After a break from blogging, it takes a lot of effort to get back to the routine. After a while, I joined the ‘We knead to Bake’ group again and this is the first bread that I have baked with them. Earlier the group admin, Aparna used to choose the breads for us to bake, but for the past couple of months the group members have been choosing the breads taking turns each month. This recipe for stuffed braided bread was suggested by Ankita Dave, one of the group members and she had used raw filling as a stuffing inside the bread. I have made several stuffed bread in the past, but have never used raw filling. This really fascinated me and tempted me to try the bread. She had made the bread as a roll, but I wanted to try something different and hence used the braiding technique to make a braided bread which I had wanted to try out for a long time. Braiding was so much fun and the braided bread looked so pretty. The filling was an absolute hit and we just loved it. My boys were sad that there was not more to eat and have already asked me to make it again. I used bell pepper as a major filling component of the bread along with a little bit of jalapeno for heat. I also used a store bought Green chili cilantro chutney to spread in the bread before adding the filling. The end product was truly peppery with the kind of heat we were looking for. It was wonderful to eat it for lunch with a bowl of hot soup.
Ingredients – Makes one stuffed braided bread
For the dough –
All-purpose flour – 2 cups Instant yeast – ¾ tsp Salt – 1 tsp Sugar – 1 tsp Oil – 1 tablespoon (I used olive oil) Warm water- about ¾ cup (more or less might be needed)
For the filling –
Bell pepper – 1 medium (finely chopped) Onion – 1 small (finely chopped) Tomato – 1 medium (finely chopped, seeds and pulp removed) Cilantro – a good handful (finely chopped) Jalapeno – ½ of a large one (deseeded and finely chopped) Indian chat masala – 1 teaspoon (can use any seasoning of your choice) Green chili cilantro chutney – 3 tbsp Feta cheese – as needed (optional) Salt – as needed Milk + Butter – 2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (for brushing the bread)
Procedure to make stuffed braided bread –
To make the dough-
I used my food processor to make the dough.
Add the all-purpose flour, yeast, salt, and sugar to the food processor bowl and pulse a few times to combine.
Add the oil and then slowly add the warm water with the machine running to form a soft dough.
Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic and not sticky. I would suggest keeping the dough on a little bit stiff side as it is easy to shape.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let it rise for about 1 ½ hours or until double in volume.
To make the filling –
When the dough is rising, we can start to chop all the vegetables. Make sure that the vegetables are all finely chopped.
Add all the chopped vegetables to a bowl. DO NOT ADD THE SALT OR SEASONING AT THIS POINT. We will add the salt and the seasoning just before stuffing the dough. If we add the salt at this point, the vegetables would start to sweat and become watery.
To Shape the Bread –
Once the dough has risen, place it on a lightly floured work surface and punch it down.
Roll it into a rectangle with the long side facing you. I transferred my rolled dough on parchment before shaping for easy transfer to the baking sheet.
Mark about 4 to 5 inches of space in the center of the rectangle to place the filling and then using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, make cuts on either side of the dough to resemble thin strips. Make sure that the strips are equal on both sides and of the same size. (Refer to the picture).
Spread a thin layer of the green chili cilantro chutney in the center and then spread the filling evenly over it. Top it with feta cheese, if using.
Fold the top of the dough over the filling and then start to braid the dough. Starting with one side, fold the strip over the dough and then do the same on the other side. Keep braiding until there are just 3 or 4 strips left. At this point fold the bottom of the dough over the filling and then finish the braiding.
Transfer the bread carefully onto a baking sheet.
Cover with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for another 45 minutes to an hour.
Baking the Bread -
Combine 2 tablespoon of warm milk and 1 teaspoon of butter in a bowl and mix well. Brush this mixture liberally over the braided bread.
Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the bread is evenly browned.
Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice and enjoy the stuffed braided bread with marinara sauce on the side.
#BreadBakers is a group of bread-loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
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