Bold Flavour Attacks ×2

You know how bread (or specifically, naan) is perfect for soaking up every last drip of curry? And how addictive paneer curry dishes are? Palak paneer, methi malai paneer, paneer butter masala and achari paneer, to name but a few. Curry bread is definitely not a new idea. See the popular Japanese fried curry bread (Kare-Pan) for evidence. Here, I combined Indian curry spices, Thai strong-flavoured condiments and Western cheese in this bread, a surefire way to wake one’s dimmed summer appetite.

Indian-Thai-Inspired Cheese Curry Sourdough

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

150g      50%       Whole spelt flour

90g        30%       Spouted spelt flour

60g        20%       Pearl barley flour

For leaven:

10g        3.3%       Starter

40g      13.3%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

40g      13.3%       Water

For dough:

264g        88%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

173g     57.7%       Water

57g          19%       Whey

90g          30%       Leaven

9g              3%       Vital wheat gluten

5g           1.7%       Salt

-g               -%       Curry spice mix (1/8 tsp each of coriander, cumin, turmeric and black pepper, and a pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon)

Add-ins:

60g        20%       Gloucester cheese, cubed (or sub a strong Cheddar)

1.5g      0.5%       Dried fried shallots

1.5g      0.5%       Dried fried baby shrimps

3g            1%       Fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

___________

245g      80.3%       Whole grain

275g      90.2%       Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 40g for leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, around 5 hours.

Soak the dried shallots and shrimps in a little hot water to rehydrate. Set aside until needed.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the salt, leaven and soaked bran, autolyse for 15 minutes. Knead in the reserved ingredients and ferment for 15 minutes. Fold in the add-ins then ferment for 2 hours longer.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Retard for 9 hours after proofing at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Let the dough warm up at room temperature for an hour. Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F.

Score the dough and bake at 230°C/446°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

The crust of this bread is extra crispy as the fats of the cheese fried the dough surface. It is contrasted by the moist crumb and gooey cheese. I love the spiciness of this bread but feel free to tone it down by reducing the spices used.

________

To be honest, I have never been much of a fan of beetroot. The only way it tastes good to me is when roasted to slightly caramelized on the edges. This bread was a request from a friend who kindly gave me some high quality beetroot powder.

Beetroot Hazelnut Sourdough with 20% Rye

Dough flour:

240g      80%       Freshly milled whole white wheat flour

60g        20%       Whole rye flour

For leaven:

8g         4.7%       Starter

36g        11%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

36g        11%       Water

For dough:

264g        88%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

211g     70.3%       Water

62g       20.7%       Whey

80g       26.7%       Leaven

9g             3%       Vital wheat gluten

5g          1.7%       Salt

15g            5%      Beetroot powder

Add-ins:

30g          10%      Toasted hazelnuts

___________

304g       100%       Whole grain

313g     103.0%      Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 36g for leaven. Soak the rest in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, around 4 hours.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients except for the salt, leaven and soaked bran, autolyse for 15 minutes. Knead in the reserved ingredients and ferment for 30 minutes. Fold in the add-ins then ferment for 4 hours longer. I used cold water this time to prevent over-proofing.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Retard for 10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 230°C/446°F. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm up at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Score the dough and bake at 230°C/446°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

I’m aware that adding ascorbic acids to dough can preserve the bright red colour of beetroot. However, red is an eldritch colour for bread crumb to me…Brown bread beats red bread anytime of the day :) Despite the absence of red crumb, I can taste the presence of beetroot. This bread is not noticeably sour even though the leaven was on the mature side and rye flour was included. I attribute this to the addition of beetroot, which its sweetness masks the sourness.

______

Fish tacos with homemade corn tortillas (100% masa harina at 160% hydration)

Stir fried rice noodles