Jewish Challah

Ingredients:

Instant yeast-2 tsp
Bread flour-2 cups
Warm water-3/8th cup
Eggs-1 large+1 yolk, plus 1 white for glazing
Vegetable oil-1/4th cup
Salt-1 tsp
Sugar-1/8th cup

Method:

Yeast preparation

1. Heat water and make sure the temperature is close to your body temperature. It should not be too hot or too cold.
2. Add yeast, sugar to a bowl and then add water. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy. Sugar makes the mix more frothy. Meanwhile work on the other ingredients.

Dough preparation

1. Add flour, salt in a big bowl and mix until there are no lumps.
2. Add oil and eggs and mix properly.
3. Now add the yeast-sugar mixture and mix everything properly. You may need 1-2 tbsp of extra water.
4. Now the exciting part comes-KNEADING!! The more you knead the softer your bread turns out. Knead the dough for atleast 10 min and make sure it becomes soft and there are no crumbles.
5. Transfer it to another bowl with oiled surface and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap. Keep the bowl in a warm place for an hour or until your dough becomes double the size. I keep the bowl inside the oven. 

6. Now take the dough and knead it again quickly. 

7. Divide the dough into four parts and make a strand out of each part. So four strands in total. Start braiding the four strands.

 

7. The braiding feels intimidating but it is very simple. Just number the position of the strands and not strands itself and then just remember the magic numbers.

4 over 2; 1 over 3; 2 over 3; repeat!

Watch this wonderful video to understand it better.

8. Once the braiding is done, keep it on a baking tray and spread egg white on the surface.

9. The second 1 hr rise starts now! The bread will rise and becomes double the original size.

10. While you coat the bread with egg white, preheat the oven to 375 F. After egg white wash, let the  baking begin! Bake for 30 min: The surface becomes brown and shiny. Let it cool and serve with red chile olive oil.

Tips

1. If the yeast-sugar mix doesn't get frothy, the yeast is dead. It may be because of hot water or old yeast.

2. KNEAD, KNEAD and KNEAD!