Breadsticks

“I love being at home, Cooking and Baking”.

 This is exactly how I feel. Cooking gives me a certain level of happiness but baking is something, which I truly enjoy. Right from mixing up the ingredients to putting them in the oven it's an amazing experience.

One of the integral parts of Indian cuisine is Bread. There are so many varieties of flatbreads: naan, parathas and puris. They not only represent the food habit of Indians but also their culture. Like the North Indians eat more flatbreads. We (Bengalis) mark a special breakfast by preparing Puris. Mughlai cuisine (found in specialty restaurants) is famous for stuffed parathas and naans. When I first had homemade Bread in the U.S, I was filled with excitement. Unlike our Indian flatbreads, which are kneaded with lukewarm water and sometimes with oil and spices, kneading of Bread dough is entirely different. Of course it follows with baking the dough by rolling it into different shapes. Indian Breads are rolled thinly using rolling pin and board and cooked on stove girdle.

We know so many varieties of Bread like pizza, chapattis, tortillas, pitas, naan, bagels and puris. Usually the basic recipe remains the same and small variations are made for each type of Bread. Luckily I have had and can prepare most of them. Most of Indian food is prepared on the stove girdle. Convection oven is usually not a common household appliance in Indian homes. The flatbreads and parathas are also prepared on the stovetop and we always buy baked Breads from the grocery and bakery shops where it is available in plenty.

Breadsticks with different flavors - Carom Seeds, Garlic - Parmesan, Red Chili - Parmesan and Ghee with Kasuri Methi

Growing up, my parents always encouraged me to learn as much as I can in order to be self-dependent. I think the biggest advantage I have gotten of this is in cooking. I can cook whatever I like, whenever I want. If I don’t know a recipe I keep looking and learning about it till I can prepare it well. Baking is very special to me because it's something which none of my family members do. I'm therefore really proud of myself for being the pioneer. Although here I have only written the recipe of Breadsticks I will be including the recipes for the other Indian Breads later in the cookbook.

It was my first thanksgiving in the U.S. Our friends - Vicky and Calvin invited us for Thanksgiving dinner. They served hot fluffy homemade Breads along with so many authentic thanksgiving dishes. It was a completely different experience for me eating the same vegetables prepared in a totally different way. In addition, they had a huge baked turkey in the middle of the table, which I had never had before. Cranberry sauce and baked sweet potato instantly became my favorites. Bread was the only thing, which kept me thinking. It was something which I have been eating since I was a kid and never thought about preparing it myself. I always had this idea that it requires some fancy skill or special equipment to bake Breads.

Some days passed and I was still dying to learn the recipe. That’s when I got lucky as we received an invitation from a friend- Victoria to spend a couple of days at her log cabin. The day we reached, she served homemade Bread for lunch along with a red beans curry, which I still prepare sometimes. I expressed my wish to learn baking and she happily agreed to teach me. We baked a batch, which was perfect except that I missed a few important pointers in the excitement.  It's a recipe, which I have now mastered, and I know the tips and tricks to bake soft Bread. Hence, started my baking adventures.

In my opinion, the initial preparation of Bread plays a vital role in the outcome. Kneading the dough requires a lot of patience and time. I must say I would have given up on Bread if Debarshi hadn't encouraged me. I had a lot of trouble to understand how yeast works thus resulting in multiple batches where I would do everything but the Bread will not rise. It was frustrating but when I finally understood it was worth all the trouble.

Yeast, a very important part of Bread baking, is a live organism which lies dormant until it comes into contact with warm water.  It doesn't work in cold or hot water. It needs exact lukewarm water to get reactive. Once reactivated, the yeast begins feeding on the sugars in flour, and releases the carbon dioxide that makes the Bread rise (although at a much slower rate than baking powder or soda). Yeast also adds many of the distinctive flavors and aromas we associate with Bread. I know this paragraph sounds like wiki but bear with me, it's important to understand how yeast works in order to bake Bread.

Once the yeast raises the dough I roll it into the desired shape of Bread or Breadsticks and keep it aside to rise again. I usually use a rolling board, as it is easier to roll on it plus it's always clean to use. Also I always use the timer while prepping and baking. I bake the Bread till it is golden brown in color.  For a warmer color I just keep it inside the oven for another minute or two. I switch off the oven once the Bread is golden brown in color because it’s warm enough to continue baking. Once the Breadsticks are ready I take them out of the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.  The raised surface of the rack provides air circulation so the baked goods won't get soggy at the bottom.

This recipe uses butter in the Bread dough however, its not a mandate and can be substituted with canola oil. I don't recommend using crisco or spreadable butter. I have tried it but the result and taste is not the same. If I want to make it healthy I simply substitute butter with olive oil.

Eating a piece of Bread while it’s still hot from the baking is a heavenly experience. Debarshi just loves to come home and smell Bread. He is my greatest admirer. It is amazing how this one recipe can be used to create different types of Bread by simply adding or varying the amounts of the ingredients or even by changing the shape. We can roll the dough into a single round ball or divide it into four round balls for smaller Breads. We can skip the topping and eat the Breads with jam or even make a burger! I have tried this same recipe with Jalapeños and Cheddar Cheese and it tastes great.

So...let’s bake!!

Ingredients:

For the Dough: 

• Active Dry Yeast - 1 teaspoon 
• All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup , plus more for dusting
• Salt - ¼ teaspoon
• Sugar - 2 tablespoons 
• Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons, softened

For the Topping: 

• Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon, melted
• Garlic powder - ¼ teaspoon
• Dried Oregano - ¼ teaspoon

Directions:

• In an oven safe dish, pour ¼ cup lukewarm water (the water should not be too hot or cold just feel lukewarm on the inner side of your wrist), sprinkle in the Yeast and set aside until foamy.
• After 5 minutes add the Flour, Butter, Sugar and Salt and mix properly with the Yeast water and knead into smooth and soft dough. 
• Set the oven temperature to Warm (or the lowest you can find on the temperature knob, example: 170 degrees)
• Put the dish in oven and cover it. (The dough should feel warm and cozy inside). Switch off the oven.
• After 2 hours, take out the dough it should have doubled. 
• Again set the oven temperature to Warm (or lowest) and re-knead the dough. 
• Roll into shapes of 7-inch-long breadsticks (use a board to roll nice and easily) and arrange them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet on a baking tray(s). 
• Cover and let it rise in the oven for 1.5 hours until almost doubled. 
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
• Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. 
• Once baking is complete, transfer the hot breadsticks to a cooling rack.
• After 5 minutes, mix the remaining 1-tablespoon butter, Garlic and Oregano and brush the warm breadsticks generously with it.

With Victoria at her home taking my first bread baking lesson.

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