Wednesday, February 24, 2016

BROA DE MILHO (Portuguese Corn Bread)



Broa de Milho ( pronounced as - Bro-aa De Meelyo) is a slightly sweet crusty Portuguese bread made with a mix of wheat or rye flour and corn flour (not cornstarch). In Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, Broa is sweeter and traditionally seasoned with fennel. The origin of the name Broa is from the Gothis word word “brauth” which means bread. Broa is a somewhat dense bread with a fine crumb and is excellent as a dipping bread with soups and stews.
 In Portugal it is traditionally served with Caldo Verde, a potato and kale/ spinach soup but it goes well with most hearty/ rustic soups. This method of making this bread is a little different because it involves cooking the cornmeal/ corn flour in boiling water and letting it cool before adding the other flour and ingredients and kneading to a dough.



Ingredients:
Fine yellow cornmeal - 1 cup
Hot water ..................    3/4 cup
Warm milk ..............     1/2 cup (use little more if needed)
Instant yeast ............. 2 tsps
APF (maida) ............. 2 and 1/2 cups
Salt ............................. 1tsp
Honey or sugar .......... 1 tbsp
Olive oil ...................... 1 tbsp
Extra flour for dusting.

Method:

Put the cornmeal in a bowl and add the hot water to it. Mix together with a whisk or a fork.




 Add 1/2 cup of the warm milk. Mix everything till you have a paste like dough. Let it sit until the mixture cools a little and becomes lukewarm.





Now you can knead by hand or machine. Put the cornmeal dough and all the remaining ingredients Mix together the cornmeal and hot water in a small bowl. Stir in the warm milk, and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.




Now mix all the remaining ingredients and knead well to form a somewhat sticky dough.





Shape the dough into a smooth ball.







Place it in a greased bowl covering with a foil and allow it to rise until double.





It takes about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours in summer. In winter it may take longer.







Remove the dough on a floured surface and knead it lightly for a couple of times.






Shape into a round ball and place it on a greased and lightly floured surface.






 Allow it to rise until puffed up.








Before baking if you wish you can make 3 or 4 slashes about 1/4 inch deep and bake at 240 C (450F) for 10 minutes. Then turn down the heat to 200C (400F) and bake further for 15 to 20 minutes until it is done and golden brown in colour.




Allow it to cool before slicing. This recipe makes one loaf (12 slices)







Note :
If you’re in India, use “makkai ka atta” or the flour that is used to make “Makkai ki Roti”. You can also use the slightly coarse “Corn puttupodi” you get in Kerala. You can substitute half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour if you want, but know that your bread will be a little more dense.

We Knead to Bake # 36 - Broa de Milho
Linking to My Diverse Kitchen
 

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9 comments:

  1. Perfectly baked !! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. I bet this would be so good dipped in some soup.

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  3. These cookies are absolutely Brilliant Shobha

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  4. Beautifully baked. Now I will love it with soup or a bread.

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  5. Shobha, time for me dust off my recipe for this really delicious bread and bake it again. Love the soft crumb and you're right it makes a great dipping bread for soups and stews.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for liking the recipe Mayuri. Hope you enjoy it with the soup.

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