“Our Daily Bread” – Channa Brown Bread

A handful of Sabut channa flour increases the nutrition value of the daily bread.  The dark brown skin contributes the light brown colour and the sweet nutty flavour adds to the taste of the bread.

How to make Sabut channa flour is given at the end of the recipe.

100 gm all purpose flour

30 gm Sabut channa flour *

1 Tbsp refine oil

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp of yeast

125 ml water for the dough

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add the oil and mix it well.  Add the water gradually to make the dough sticky.

2. Cover it with a damp cloth/ thin film and leave it in a warm place to allow it to rise to double in bulk.

3. Turn the mixture onto a floured board and knead lightly for some time.  Bring the dough to the shape of a pan or any shape you wish to bake the bread. Here we made 3 balls which we elongated into 3 strings as in the picture, and plaited them together.

Transfer the shape onto a greased baking dish.  Cover it again with a damp cloth and leave it for an hour to rise to double its size.  Bake in a hot oven 400 degree C for about 15-20 minutes.

Cool it on a wire rack.  If you want a soft crust, wrap it up with a damp cloth while cooling.

Over a heavy hot pan, stir the sabut channa for about 30 seconds and then allow the channa to cool on the pan.  Heating improves the flavour.

Grind and sieve through a fine sieve.  Store the flour in an air tight container.