Soft homemade milk bread
When it comes to food, the most comforting and simple word is “bread”. All over the world we eat bread in some form. The crunch and smell of bread is divine.
Although I come from a land where rice and fish is the staple food, bread has always been my favorite. I had whole wheat sliced bread for breakfast, a crispy roti made with cumin and black salt as a snack, soft tawa rotis for lunch and dinner. I also swapped the rotis with luchis, naan or parathas from time to time.
Sunday breakfast during my childhood consisted of two types of bread. One type included crispy toasted bread with a side dish of molten butter. We dipped the bread in butter, instead of spreading it. It has more calories but children love it.
My second type consisted of luchis with any type of curry. Luchisare flat breads, where the dough is kneaded with hot water, salt and a pinch of sugar. They are then made into round balls, flattened and deep fried.
I know, all the above types are unhealthy and full of calories, but I didn't care, I was too much in love with BREAD!!!
Luchi - A deep fried mini bread served with lentils. A specialty of West Bengal, India.
In winters, my love with parathasbegan. I had aloo parathas (parathas stuffed with potatoes), muli parathas (parathas stuffed with raddish), meethi parathas (parathas stuffed with fenugreek leaves), jeera parathas (parathas stuffed with cumin seeds), onion parathas, palak parathas (parathasstuffed spinach) , peas parathas and the list just goes on.....to make it more juicy and heavenly, I used to drop a dollop of butter when they were piping hot. The butter melts it way through giving you the most magical bite.
When I was in high school, my mother introduced me to European breads. I was in a new and adventurous world of bread rolls, baguettes, croissants, focaccia, bagel and many more. Oh how I love the smell and site of it! The taste was so exciting to me!
I hope by now you know my long and never ending love affair with breads! I just want to show you how breads are made in India. Have a look!
Feeling so hungry!!!