Whole Grains & Potato Loaf
Back after vacation, though it was not really a vacation. It was a roller coaster ride, full of mixed emotions.
A dark shadow was cast on the first half of my vacation. The devastating Floods in Kerala came as a big shock to us, and life was thrown out of balance. It has been one of the worst floods in history. Slowly and steadily, we are getting back to normal. Rains do not make me feel happy anymore. The damage done is huge and irreparable, but many valuable lessons were learnt.
The other half of my vacation was all about my favorite thing to do – Baking Breads! Classes in 3 cities in India with the most enthusiastic students, and it finished off with the wonderful Bakers’ meet - TBC at Jaipur. We had a demo and a workshop at Jaipur too!
Well then, now I'm back home and it’s time to try out a new formula for breads. Just a little twist, a magic ingredient, resulted in these beautiful breads!
Are you looking for a real brown bread (zero % Maida, yet super soft and delicious), with all the goodness of whole grains for breakfast/snack?! Then, here you go. This is the recipe for you!
A little bit of potato does magic in whole grain breads. Getting a clean slice of whole grain breads is never easy, but potato does the trick here! The crumb turns super moist and soft. This is just another version my Whole Wheat potato bread, adding in the goodness of multi grain flour and oats. The loaf has a very nutty flavor and would pair best with some butter, or any savory filling. 
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour - 350 grams (plus ¼ cup for kneading)
- Multi grain flour - 50 grams
- Oats - 2 tablespoons
- Flax seeds - 2 tablespoons coarsely ground
- Instant yeast - 2 and 1/4 teaspoons
- Potato - 1 medium; about 140 to 150 grams
- Milk Powder - 2 tablespoons
- Brown Sugar or Honey - 2 tablespoons
- Water (see Note 2) - 295 to 345 grams around 1¼ to 1 and a 1/2 cups
- Olive Oil or Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Salt - 1 1/4 teaspoon
Instructions
Peel the potato, and slice it into small cubes. Add just enough water to cover the potato and cook till it is soft. Remove from heat, drain off the excess water (save the drained water for the bread) and squash it through a large sieve, ensuring that there are no chunks. Set it aside to cool.
Take ¼ cup lukewarm water (from the water in the recipe), add 1 teaspoon sugar and the yeast, mix well and set aside to rise.
Once the potato mixture has cooled to lukewarm, combine it with the remaining ingredients, except salt and olive oil. Mix and knead by hand or mixer, to form a smooth and sticky dough.
(I would advise to add half of the total water initially, and then little at a time, till you get the correct dough consistency.)
Cover with a wet cloth and let it rest for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, add olive oil and salt and continue kneading for a few minutes.
Transfer this to a lightly floured work table, knead gently for 8 minutes (stretch and pull), adding a little flour at a time (only if required), till you get a very loose, but non-sticky dough. (The dough may seem very sticky at first, but after the above kneading, it will automatically form a smooth dough. Do not add excess flour, and do not knead it hard)
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Grease the dough also.
Cover it with a wet cloth and let it rise at room temperature (preferably a warm place) until it’s doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Gently deflate the risen dough, and shape the bread loaf. Take the dough and just spread into a rectangular shape with a rolling pin. Roll up tightly into a log. Place the bread dough in a lightly greased 9 x 5 inches loaf pan with the seam area at the bottom.
Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise until it's domed center is about 1" over the lip of the pan.
15 Minutes before the bake, pre heat the oven at 200° C.
Just before baking, brush the loaf with a little milk, or melted butter, or egg wash.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200° C for the first 10 minutes, and then for 35 to 45 minutes at 180° C for the bread loaf. (Cover the top of the loaf with a baking sheet or aluminium foil after 25 minutes of baking, to avoid too much browning.)
Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out onto a rack to cool.
When completely cooled, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature. Slice the loaf only after cooling.
I bet this bread tastes much better than the store bought ones. You will fall in love with the aroma that fills the house when you bake these, and it will make you bake it again and again! In fact, you will not buy any more bakery breads.
Happy bread making…..
Notes to remember:
1) The dough would be very sticky initially, keep kneading with a scraper, adding little flour at a time.
2) I have noted a big change in the water requirement, with different batches/brands of wheat, so adjust accordingly. I would advise to add half of the total water initially, and then little at a time, till you get the correct dough consistency.
3) The potato weight is 140 to 150 grams before cooking. It will absorb water during cooking, so adjust the total water content accordingly.
4) The second rise is tricky, it may happen in 20 minutes time to 1 hour or even more. The important point is, you must bake immediately when it doubles in size. If you over proof, the bread will collapse during baking.
5) If you are a beginner in bread baking, do not start with a whole wheat bread recipe.
