Focaccia Bread

Bread making was something we started as a necessity while in the North-East and loved it so much that we now regularly make our own bread. The smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house is very comforting and relaxing. Focaccia bread was the first bread we had tried out. Now after a long time, had a free weekend off and we had been planning to try some new type of Focaccia topping. After effects of MasterChef was a Tomato topped one and a caramelised onion topped one. And we believe in using 'atta' in our breads as  much as possible, however, till now we have found that if we use only 'atta' then the bread tends to become heavy and dense, so we are continuously experimenting with different ratios. This bread was being made after a long time, so we decided on an equal proportion of 'atta' and 'maida'. So all you bread lovers - Enjoy

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (atta)
• 1 1/2 cups All purpose Flour (maida) + lots to dust the kneading surface
• 4 Tbsp Yeast
• 3 Tsp Salt
• 3 Tsp Sugar
• 6 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• Oregano, Cummin seeds & Garlic as per your taste, these are entirely optional.

Ingredients for Topping
You can use whatever you like for the topping. The ones we used are

• 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil for brushing the focaccia
• Olives
• Dried Tomatoes (thinly slice one large tomato, and put the slices in the oven at 160 degC for 10-15 min, and you get something like sundried tomatoes)
• Oregano, Rosemary, Basil, Garlic
• Cheese (here we dont get much choice of cheese, so it is mostly cheddar or mozarella or at most gouda)
• Onions (caramelise the onions in butter and oil)
• Mushrooms (sautéed)

The best part of this recipe is that you can top it with whatever you feel like, so feel free and experiment.

Method

• Combine the Flours, yeast, salt and sugar. Add 6 tbsp of Olive oil and te 1 1/2 cups of warm water (Tip - add the water in stages). 
• Mix well to produce a very sticky looking dough. 
• Now transfer this sticky mess onto a well floured kneading surface. Knead well till you get a nice soft elasticy dough (keep adding more flour, little by little, till you get a soft springy dough)
• Keep the dough aside (Tip - grease the container well before you put the dough in it as it tends to stick when you take it out) in a drought free place to rise (we normally pre-heat the oven to 40 deg C, put it off and keep the dough inside the oven to rise)
• Once the dough has risen to almost twice its original size, punch it back in. Split it into 3 equal portions, shape it into whatever shape you want the bread in, we made one flatish focaccia and one regular loaf shaped one (and one portion we stored for making pizzas for the kids, YES you can make pizza bases from the same dough). Keep aside for the final rising for another 30-45 min.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C. Place the shaped doughs on your baking surface (we use regular steel plates and it works out find, just remember to grease the plates before placing the dough on it). Make small indentations on the top surface of the dough, brush liberally with olive oil and add your toppings.
• Bake for 30 min at 180 deg C. You will see the bread rise (it is like magic) and somewhere close to 20 min into baking an amazing aroma of freshly baked bread will start mesmerising you. This is the best indication that your bread is baking well. After 30 min, leave the bread in the hot oven for another 10-15 min, then take it out and keep to cool on a wire rack (we use the wire rack of the oven itself) for another 15 min. Viola, your bread is ready.

I dont think we need to give any tips on how to eat the bread. You can eat it with anything, and just as it is as well. Add some butter or some extra virgin olive oil and eat it - it tastes amazing, especially when the bread is nice and warm.
Cheers