Sweet Bread

Goan Sweet Bread - Poee

This recipe was an experiment to recreate a sweet bread found in Goan markets based on feedback from members of the Traditional Goan Foodies group on Facebook. I've used this recipe to create a template of sorts that can then be further modified based on individual preferences. I created a thinner Pita style bread and a Goan Poee style bread using this recipe, and loved both versions. 

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar (adjust up or down as required)
1 cup water or milk
2 teaspoon yeast (I've used active dried yeast)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil or butter
1 egg (optional)

Directions:
1. Get your ingredients and work space ready before you begin.


2. Mix a 1/4 cup of flour with the yeast and add in 1/2 cup of warm water or milk to it. Let it sit for around 15 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble and froth.


3. Mix in the remaining flour, sugar, salt and oil or butter in a mixing bowl while waiting for the yeast to activate. Add in the optional egg if you're going to use it but remember to adjust water or milk for the dough accordingly.


4. Add in the yeast mixture once it's frothy and work all the ingredients into a smooth and slightly tacky dough by adding in a little water or milk as you're kneading it. Note: Knead the dough well for approximately 8 - 10 minutes.


5. Once you have a smooth ball of dough, place it in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth or cling film and let it rest for about an hour, or until it doubles in size.


6. Once the dough has doubled in size, place it back on your work surface, punch it down and then cut it into 6 even pieces. Mine were approximately 120gms each.


7. Roll the pieces into smooth balls and place them on a tray.



8. Cover them with a damp cloth and let them rest for approximately 5 - 10 minutes. Turn on your oven at this time and heat it to 450 - 500F (225 - 250C),if possible. You want the oven to be as hot as it can so that the bread rises fast, and creates a lot of steam in order to puff up.


9. This is where I started experimenting with size and thickness. I first rolled out an approximately 9 inch circle with the dough, which then shrank down to approximately 8 or so inches.


10. I placed a couple on a baking sheet and into the oven they went.


11. They puffed up beautifully. I let them cook until they started to brown, and then pulled them out.


12. Voila! Pita style sweet bread. These were yummy and fantastic with some butter smeared in them. :)


13. For the next part of the experiment I rolled them out thicker, approximately 6 inches in size and let them shrink down to just under that. The end result was a thicker, fluffier bread similar to the sweet poee from Goa.

This was a fun little project and I'm definitely going to be experimenting with this sweet bread some more. I hope that you try it out too and find what works best for you. 

Enjoy!

Please feel free to reach out to me with feedback and/or suggestions at ddsouza@gmail.com

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