Curry leaf Bread

The rise of the curry leaf bread. This morning my neighbor comes home and hands me a big bag of kadhipatha/curry leaves from her garden. My neighbor has a big curry leaf tree and shares it with everyone in our street. Really thankful to have such neighbors. Those fresh aromatic leaves enticed me to immediately make something with it. I was in the process of baking bread and it suddenly struck to me that I could use these curry leaves as flavoring in the bread.
Kadhipatha is known for its health benefits. I usually use it in tadka/seasoning for the curries or dals. Most of the time kids don’t eat it. This is one good way to help everyone consume kadhipatha.
I love flavored breads as they are hassle free to serve for breakfast. I just toast them and serve with a dab of butter or we just eat it with tea or our cup of morning drink.

Ingredients

for curry leaf powder
curry leaves/kadhipath 6 strands or 1/2 cup packed
red chillies 6
shredded coconut 2 tsps
dhaniya/coriander seeds 1 tsp
tamarind paste 1/2 tsp

for bread
whole wheat flour 1 cup
coarse semolina/rava 2 cups
water 1 1/2 cups
salt 2 tsp
sugar 2 tsp
instant yeast/rapid rise yeast 1 tsp
oil 1/3 cup

Method

for curry leaf powder
In a pan, add curry leaves, red chillies, shredded coconut and dhaniya.
Dry roast till a nice aroma comes for 1-2 mins.
Grind the roasted ingredients with tamarind paste into a fine powder.

for bread
Warm the water in microwave for 40 secs.
Pour the water into a large mixing bowl.
Add the yeast,sugar, olive oil, coarse semolina, whole wheat flour, curry leaf powder and salt.
Stir with a rubber spatula just until a rough dough forms.
Let the dough sit for 5 mins.
Knead the dough for 10-12 mins using a stand mixer or by hand.
Note: If kneading by hand dust a lil bit of the semolina (coarse/fine rava) on the board before starting.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container, smear it with 2 tsp of olive oil and cover with a plastic wrap/kitchen towel.
Keep the dough in a warm place for it to double in size.
Note: I keep it inside the oven with light turned on, it doubles in 60-80 mins when its cold weather. In warm weather takes less than 60 mins
Lightly grease a loaf pan with oil. (I used 9X5 pan.)
Lightly dust the counter with semolina flour.
Transfer the dough and turn it out onto the counter.
Cool the dough to a rectangular shape.
Roll the dough into a loaf.
Place the loaf into the pan, seam side down.
Lightly dust the top of the loaf with semolina.
Let the loaf rise until it crowns just above the rim of the pan.
Note: takes about 50-60 mins
Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
Place the loaf on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 40 mins or until the loaf pulls away from the sides of the pan and the crust is a deep golden brown.
Remove loaf from pan.
Let the bread cool completely before slicing.
Enjoy !

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