Make a soft gluten-free non-sticky Sabudana Khichdi, a pilaf with my mother-in-laws secret tips to make this popular snack and breakfast item.
100% WHOLE WHEAT SANDWICH BREAD
For the WE KNEAD TO BAKE this time we are baking sandwich bread. The only change was it’s a bread is a 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread.
Aparna has adapted Peter Reinhart’s recipe for 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread from his book “Whole Grain Breads” he recipe uses a soaking procedure and the Biga/ sponge and that is the secret to the softness and texture of this bread.
According to Aparna,”If you soak your whole grain flours overnight, especially whole wheat flour, it breaks down the phytates in them, aids mineral absorption and makes them softer and more digestible. Other than that, it is important to knead the dough well to develop whatever little gluten there is in the whole wheat flour. Also be careful while shaping the dough into a loaf and make sure that you do not tear the risen dough as this will tear the gluten “cloak” that would have developed. “
Thanks to the video that Aparna had included in her post my ideas about shaping a loaf are clearer. Here let me share it with you.
We need planning for making the bread for there is a soaker and a Biga /sponge which need made and rested for at least 12 hours. The soaker is at room temperature and the Biga/ Sponge needs refrigeration. After the initial resting they can be refrigerated for about 2 days before baking them into bread. Aparna made a few changes to the original recipe and I followed what she did for in her place I would have done ether same thing.
“The first change was to use water to make my Soaker instead of milk because I wasn’t comfortable leaving dough mixed with milk on the kitchen counter overnight because it might spoil in my tropical temperatures. However, milk contributes to the softness of bread, so I used milk instead of water in my Biga/ Sponge which would be refrigerated and so be safe. Then I added a little vinegar to the Soaker and the Biga/ Sponge. Vinegar tends to increase the acidity of the dough which, within limits, helps gluten development and contributes to the “bready” texture.”
I must confess that I was not very confident about adding vinegar to the dough but I love to experiment and the picture Aprana sent with the mail were enough to put all doubts to rest.
The loaf though 100% whole wheat loaf was soft in texture and much appreciated.
About the flour Aparna was very clear here is what she had to say,” About which whole wheat flour to use, we don’t have much choice in this matter in India. If you can find it, use fine milled whole wheat flour, the real “Chakki” ground Atta and not the packaged stuff. Packaged Atta doesn’t give the best results for whole wheat bread but when one has to work with whatever is available, you can use it and bake a fairly decent whole wheat bread with it. I used the Aashirvaad brand of whole wheat flour which I use to make chapattis, to make this bread.” As for me I used the chakki atta.
Aparna has also said that the bread can be made without Vinegar and the soaking and the Biga/ Sponge and the honey and milk. They are all supposed to make the bread soft and give it a really good texture. I have not tried it for the sweet taste in bread is not well appreciated at home. Maybe someday I will….
When the loaf came out of the oven I was sure it was going to split while slicing but then imagine my amazement the only slice that broke was the first one. That too I feel because I was packing my daughter's tiffin in a hurry.
So let get down to baking the bread, sorry the
100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
(Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads)
Ingredients:
For The Soaker:
- 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ to 1 cup water at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider you can use plain)
For The Biga/ Sponge:
- 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon instant yeast (I used active yeast)
- ¾ cup milk (+ a little more)
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider you can use plain)
For The Final Dough:
- All of the Soaker
- All of the Biga/ Sponge
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vital Wheat Gluten (optional I did not use)
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup whole wheat flour (and a few tbsp. more if required)
- 2 teaspoon instant yeast (I used active yeast)
- 1 /8 cup oil (or melted butter if preferred)
- 2 tablespoon honey
Method:
To make the Soaker:
• Mix all of the Soaker ingredients together in a bowl until all of the flour is wet. You may need a little over ¾ cup to 1 cup of water, this may differ with the flours so add little water at a time till you get the consistency of somewhat like reasonably firm bread dough. ( I needed 1 cup of water).
• Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours.
Now make the Biga/ Sponge:
• Mix all of the Biga/ Sponge in a bowl and knead together well till a soft ball forms. As before you may need more water I needed about 1 cup.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. This will keep for up to 3 days.
To make the bread:
• Two hours before you plan to mix your dough for the bread, remove the Biga from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. Your Biga will rise a little during this time.
• Here since my yeast is not instant yeast I added a few drops of water to get a thick slurry of yeast and set it aside to proof.
• Divide the Biga and Soaker into small pieces (about 12 pieces each) using a sharp knife or scraper and put them in a bowl or food processer bowl. You can knead this by hand too, but the dough will be difficult to manage. Do not be tempted to add more flour and now is not the time to add the flour.
• Other than the flour add all the remaining ingredients for the dough and knead for about 3 minutes.
• Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes, then add as much flour as needed (if necessary) to the dough and knead for another 3-4 minutes.
• Your dough should now come away from the sides of the bowl but still be a little sticky but somewhat manageable. It’s really important to not add too much extra flour during this step.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise until almost doubled (about 1 ½ hours).
• Lightly flour your surface and then turn out the dough onto it.
• Pat the dough out into a rectangle with a width that just a bit less than your loaf tin. Take care not to tear the dough. Roll it up and shape into a loaf.
• Place your loaf in a greased and floured loaf tin I used a 8” by 5” tin and let it rise until. Say 45 minutes or it is just higher than your loaf tin.
• Bake the loaf at 180C (350F) for about 40 to 45 minutes until the top is a nice deep brown colour and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
• Let the loaf cool completely (at least for about 2 hours), before slicing it.
• Refrigerate the loaf if not consuming immediately.
We had it just buttered I wish I had the time to picture them they were awesome.
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srividhya says
Elaborate post yaar. But very nice 🙂