Flour, water, yeast and a dash of butter or oil would ideally go into a loaf of bread. If you are a pro and like new flavours, choose from greens such as spinach and mint, toasted seeds like the pumpkin, flax and sunflower seeds, raisins, olives and herbs, or sweet potato/pumpkin. Chemical additives have no space in good bread. But loaves on supermarket shelves invariably have them for longer shelf life. A far cry from these breads are the ones that come from a few home bakers’ kitchens. They bake smaller quantities, some of their breads may not be spongy and springy. But once you get used to the texture and taste, you may not revert to mass-produced breads.
Seasonal specials
Light Green Oven
Shipra Chenji’s breads are as sought after as the brownies and cakes. When she unpacks her fresh bakes at any of the Sunday organic bazaars, it’s like peering into a picnic basket full of aromatic and flavourful goodies. Whole wheat loaves with spinach and jeera , focaccia with pumpkin, focaccia with olives and herbs, the mildly spicy and cheesy zilicany, whole wheat sourdough and a few other varieties with a generous mix of herbs and seeds… you’ll find them all. Her home-made hummus and yogurt-garlic dips are delicious accompaniments to these breads.
Shipra takes pride in baking wholesome breads that may not be extra soft or glossy like the store-bought ones, but scores high both on taste and nutrition. She took her time to master the chewy sourdoughs before experimenting with red amaranthus and nutmeg rustic bread, cheese and pesto bread (using basil from her backyard and peanuts for the pesto) and banana nutmeg coffee cake. Some of the ingredients are sourced from organic farmers.
This winter, she will also be using sarson saag (mustard leaves) with a hint of ginger-garlic for bread. “I use mustard oil for this bread and it comes out very well,” she assures, in case we aren’t convinced about this recipe that sounds like a fusion.
Shipra also conducts ‘bread and breath’ workshops where one can learn basics of bread making as well as yogic breathing.
Check their Facebook page or www.lightgreenoven.com
Vegan approach
Terrassen Café
Dhanesh of Terrassen Cafe
Don’t turn away at the mention of ‘vegan’. Even if you aren’t vegan, give the breads, cakes and brownies baked by the Terrassen Café team a try. Dhanesh who leads the team has been baking these no additive, no white flour and vegan varieties for more than three years. Whole wheat, multi-grain (wheat and millets) and whole wheat sourdoughs are his forte. There’s a gluten-free variation as well that uses rice, jowar, ragi and flax seeds. This bread is chewy and takes a little getting used to. Baking is a continuous process at the café and the breads go into making sumptuous sandwiches on the menu. Other home bakers also reach out to Terrassen for sourdough starters.
Dhanesh works with whole grain flours, sea salt and unrefined sugar and bakes on special orders as well. If the city hasn’t seen a spurt in artisan breads in recent years, Dhanesh reasons, “It’s easier to sell pastries than whole grain breads. Baking bread is also hard work and we are dealing with products that may be appealing to a considerable yet smaller section of people.”
All these breads bereft of preservatives keep good for two to three days at room temperature and for a week under refrigeration.
Check their Facebook page ‘Poets & Oats/Terrassen Café’.
Bread making as science
Sunplay
Srinivas Ravuri of Sunplay solar baking unit
Srinivasa Chakrawarthy Ravuri and his wife Shyamala Devi are relatively new entrants to baking. Ravuri, a former nuclear physicist, founded Sunplay — now a four-year-old firm that taps solar energy through custom-built solar dehydrators, ovens and concentrators. Wheat, millets such as ragi, bajra and jowar go through sprouting and solar dehydration before being made into flours and rawa at their facility.
Bread making began as an experiment, inspired by other artisan bakers in the city. They were hesitant at first since unlike regular ovens, solar ovens can only reach a temperature of 170° degrees. But Ravuri discovered that bread, at its end point in a regular oven, records temperature of 90° and it’s possible to bake bread by tweaking the process for solar ovens.
The couple tested their breads at organic bazaars and the warm reception made them experiment with flavours.
Now, their solar-baked breads as well as regular oven breads are a hit with buyers. Orders are placed in advance. “The possibilities are endless when you think what can be made into bread,” says Ravuri. The couple uses multiple flours that are knead together and left to rise using a delayed fermentation technique. The breads are flavourful and delicate.
A flour-water-yeast bread with no oil, which is a spin off of a Polish variety of bread, and cinnamon rolls are their new additions.
