Try this Braided Chicken Bread recipe, or contribute your own.
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- for the dough:
- 2 eggs (1 egg for the dough and 1 to glaze the bread)
- 1 teaspoon granulated or castor sugar (i used granulated)
- 1/2 cup warm water for kneading the dough
- for the chicken filling
- 2 cups boiled and shredded chicken
- 2 medium red onions
- 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
- 4 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander
- 3 chopped green chilies (de-seeded if you prefer the
- sesame seeds for the topping (optional)
- Carbohydrate 467.775648453444 g
- Cholesterol 100.006250056595 mg
- Fat 258.20879288704 g
- Fiber 24.9182874268319 g
- Protein 76.6688703365187 g
- Saturated Fat 50.7466762661946 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1841g)
- Sodium 6734.97423208225 mg
- Sugar 442.857361026612 g
- Trans Fat 15.9161132189989 g
- Calories 4475 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 200 C.
- In a large mixing bowl combine 4 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon instant yeast, 2 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoon oil, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar.
- Form the dough by slowly adding warm water. Be sure to do this gradually, as you don't want a very wet dough.
- Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is soft and springs back at the touch of a finger.
- Cover the dough and let it rise for about 1 hour in a warm place nearby the oven.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the chicken filling.
- In a medium sized saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 chopped red onions.
- Cook the onions till they are just translucent, we don't want any color on them.
- Add 2 tablespoons of flour and let it cook for about 1 minute while stirring continuously.
- Pour in 1½ cups of milk and stir slowly until it becomes thick.
- Add the shredded chicken, coriander, green chilies, black pepper and salt. Let cool.
- After the dough has risen, divide it into 2 equal sized balls.
- Roll one dough ball into a rectangular shape. Brush some melted butter over it.
- Put your cooled chicken filling in the middle of the rectangle and cut diagonal slits on the longer sides of the rectangle.
- Fold over the slits in a criscross fashion, neatly folding at the end. (Refer to to the pictures below to see the method).
- Repeat this for the second dough ball.
- Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Place the breads on a greased baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
- Enjoy with chili garlic ketchup!
Building a sturdy bread crust around a wet filling requires strict adherence to hydration ratios. Adding warm water too fast creates a slack dough that collapses under the weight of the chicken filling. Pour water gradually during the ten-minute knead until the gluten network forms enough elasticity to spring back at a fingertip touch. Without that structural integrity, the braided strips tear during the cross-over fold.
Managing Dairy and Flour Swaps
Substitutions alter moisture levels significantly. Replacing the 1.5 cups of milk with water changes the thickening power of the roux. Butter combined with two tablespoons of flour needs continuous stirring for one full minute to cook out the raw starch taste before the dairy goes in. If the roux breaks, the filling weeps liquid into the dough during the thirty-minute bake at 200 C, leaving a gummy interior beneath the golden crust.Temperature Control
Hot filling destroys yeast dough on contact. Cool the shredded chicken mixture completely before placing it down the center of the rolled rectangle. Warm meat melts the butter brushed on the dough and softens the gluten strands prematurely. Seal the ends tightly to prevent steam expansion from blowing open the diagonal cuts before the crust sets.
