Khara Bread / Masala Bread with Dill Flavor...Bangalore Iyengar Bakery's Way!!

A hidden foodie in me prompted me to give a trial of baking bread some time back but was not successful because of the poor quality of local yeast available here in India.My husband is very fond of freshly baked breads,naan's etc etc which uses yeast in it,so he promised me that he will buy yeast along with other goodies during his next visit to abroad.Thankfully he could manage to pick few boxes of yeast for me during his last visit to Singapore.
In Mumbai every evening the bread waala's knock the doors and delivers fresh bread,buying a loaf of bread is so convenient here that I never thought of baking a simple bread at home,of course I agree freshly baked bread tastes always better.I wanted to make use of the yeast in a more effective way like making goodies which I don't get that easily here in Mumbai.

In my earlier post I have mentioned my love for the Iyengar bakery goodies which we get in Bangalore especially their khara bread,khara bun,palya bun,plain cake,toast etc etc.I have made this khara bread some time back by adapting some tips and techniques from here and here and added my personal touch to the recipe.I love the flavor of dill leaves which adds a nice taste to this bread and the bread turned super soft and light.Baking breads has become my latest passion after the successful attempt of khara bread which I have already made quite a lot of times.You will get to see lots of my baking experiments from now on in my blog which are already sitting in my drafts.

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour + extra flour while kneading required
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp olive oil or regular vegetable oil

For the Masala:
1 small bunch dill leaves,finely chopped
1 small bunch coriander leaves,finely chopped
1 big onion,very finely chopped
1 tbsp green chilli paste,coarsely ground
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 generous pinches of salt
1 tbsp olive oil or regular vegetable oil

Other Ingredients:
1 tsp black sesame seeds to sprinkle over top
1 tsp butter to brush the bread
1 tsp milk to brush the bread

Method:

• Microwave water and milk together for 30 seconds until it is luke warm to touch.Pour this into a wide bottomed bowl.
• Dissolve in the sugar and yeast in it and mix thoroughly until dissolved.Leave this aside for 15-20 mins until the yeast mixture becomes frothy.This is the important step in proceeding further to the recipe.If the yeast does not proof throw it and start the process again from the scratch.
  
• Meanwhile heat olive oil or regular oil in a pan and crackle cumin seeds over low flame and add very finely chopped onion and fry until it is translucent,add a pinch of salt in between to ease the process.Add coarsely ground chilli paste,chopped greens and mix well and stir fry for a minute.Add enough salt to it and do remember that we add salt even to the dough.Keep it aside until the mixture is cooled.
• Stir in the olive oil and salt to the frothy yeast mixture and slowly add cup by cup of flour into it and mix well,I used a wire whisk for this purpose and mix until you get a lump of smooth dough.
• Now put some flour on the broad white board or feel free to use the well cleaned and wiped kitchen platform(like I did) and take the lump in both hands and knead the bread towards you.
• Follow the same method and knead it properly for 10 mins roughly until you get a non-sticky but still smooth dough.Add flour in between when the dough is sticky.
• Now slightly press the dough with your hands to flatten it and keep the masala(fried onion-greens) mixture in the centre and fold it from all the sides like how we do for stuffed paratha's.
• Slowly start kneading again for 12-15 mins until the mixture is very well incorporated in the dough.The dough might become sticky because of the onions,so please feel free to add the flour when required while kneading the dough.
• Cover this place of platform or the board with some cloth or paper as we need to use this place again for kneading.
• Now grease your hands and a empty big bowl with oil and coat the dough with oil slightly and place it in the greased bowl.Cover with a clean kitchen towel and keep it in warm place until the dough doubles almost.It takes almost one to one-and-half hours depending the climatic conditions.I preheated my microwave for 20 seconds and kept the bowl in it.
• After the first rise the dough would have doubled in size,take a knife and cut into two halves for two medium loaves.Otherwise cut into 3/4 and 1/4 th portions to make a big loaf and 4-5 medium sized buns like I did.
  
• Now again knead the dough gently for 7-8 mins,this process is important as it assures of removing air bubbles formed in the dough.Repeat the process with the other portion as well.
  
• Shape one portion into a loaf and place it in the greased loaf pan(9"x5").Divide the other portion of dough into 4-5 portion and shape them into buns and place them on a baking tray with space in between.
• Keep them again in the warm place for 45 mins - 1 hour for the final rise.Mean while preheat the oven at 220 degrees for 10 mins when you are about to finish the rising time of bread.
• Brush the top of loaf and buns with milk very gently and sprinkle black sesame seeds over the nicely risen loaf and buns and keep it in preheated oven and bake them at 180 degrees for 15-20 mins until the top portion of the bread turn slightly golden and the bread should sound hollow when tapped the crust with hand.I baked the bread and buns separately as my oven size is small,you should take care when you are baking both the bread and buns at the same time as the buns get baked fast.
  
• Brush the top of the bread and buns with butter immediately after removing them from oven.This helps in giving the shine to the crust and also makes the crust softer and even the smell of the bread will be nice.
  
• Run the knife around the edges and slowly remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on the wire rack.

Cut into the slices of desired thickness.Apply generously a dollop of fresh butter on the slice before serving.

This goes straight to champa's 'Bake-Off' event,'EFM-Cakes and Bakes' event going on at Srish Kitchen and also to Pari's 'ONLY-Kids' event.