for 1 hour or till double in size.

Bake in a pre heated oven at 190 Degrees for 35 to minutes or till the top turns brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove from the pan after 10 minutes and cool in the rack.

Sending to Vegan Thursdays conceptualized by Priya   and Yeastspotting