Multi-grain Bread

The instant I saw this bread on Namita's blog space, I knew I had to give it a try. I am in love with healthy yeast baking and this fitted in just perfectly. Bread baking is a simple process and once you have mastered the basic recipe, you can experiment on it and get as creative as you like. This bread is power-packed with healthy ingredients. It has wholewheat, oats, ragi, flax meal, soya flour and honey... what more can you ask for? :)

I stuck to Namita's recipe (except for the replacement of milk powder with milk and the addition of a little bit of flax meal powder) and was pretty pleased with the outcome. Wholewheat bread is bound to be denser than white bread and also a tab coarser. If you like your bread to be softer and lesser coarse, add in some all purpose flour into this in the ratio 4:1 (wholewheat : all purpose flour). 

This bread tastes best when eaten on the same day, while still warm. I had a few slices left over for the next day, which I transformed into a bowl of Bread Upma, which again tasted great with the blend of the healthy flours.

Makes: 1 big loaf
Serves: 4-5
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time:  2 hr (including time for dough to rise)

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Oats (powdered) - 1 cup
Ragi (finger millet) flour - 1/4 cup
Soya flour - 1/4 cup

Flax meal powder - 1 tbsp
Olive oil (or any vegetable oil) - 1/4 cup

Instant yeast - 2 & 1/2 tsp
Honey - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 cup (add more if you need while kneading)

Method

• Proof the yeast by mixing it in a glass of warm water and a pinch of sugar. In about 10 minutes, you would notice the solution becomes frothy. 
• In a mixing bowl, sift together all the flours, milk, salt and oil. 
• Add honey and mix well. 
• Toss in the frothy yeast mixture as well and knead into a dough. Add in a little more water, if the dough feels hard.
• Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough become soft. It should not be sticky. 
• Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover the bowl and allow the dough it rise for an hour or till it becomes double its size. 
• After the size doubles, punch down the dough and knead again for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Shape the dough into a loaf and transfer to a greased loaf tin. You could also make multiple smaller loaves instead of a single big loaf.
• Allow the dough to rise again for about half an hour or so.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees C for 30 minutes. The top should turn golden and the loaf would sound hollow when tapped. 
• Remove the loaf tin from the oven. 
• Remove the loaf from the loaf tin after 5 minutes.
• Cool it on a wire rack and slice once cooled completely.