Ghandi Bread

There is no yeast in it at all: it is raised with baking powder, barely kneaded, and pricked with holes an inch apart.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg.

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour
• 180 ml sunflower oil
• 200 g sugar
• 60 ml water
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds

Method

1. THERE IS NO YEAST IN IT AT ALL: IT IS RAISED WITH BAKING POWDER, BARELY KNEADED, AND PRICKED WITH HOLES AN INCH APART. Its article is specific about all three and they hang together. Baking powder means there is nothing to ferment and no waiting -- the dough is mixed and goes straight in the oven. Kneading is actively wrong here: its article says to knead for a minute or less, only enough to combine, and notes that the dough does not require kneading in the usual sense. And the holes, about an inch apart across the whole surface, let the chemical rise escape evenly so the sheet stays flat instead of blistering into domes. Worked like a bread dough it comes out tough; this is much closer to a biscuit.
2. THE OIL AND SUGAR GO TOGETHER FIRST, BEFORE ANY FLOUR. Its article's order, and it matters: beating a hundred and eighty millilitres of oil into two hundred grams of sugar first distributes the fat evenly, and flour added to that is coated rather than hydrated, which is exactly the short texture wanted.
3. THE WATER IS A SMALL AMOUNT AND GOES IN SECOND. Sixty millilitres, mixed continuously into the oil and sugar. That is all the liquid there is.
4. THE BAKING POWDER AND CARDAMOM GO IN BEFORE THE FLOUR. Also its article's order, and it is the reliable way to get two teaspoons of powder evenly through five hundred grams of flour rather than in pockets.
5. THE FLOUR IS ADDED GRADUALLY WHILE STIRRING. Not tipped in. The dough comes together as a soft, slightly oily mass.
6. IT IS ROLLED OUT ON A WELL-FLOURED TRAY, NOT A BOARD. Its article says to transfer the dough to a well-floured tray. A dough this short tears when you move it, so roll it where it will bake. Divide in two and roll each to about a centimetre.
7. THE HOLES, THEN THE EGG WASH, THEN THE SEEDS. In that order -- egg brushed over the pricked surface, then sesame scattered on while it is wet.
8. IT BAKES AT 204C FOR TWENTY MINUTES. Its article gives that temperature exactly, which is 400F, until golden brown. It is eaten with tea and it keeps for a week in a tin.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes