It is a dull summer
afternoon. The temperature has touched 43 degrees C. It is stuffy outside and
stuffier inside. “Burrrrrrrrrr Bah Bah Bah” goes a Barbet in the mango tree.
Soon she perches on the lower branch and looks at the bird bath. She inspects
the area blinking her eyes and tilting her head from side to side sense the
slightest activity around. She seems to feel safe and descends from her perch.
Reluctantly, she plunges her beak into the water and quenches her thirst. Then
she gets bolder and almost dives into the pot splashing water around. She
continues to play in water till a group of noisy babblers arrive and she flies
away.
For dinner, I decide to bake a wholegrain bread. I‘ve always
loved to incorporate local grains into my breads. Raagi /
finger millets (madua) grows in the hills and is sourced from the local farmer.
It is grown in the Himalayan Valleys without any chemicals. Harvested grain is
sent to water mills to be crushed into semi coarse flour.
Finger millet, known as Madua locally, has the highest
amount of Calcium and Potassium. It is a great source of iron. Madua also
contains important amino acids and B vitamins especially niacin, B6 and folic
acid. Madua is low fat, gluten free and easy to digest
My earlier breads with finger millets turned out to be dry.
Raagi being gluten free and sandy in texture, makes the bread dry and crumbly.
The bread does not slice neatly and the slices break. This time I
experimented and decided to make a
batter bread.
The bread came out to be a real surprise. It sliced well and the
slices were soft and supple. It tasted great.
Here is my recipe-
Multigrain Batter Bread | Whole Wheat
Finger Millet Batter Bread| Multigrain No Knead Bread | Atta Raagi Bread | Vegan Bread
Ingredients
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup finger millet flour / Raagi flour / Madua flour/
Nachni flour
2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast
2 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ cups warm water
Method
Grease one 8x4x4 inch bread pan. Dust with cornmeal (makki
ka atta)
Whisk together first five ingredients in a deep bowl. I used
a steel wok.
Add sugar to warm water. Add yeast. Stir. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add water mix to
flour mix. Stir with a ladle till the ingredients are well combined. Now mix
steadily for 6 to 8 minutes (it requires a lot of muscle power J ). Do not add more
water than the quantity specified, even if it feels heavy to stir. You will get
a very stick batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Apply some oil in
your hand and level the batter in the pan.
Cover the pan with a kitchen cloth generously dusted with
flour. Keep in a warm to rise for 45minutes to 1 hour or until doubled.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 25 to 30
minutes or till the top turns brown and the bread shrinks from the sides and
the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
Remove from the oven after 5 minutes. Let cool in the pan
for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool in the rack. Brush the top with
butter.
Slice when completely cold.
super!
ReplyDeleteI, too, am experimenting with millet Namita. It would appear great minds think alike. I am only able to get hulled millet here but it is still a nutritional powerhouse. I have started following some very interesting European blogs where millet is prized and used in all sorts of ways including vegan cheesecakes and patties. Thank you for sharing this excellent discovery with us all. I am going to try making your batter bread :)
ReplyDeleteHi,can I make a whole wheat bread with this method?And doesn't this bread require a second rise?
ReplyDeleteHello! Yes sure you can bake a whole wheat bread with this method. I baked one and it came out really well. Here is the link - http://ambrosiasoulfulcooking.blogspot.in/2014/11/no-knead-100-whole-wheat-bread.html
DeleteThese are batter breads. Second rise is not required. Do try out the whole wheat bread.
Binu, the more you mix the batter, the better will be the texture of the bread as it helps the gluten strands to develop. If the bread has risen, you must bake it immediately.
ReplyDeleteNamita - I just made your bread here in Connecticut, U.S. Delicious outcome. Love it also for its conservative use of what have become precious flours and grains. Thank you. Hoping you and yours are healthy and safe. Used vegetable instead of olive oil and dusted pan with wheat germ rather than cornmeal. Incredible rise, aroma, crumb, taste. Peace.
ReplyDeleteI wish to avoid all-purpose flour, so can I replace it with rolled oats or flaxseed meal ?
ReplyDeleteYou may add same quantity of whole wheat flour. The bread with be quite dense and crumbly.But definitely healthier. Happy Baking!
Delete