Stuffed Braided Bread

I came across this recipe on Pari's blog Foodilicious. She had done a wonderful job of explaining the process in great detail. Also the bread looked just wonderful and terribly tempting. I had bookmarked it that very moment. I have practically no experience in baking. Very recently I had started with cakes and the initial few were a disaster. So I was putting off baking this bread. However last week, I managed to make a successful batch of muffins and it enhanced my confidence. I knew that time only that the next thing I would bake would be this bread. So I gave it a shot and it turned out just well. The big thanks for the success goes to Pari for giving such detailed instructions on the dough making and braiding. I have modified the filling a bit to suit my needs.

Ingredients For Dough :
Maida (All Purpose Flour) : 2 cups
Butter : 3 tbsp Melted & Cooled
Dry Active Yeast (Fast Action) : 3/4 tbsp
Salt : 1 tsp
Sugar : 1 tsp
Egg : 1
Warm Water To Knead
Egg White for Egg wash

Ingredients For Filling :
Red Onion: 1 Chopped
Tomato : 1 Chopped
Capsicum : 1/4 Cup
Paneer : 200 grams
Corn : 1/2 Cup
Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce : 3-4 tbsp
Black Pepper Powder : Freshly ground 2 tsp
Salt : To Taste
Grated Cheese

Recipe For Filling :
Heat oil in a wok. Add onions. Saute till translucent. Add the capsicum and paneer. Saute some more till onions and paneer are golden brown. Add the chopped tomatoes and the corn. Stir well. Add the salt, black pepper and sweet chilli sauce. Cook till the corn is cooked and soft. I was using frozen corn and so I had boiled it previously. Remove from flame. Cool this filling.





Recipe For Dough :
I was using fast action dried yeast and the packet said that it didn't need proofing and I could directly use it in the recipe.
Sift flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Take another bowl. Beat the egg. Add the butter. Now add the flour and the yeast. Stir it well. Now add little warm water at a time and knead the dough.

Now sprinkle little flour on the platform and knead the dough again for 8-10 minutes. It has to be kneaded to a consistency where dough is not sticking to hands.




Grease a bowl and the dough mildly. Keep the dough in the bowl and cover it with a cling film. Leave it aside for a hour or so to rise. The dough should double in volume.



To check if the dough the risen to its full capacity, press the dough. If it doesnt rebound, then it is done.



Recipe for Braided Bread :
Take a portion from the dough. Around 1/2 of the dough. Roll it out into a rectangular shape. Mine didn't turn out perfect rectangle.



Put the stuffing in the centre of the rectangle. Leave few centimetres from all sides.



Sprinkle cheese on the stuffing.



Leave an inch from the top. Make slanting cuts on both sides at equal distance.




Cover the top rectangular over the filling. Cross the sides like a braid.



Continue braiding till the last cut.



Keep it aside to rise again. For approx half hour more. Cover with a wet cloth to avoid drying.

Apply egg wash or milk wash. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 15-20 minutes. The crust should be golden brown. Do not over bake as it will become hard.

Remove it and cool.




Cut into slices and serve.

Sending it to :

1) Priya Mitharwal's Event "Bookmarked Tuesdays"



2) Priya Mahadevan's event "Fast Food NOT Fat Food"