Chicken Bread

The group, We Knead to Bake founded by Aparna, was one group that I have been eyeing to join every since I have started blogging. I love baking and trying out new breads and cakes, but I was really not sure how much time I would be able to give this challenge and therefore delayed myself from joining the group. Last month, they baked the Gibassier, which is a French anise and orange flavored loaf. I couldn't join in this challenge due to Ramadan and other commitments. For the month of August, since Aparna was busy with the preparation of the first successful Indian Food Bloggers Meet, she suggested the members to try baking any savory filled bread with a design. As soon as I saw the post, the first bread which came into my head was this Chicken Bread, that I had baked some time back and I had completely forgotten to bake it again.


The Chicken Bread is basically a Chef Shireen Anwar recipe. I absolutely adore her recipes and have lost count of the bookmarks I have done, one that has already got featured on the blog is the Shinwari Kadai. At the time she had done the show at the famous Pakistani cookery show, Zaiqa, this bread had totally flooded all FB walls. I was at that time starting to be addicted to cooking and was overwhelmed by all the beautiful Chicken Breads that was all over the cookery pages on FB. That was when I tried it the first time and totally fell in love with it. It is a multi purpose bread - you can have it as breakfast, snack or dinner, the choice is yours. The lovely braids makes it attractive to children and the creamy chicken filling really compliments the bread well. Since I wanted to bake this again, I set to searching on Google, however I found that only two blogs have so far featured this delicious recipe. I really don't know why. So there you go, this is my start to this wonderful group. I sincerely hope that I will be able to participate regularly and do justice to the bakes. Off to this recipe...



Ingredients:

For the dough:
2 cups all purpose flour*
1/2 tbsp instant yeast
1 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large egg
2/3 cup lukewarm water
Sesame seeds for sprinkling
Melted butter for brushing

For filling:
350 gm boneless chicken
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic paste
1 small onion, minced
2/3 cup frozen sweet corn kernels
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1/2 cup milk
2 green chillies, chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala powder


Method:

Let's start with making the dough. Beat the egg in a bowl, keep 1/4 of it aside for egg wash.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Make a hole in the center and pour in the remaining egg, oil and water. Slowly start mixing and kneading into a non-sticky soft dough. Set aside of an hour and half or till it doubles. * The flour may not be enough. I added almost 3 tbsp extra flour to get the correct consistency. Adjust the flour if required, once you start kneading.

Cook the chicken with turmeric, chilli and salt in the pressure cooker for three whistles - do not add water. Allow the pressure to go completely. Open the lid and cook on high flame till the stock coats the chicken. Once cool, shred the chicken in a mixer and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the butter. Add the garlic and onion and saute till soft. Add the corn and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the flour, pepper and salt and saute for another couple of minutes. Take out of the heat, add the milk and whisk vigorously till well combined. Keep back on the heat, whisking frequently till the mixture thickens. Finally add the ground chicken, coriander leaves, green chillies and garam masala powder and cook for a further five minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. At this time, the mixture will be sticky but it will be fine once it is cooled completely.

Keep ready a baking tray with parchment paper.

Once the dough doubles, punch it down to deflate the air. Divide into two equal parts. Roll out one part on a very well floured surface into a rectangle shape, according to the thickness your desire. Place half the chicken mixture in the center. Cut the sides using a knife. Flap each side, right then left and continue till done. Curl down the top and the bottom to shape the bread. Carefully, take the bread and keep it on the tray. Repeat this process with the other portion of the dough. (You can see the procedure here. I had taken the pictures on my digital camera but somehow, am not able to retrieve it. Will try to post it as soon as possible, InShaAllah...)

Add 2 tbsp of water to the remaining egg kept aside, and brush both the breads with this egg wash. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top as required. Keep aside the bread to rest for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes till the top is well browned.

Brush well with melted butter as soon as the bread is out of oven. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve sliced along with boiled vegetables for dinner or as a snack for chai time!


Notes:

You can very well freeze a braided bread for around 3 months. All you need to do it is thaw it well before baking it - makes work easy!

Linking this to Haffa's Back To School Lunch Event...