My 49th experiment: Atta poolish bread

By sheer accident sprinkled with dash of curiosity, I started off an experiment of poolish using atta flour. It began with me trying to test out a bag of yeast I bought from Ali market. The dry yeast was packed a year ago, and I wasn't sure if it's still alive. So I mixed a whole teaspoon of it with 2 TB of atta flour. I just wanted to see if the yeast would rise. Sure enough, it exploded when I kept it in the oven for just a few moments. Considering it to be so alive, I started off a poolish from it.

Day 1
Day 1, 3:16pm, initial dough with 1 tp active dry yeast, 2 TB atta flour and 1-2 TB water.

Day 1, 3:30pm, initial dough risen in warm oven 150F:

Day 1, 3:33pm, initial dough punched down:

Day 1, 4:23pm, by accident, initial dough was almost baked when I preheat oven to 400F, dough is rescued by mixing with additional 2-3 TB flour, 1/4 tp salt and water to form a poolish:

Day 1, 8:36pm, poolish chilled, texture becoming smooth and rich in gluten:

Days 2-3
Poolish has tripled its volume and has been punched down 2-3 times.

Day 4
Day 4, 8:10am, poolish still bubbling, but not rising too much:

Day 4, 8:10am, poolish punched down, yielding a smooth texture:

Day 4, 8:13am, new flour to feed:

Day 4, 8:13am, poolish mixed with feeding:

Day 4, 9:26am, poolish growing:

Day 4, 9:27am, poolish texture:

Day 4, 9:30am, poolish punched down and returned to fridge to chill overnight:

Day 5
Day 5, 8:42am, poolish taken out of fridge to rise:

Day 5, 12:41pm, poolish risen the first time:

Day 5, 12:46pm, poolish carefully poured out into large bowl, punching down only the huge bubbles:

Day 5, 2:51pm, poolish risen the second time:

Day 5, 2:54pm, poolish poured out to a working surface with ample atta flour:

Day 5, 2:55pm, poolish being turned and dusted with flour to form a wet dough:

Day 5, 2:57pm, dough's strength (can't stay longer than a few seconds before pulling away):

Day 5, 3:04pm, dough (topped with black caraway seeds) barely shaped on parchment paper heavily dusted with atta flour:

Day 5, 4:59pm, dough rising in pan:

Day 5, 6:18pm, dough waiting for oven to pre-heat to 500F:

Day 5, 6:32pm, loaves baked for just about 5 minutes, and then brushed with ample olive oil once out of the oven:

Day 5, 6:38pm, loaves' back:

Day 5, 6:40pm, loaves' heels:

Day 5, 6:40pm, loaves' top with shiny gloss because of the olive oil rubbed after baking:

Day 5, 6:36pm, interior of a loaf:

Next day at dinner:

Observations
1. The final bread that comes out is very porous. It also has a really elastic, rubbery texture.
2. Short of salt, the bread does not taste that good.
3. Despite its thinness, the bread also does not dry out rapidly. It remains soft, spongy and rubbery on counter top, even two days after coming out of the oven. It stalls really very slowly.
4. This loaf tastes extremely boring as it is. But soon I find a way to eat it. It actually goes really well with cream cheese! So I use the bread like pita, stuff a slice of chicken breast in it, spread some chived cream cheese and turn it into a sandwich. Wow! Yummy!

When my husband saw the loaves on the counter, he thought they were fishes. After a bite, he asked me what bread this is. Sheepishly, I answer, "naan..." and burst into uncontrollable laughters right away. He laughed and remarked that there's really no way for him to guess that this is naan. Oh well, by now, whenever I make some lean dough of this atta flour, I call it my naan experiment.

Life is full of infinite amount of fun with my dear husband.

My 37th experiment: discoveries on naan dough

I have 2/3 of the naan dough which has been saved in the fridge for 2 days. The dough has yeast and yogurt, which may not be good for too long. So I decide to use it up. Today I use half of it to make another naan; and the remaining to make a mini loaf of beef bread.

The original naan dough is made with the following ingredients:

- 1+1/2 cup Golden Temple atta flour

- 1 tp active dry yeast

- 1/2 tp salt

- 1/4 cup yogurt

- 1/2 cup warm water

- 1 TB olive oil

The procedure and results are posted in my 35th experiment, on naan.

3:26pm, the leftover 2/3 of the dough that has been in the fridge for 2 days:

3:28pm, dough's texture when cut:

3:28pm, gluten in the dough:

To make naan
3:39pm, dough rolled out:

3:46pm, dough stretched onto a non-stick pan:

6:01pm, dough proofed 2 hours, a bit dry:

6:05pm, dough baked 3 minutes on lowest rake, close to heating element, at 500F:

6:13pm, naan baked 10 minutes and definitely done:

6:15pm, the back of the baked naan:

8:12pm, naan's thickness:

To make a mini beef roll
5:20pm, bread dough:

5:28pm, bread dough filled with 1 slice of cheddar cheese, a hot mixture of salty cooked beef and chopped onion:

5:29pm, dough folded:

5:32pm, dough oiled and ready to proof:

5:46pm, dough risen in warmth for 14 minutes:

6:01pm, mini loaf baked at 400F, and subsequently at 500F for 1-2 minutes:

6:09pm, bottom of baked mini loaf:

6:12pm, top of baked mini loaf, brushed with butter:

18:13pm, interior of the mini loaf:

Observations:
1. The dough after 2 days has developed very strong gluten. It becomes very tough to stretch.
2. Again, my husband says that the "naan" tastes not bad, it's just not naan; more like a cracker.
3. The bread has a dense crumb. It may be because I only allowed it to warm up for half an hour or so. The holes in the bread are irregular.

This experiment shows that the atta flour actually can develop very strong gluten (maybe even too strong). It makes the flour suitable for making bread. I will need to find the right composition of flours for the right texture.

My 35th experiment: you call that naan? hahahahahah!

Well, I've been thinking of naan for a while. My husband and I like going to a local Indian restaurant that serves very good Indian buffet. Whenever we are there, we notice that all the patrons there are Indians. I like the food there very much. We like naan. So when my neighborhood International grocery store has atta flour on sale at $7.99 for 20lbs, I can't resist getting a bag. Here comes my first naan.... As it turns out, it's more like a fried bread because of the ample oil I've rubbed onto the dough!!! I think I've made a pizza out of it.

Recipe: My first naan (for 2)

Ingredients:
- 1+1/2 cup Golden Temple atta flour
- 1 tp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tp salt
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 TB olive oil

Procedure:
1. Proof yeast in 2 TB warm water.
2. Mix flour and salt. Add yeast and yogurt. Incrementally add water until a strong dough is formed.
3. Rub in the oil.
4. Allow the dough to ferment overnight.
5. Warm up dough. Add extra water to make a sticky stretchy dough.
6. Coat a pizza pan with 1 TB oil. Stretch dough on it. Allow to rise for 1 hour.
7. Turn oven to broil at 500F. Place naan on the top rack. Allow to cook for 3-5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side.

Results:
Day 1, 8:26pm, initial dough:

Day 1, 9:00pm, dough kneaded:

Day 1, 9:03pm, dough to be left to ferment overnight:

Day 2, 3:25pm, dough fermented overnight:

Day 2, 3:28pm, back of fermented dough:

Day 2, 3:29pm, 1/3 of the dough cut out:

Day 2, 4:51pm, small dough moistened:

Day 2, 4:54pm, small dough stretched on an oiled pan:

Day 2, 6:30pm, small dough risen for 40 minutes:

Day 2, 6:36pm, small dough half baked:

Day 2, 6:36pm, back of half-baked small dough:

Day 2, 6:42pm, naan baked:

Day 2, 6:43pm, back of the naan baked:

Observations:
1. It's all too obvious that naan doesn't look like this!
2. I do not know if the browning is due to the oil or the bran in the flour. But I am sure that the oil has fried the dough at 500F. So next time when I try it, I must avoid using oil.

This is what my husband says: "it tastes pretty good. Just that it's not naan."