Four Seed Rye Sourdough Knots

I’m on a Rye Bread trip. I love the taste, the texture and the fact that it’s so darn nutritious, I almost don’t feel guilty scarfing down an entire loaf.

This time however I decided to make rolls and I must say that reading Danya’s (edible substance’s) post on the Chilli and Cheese Sourdough Baps that she and her sister Vered (EatNowTalkLater) made recently, inspired me to try and make these Sourdough Knotted Rolls. Here’s a huge thank you for the inspiration girls!

Unfortunately though, here in Mumbai you don’t get ready rye sour, so I hunted around till I came across a nice and easy recipe from ‘thebarefootkitchenwitch‘. Now the barefoot kitchen witch’s recipe for rye sour called for onions, yeast, caraway seeds, rye flour and water. I made half the quantity mentioned in the original recipe, letting it stand for over 24 hours to develop that nice sour tang. So a big shout goes out to ‘The Barefoot Kitchen Witch’ for her lovely recipe.

And since I love seed bread (and you’ve probably figured that out by now) I decided to go the whole hog. Putting in white sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, caraway seeds and poppy seeds.

Here are my ‘Four Seed Rye Sourdough Knots’. I got a dozen (that’s twelve rolls and not a baker’s dozen) from the ingredients that I put in.

Ingredients for the Rolls -

1 1/2 cups rye sour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

12gms fresh yeast

2 3/4 cups of flour (extra for dusting or kneading as required)

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

2 tablespoons caraway seeds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds (+ extra for sprinkling)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 cup warm water

1 egg – beaten

* (1 tablespoon honey + 1 tablespoon olive oil) (optional)

I’m still respectfully wary of yeast, and approach it the usual way… with warm water, sugar and fingers crossed. Before moving on to toast the seeds to bring out their nuttiness. Letting them cool completely before putting them into a bowl and reserving them for later.

Then measured out the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, adding in the yeast and the olive oil, combining the ingredients partially, before stirring in the rye sour, and the mixed seeds into the yeasty flour mix.

Knead the mix well for about 8 – 10 minutes until a smooth dough is formed. If required, and only if the dough is too sticky, add in a sprinkling of extra dough, a little at a time, being extremely careful not to add in too much.

Leave the dough to prove in a greased bowl covered with cling film for about an hour and a half to two hours.

Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, knock it back, and knead again. rolling it out into a thick log, which you can then cut.

I got about 12 average size pieces.

Roll out each piece into a thick cord and loop around to shape the rolls into knots.Place the rolls onto parchment paper lined trays and leave to prove again for about 30 minutes till nicely puffed up.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 210 degrees C for about 20 minutes.

I had initially planned on brushing the tops of the rolls with an egg wash before sprinkling on some poppy seeds, but I also wanted to give some to my brother, and he suffers from an egg allergy. Even the slightest trace has him in the ER… You can well imagine my sister and I having a blast as kids, polishing off all the cakes and other eggy treats he couldn’t lay his hands on. But that was a long long time ago and I’m all grown up… Oh yes I am! So I decided to brush his half of the rolls with a mix of honey and olive oil, before sprinkling on the toasted poppy seeds.

I brushed the other half of the rolls with the egg wash, and sprinkled on the poppy seeds.

The honey and olive oil brushed rolls were baked first, for about 25 – 30 minutes. And kept carefully aside when they were done. Far, far away from the egg wash brushed rolls, which followed them into the oven.

Both the batches turned out great… and tasted amazingly good.

The rolls were delicious fresh off the oven, with a pat of butter.

And I had one the next day for brunch, with a fluffy spring onion, sun-dried tomato and Parmesan omelet with some grilled tomatoes on the side.

And the Bread Adventures continue….

Figgy Rye Rolls

I wish you a Merry Christmas… I wish you a Merry Christmas… I wish you a Merry Christmas…

I love this time of year… when we actually have cooler weather here in Mumbai, and when we get the most amazing array of fruits… And then it’s Christmas, and Christmas makes me think of figgy puddings and what else, but… Figs!

I bought a dozen or so of them the other day and since then I’ve been dreaming up a bunch of ways in which to use them… tarts, pies… you name it.

Christmas is also family time and time to get together with loved ones, friends and family… taking the time out to catch up and chat and exchange hugs and love. So yeah, my brother is in town and I wanted to bake him some bread to go with a fig preserve that I planned to make for him, because he just loves preserves and jams.

And then halfway through proving the dough for the Honey Rye Bread I had a flash of genius. Why not use the same dough as the Rye Bread along with the fig preserve… something that bordered on sweet and savoury. Now that would be a real treat for someone with a craving for something sweet but healthy… wouldn’t it?

The fig preserve is fairly simple to make and quite quick. I didn’t want to pulp the fruit completely or strain it… after all it isn’t a fig without all those little seeds now is it? So I let it be as is… using ripe figs, chopping them up into a small dice, then mixing the rest of the ingredients with the fruit, and letting it all stand for about 4 hours to let the flavours meld, before cooking the macerated fruit for 50 minutes to an hour on a very slow flame, stirring occasionally. Then taking the preserve off the flame and allowing it to cool completely before using.

Ingredients for the Fig Preserve:

6 large figs – chopped

4 tablespoons powdered sugar (you can use more sugar if you like it sweeter… I don’t)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup port wine ( a little extra if required)

Pinch of cinnamon powder

Large pinch of paprika

1 tablespoon rosemary – chopped

Pinch of salt

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of ½ lime

On to forming the rolls…

Since I was using the same dough for the Honey Rye Bread, I simply divided the dough into two portions and rolled it out on a lightly floured surface to a quarter of an inch thick.

Then spread on the preserve. I used a fairly thick spread (but you could spread it thinner), and rolled up the dough, constantly dusting the edge being rolled in with a sprinkling of flour till the entire dough was rolled up.

Cut the roll into pieces about an inch to an inch and a half thick using a sharp knife and place the pieces onto a parchment lined or cornmeal dusted baking tray.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 25 – 30 minutes.

Remove the trays from the oven and transfer the rolls onto a wire rack to cool.

Dust with icing sugar when completely cooled.

Honey Rye Bread with Mixed Seeds

Who doesn’t love a seed bread… with sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or even some sesame or flax seeds. And what better way to do them justice than to let them mix n mingle with each other in keeping with the season… letting them all come together in a delicious loaf using wholegrain rye flour and honey. I also love the flavour of aniseed, so I put in a spoonful… lightly toasting the mélange of seeds.

This bread is really versatile, with the rye flour and seeds, and the honey and brown sugar coming together to make this loaf truly delicious and nutritious.

Here are the ingredients -

1 cup wholegrain rye flour

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons fresh yeast

1 ½ cups warm water

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons honey (you can add an additional tablespoon or two if you like)

Assorted seed mix -

{2 tablespoons – assorted mix of sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds

2 tablespoons – flax seeds

1 tablespoon – aniseed}

So yeah as always when you’re making a yeast bread – activate the yeast with some sugar and warm water and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Adding in the oil and the honey and stir to blend.

Toast the mixed seeds in a pan for 4 – 5 minutes, tossing them constantly to ensure even toasting. Then remove the seeds from the pan and transfer to a kitchen towel to cool, and get back to the yeast mix. Adding in the all purpose and rye flour, and the salt, and mixing them, before adding in the cooled seed mix towards the end.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and leave to prove for 4 – 6 hours or till the dough has more than doubled in size.

Turn the dough, which should be fully aerated and light and puffy onto a lightly floured work surface…

Knead for 5 minutes, then cut the dough into 2 portions and shape into loaves or place into a cornmeal dusted bread-pan. Leave standing for an additional hour or two to prove again.

Take a sharp knife or a blade and score the top of the loaf down the middle and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 25 – 30 minutes or till done. You can cover the top with a tented piece of aluminium foil halfway through the baking process to prevent the top from getting brown and crusty too soon. Brush the top of the loaf with olive oil and bake for an additional 5 minutes uncovered to allow the top of the loaf to brown and develop a nice crust.

I used half the dough to make the loaf and saved the other half to make some Figgy Rye Rolls – using a fig preserve I made… I just had to make something figgy for Christmas.

And as I said earlier this bread is so versatile you can eat it with a pat of butter, or with something sweet… some of that fig preserve perhaps.

Or even with something savoury… like these red wine braised chicken livers.

Either way… it’s a winner.