Garlic Bread Rolls

My best friend Shweta is in town and I am going to meet her. For this special occasion I thought I'd make something (edible) and take them to her. Bread rolls immediately came to my mind. So I scoured the internet for some good recipes, and stumbled upon this site called The Purple foodie. A blog by Ms. Shaheen Peerbhai. Not only is the lady in question extremely talented, she also helpfully pointed out a few hints as to where I can find the ingredients in Mumbai.

But before I write this recipe, I must MUST thank a few people who have made all the difference into making me what I am today.
1.) First and foremost A BIG THANKS AND LOTS OF LOVE AND KISSES TO MY MOM for  making me who I am today. You are my true inspiration. Love you, Mom!

2.) MY DEAREST HUSBAND SHRIKANT Thanks for eating all the crap called practice, in the way of making what I made today. Thanks for always being supportive even when I am being a giant pain in the ass.

3.) THANKS SAHANA, ANITA AND ANUSHREE the oven that you guys gifted me for my wedding, has unfailingly served me all these years and will continue to be my most favorite kitchen appliance of all times. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

4.) THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO READ MY RECIPES even though sometimes they are downright crappy! Special thanks to Jayanti, Rhythm, and Laxmi, please keep commenting so I know you are reading the recipes. :-)

Now that all the thanks have been said, let's go on to the recipe.

Ingredients

• 400 g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 and 3/4th tsp sugar
• 210 g milk 
• about 9 g instant yeast (about 1/2 tbsp)
•  1/2 egg (to mix in the dough)
• 1/2 egg (for the glaze)
• 45 g butter
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup garlic minced
• 2 tsp mixed dried Italian herbs
• 2 tsp paprika
• salt to taste

Plan your day. If you are making these for the breakfast, and say, you want your breakfast ready by 9, start the process at 5.30 a.m. That's right, I started the whole thing at 5.30 a.m. at a time when a yellow colored bowl, to me, appeared as pink! But luckily I got the recipe right. Practice they say, makes a man (and a woman) purrfect!

Measure all the ingredients first. Warm the milk to lukewarm. (This is when a drop of milk put on the inside of your wrist does not feel so hot.) Do not heat it too much. Put the yeast in the milk and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile add the salt,  sugar, half the beaten egg and butter to the flour and mix it with your fingers till it resembles bread crumbs. Now pile up the flour to form a mountain. Make a deep well in the center of the mountain and pour a little bit of the milk with the yeast in this well. Start by mixing only a portion of the well keeping the walls intact. It should look like a sludge or a porridge. When it starts getting dry, add some more milk to the sludge, and take in more flour from the sides of the well. Keep doing this till all the milk and all the flour has been used up. Knead well for about 4 to 5 minutes, slapping, punching and hitting the dough with all your might. Think about the person you would like to do that to, and imagine that the dough is your chance to lash out. Your anger will make the dough soft and satiny (kidding :-P)

Now place the dough in a greased bowl and cover the bowl with cling film. Let the dough rest for two hours in which time you should let it prove itself. Pun intended. It does 'prove' itself to double its volume. (Proofing a dough means letting a dough with yeast rise in volume)

You have two hours, you can catnap for one and half hour if you are still feeling groggy. After that, you can make the garlic mixture. Mix the garlic, dried herbs, paprika and salt in the olive oil and keep it aside. That's it.

After the two hours are up, remove the cling film and punch the dough for thirty seconds to remove all the extra air. (It seems like such a shame! I hate doing this!)

Now roll the dough in a rectangle 1/4th of an inch thick. Spread the garlic mixture on to the upper surface. Slice the dough into strips (make cuts parallel to the shorter side of the rectangle). Knot or roll this strip in any way you like. As you can see from the picture I have let my imagination run wild and made many shapes out of the dough. (Which also gave me a great idea for breakfast on Saee's birthday which is coming up!)

Place the dough knots on your baking tray keeping space between them to allow for rising. Cover them with cling film and allow them to rise (or proof) for thirty more minutes. After the thirty minutes are up, brush some of the beaten egg on top of the knots. This gives an amazing shine to your bread rolls.

Preheat your oven to 400 F and place the dough knots into it. Bake for about fifteen to twenty minutes till the topmost part appears nice and evenly browned. Remove and cool them on a rack for about 10 minutes or do what I always do. Serve them hot! Yummy garlic bread rolls are ready for the taking.

Comments from my family
Mom in law: Wow, these look so professional. They taste yummy too. Good job.
Saee: Mummy, they look good!
Hubby: Hmpf!

(Nah, kidding!) Hubby said they looked really great and that he is proud of me! What the hell, I am proud of me too! :-P

Here are the pictures.

Happy Cooking!