One of the most amazing meals I had during my South africa road trip was the breakfast at lubanzi.
There is something special about warm homemade bread. Nothing comes quite close to the aroma and warmth of a freshly baked bread. It is a treat to watch the butter slowly melt and trickle into the bread and then the whole thing disappear in the stomach 🙂
The secret, she was happy to share, lies in how much you knead the flour. She said many people would just bring the dough together but you need to knead it for at least 15 minutes, then leave it to stand and then knead it again. The more you knead, the soft will be the bread.
After that last day, I pledged to try and make bread at home. I anyway make our Indian bread – the chapati or the paranthas – everyday. I don’t why I haven’t tried making the regular breakfast bread yet. Lubanzi bread was just the push I needed to try and though now I have made it a weekend feature of my kitchen, I am going to keep the name because it is their recipe that was passed on to me with lots of love.
Lubanzi homemade bread
By Ashima Goyal Siraj
Preparation time: |Baking time: |Serves: 6 (makes 2 regular loaves
2 cups brown whole wheat flour
2 cups white all-purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
10g instant dry yeast
1/4th cup oil
~3/4th cup lukewarm water
- Add all dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
- Combine well.
- Add oil and then slowly add lukewarm water while mixing with your hands until the dough is a good consistency. (It should be soft and easy to knead.)
- Knead for 15 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Let it stand for 10 mins and then knead for another 10 mins.
- Place in a greased bread pan.
- Put oven on lowest setting and leave the door slightly open to allow the bread dough to rise to about double it’s size.
- Then close the door and turn the temperature up to 180°C.
- Bake until golden on top and sounds hollow when tapped. (~40 mins )
Additional tip: *Add seeds to the dough or paint on top with egg yolk.
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