Plaited Bread -- Sweet & Savory filling

After looking at this beautiful bread in a couple of blogs, I wanted to try one on my own. And here comes my version – Mix and match from a couple of recipes.

The coconut filling one reminded me of the coconut bun/dilkush which we get in the local bakery in Kerala, Though I missed the tutty fruitys.

Ingredients:  Serves – 12 to 14

Bread:

All purpose flour     --   3 cups or more as required.
Active dry yeast     --   1 tbsp
Lukewarm water   --   ¼ cup
Lukewarm milk      --   ¼ cup
Sugar                          --   1 tbsp
Salt                              --   ½ tsp
Egg                              --   1
Butter                         --   ¼ cup, at room temperature
Egg                              --   1 for glaze

Chicken Filling:

Chicken                    --   250gm
Onion                        --   ½ of a medium size
Green Chillies        --   2 - 3
Ginger                      --   ½ inch piece
Garlic                        --   2 - 3
Turmeric Powder   --   ½ tsp
Chilly Powder       --   ½ tsp
Garam/Chicken Masala  --   ½ tsp, I used eastern chicken masala
Coriander Leaves  --   1 cup chopped.
Oil                              --   1 tbsp
Salt                           --   to taste

Coconut Filling:

Coconut                 --   ½ cup
Sugar                      --   2 tbsp, or according to your taste
Mixed nuts            --   ½ cup, ground; I used walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts.
Cashew nuts        --   ¼ cup, chopped
Cardamom           --   2

Preparation:
Bread:

Combine the yeast, sugar and water. Stir and leave for sometime to dissolve and rise.
Mix the milk, salt, egg and butter in a big bowl. Gradually stir in the flour to obtain a soft and smooth dough.Keep the dough in a clean bowl, cover and let it rise. It might take around 1.5 to 2 hrs.

Chicken Filling:

Marinate chicken with ¼tsp turmeric powder and salt. Cook until done and shred the chicken pieces and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies. Saute until the raw smell goes off. Add the finely chopped onions,sauté until they are translucent.Add the spice powders and salt and fry until the raw smell goes off. Add the shredded chicken and quarter cup of water. Mix well and let the water evaporate completely until you get a dry masala. Add the chopped coriander leaves,mix well and keep aside.

Coconut Filling:

Powder the cardamom with 1 tsp of sugar. Adding sugar while grinding helps to powder the cardamom well. Mix together all the ingredients and Keep aside.

Assemble:

Grease a large baking tray. Knead the dough, transfer it to a floured surface and then roll into a rectangle. I rolled the dough in an Aluminium foil, so it was easy to transfer to the baking tray.  Also I managed to roll it without flouring the surface.

Spread the filling in the centre of the rolled dough. With a knife, cut equal number of strips on either side of the filling.  To make a plaited pattern, fold the strip from each side to the other, so that they form the below pattern.Repeat until all the strips are folded over. Leave it aside to rise until almost doubled in volume.

I filled the chicken for 2/3 rd of the dough and coconut in the 1/3rd.

    

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Beat the egg until fluffy. Brush the plaited bread with the egg glaze.

Bake until the crust is brown,for about 30 minutes. If the crust is get dark too soon, lightly cover the pan with an aluminium foil.

Transfer it to a cooling rack. Enjoy with tea.

You can preserve this in the fridge for 2 –3 days. Microwave in a closed container before serving. Ieven took a slice for lunch on the next day J