Garlic Knots

After baking my first Crescent rolls with yeast, I was super excited and wanted to try out something else. And the next one was Garlic knots that I had seen on Suma’s blog - another inspiration for baking, who lives in the same city as me - making me reassured that we can bake with ingredients in Bangalore too!So just after a couple of days after the first attempt, I made these garlic knots. And I did all the kneading myself, unlike last time when Dee had helped me. I baked them when everyone else at home had gone out and it was almost ready when they came back. Dee loved it, especially it was with garlic.It was a little harder the next day than it should have been, because I ran short of flour, and reduced the quantity to 2/3rds of everything. I guess I’d have messed with some measurement. I suggest you to follow the exact measurement to get the perfect bread.Here’s the exact recipe...These go to Champa’s Bake-off.

Garlic Knots

Preparation time : 10 min Baking time : 15 - 20 minutes Makes : ~15 Ingredients: Plain Flour/ Maida/ All Purpose Flour - 3 cups Sugar - 1 Tbsp Instant dry yeast - 2 ¼ tsp Salt 1 ½ tsp Olive oil - 2 Tbsp Milk, lukewarm - ¼ cup Warm water - 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp For the glaze: Garlic - 4 cloves, minced butter - 3 Tbsp, melted Italian seasoning - ½ tsp (I used Oregano and Chili flakes) Method: • In a large bowl, add warm water and sugar and mix • Add in the yeast and let it proof for 10 minutes. If the yeast does not create bubbles, then it is bad • Once the yeast proofs, add oil, salt, milk • Mix in the flour and knead. • This is a very sticky dough, so working with it is difficult initially. Knead for 10-12 minutes, and the stickiness will be gone. As Suma says, do not get tempted to add any more flour • Coat it with some oil and keep in a warm place, covered with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to double - this might take 1 to 2 hours depending on the temperature. Making the knots: • After the dough has doubled in volume, gently punch it down to release the air bubbles • Grease a baking tray and keep ready • On lightly oiled kitchen platform, divide the dough into balls - the size of a chapathi ball • Roll each one into a log with your greased palm. The length should be about 10 inches. • Tie a knot and tuck the two ends inside as shown in the figures below • Place it on the greased baking tray, allowing space in between for rising • Repeat with all the balls • Keep it the tray in a a warm place again, for the second rise. I left it for about 30 minutes • Pre heat the oven to 190 deg C • Brush the rolls with mixture of ingredients given under ‘For Glaze’ • Bake for 18-20 minutes, till it turns a light golden brown • Once done, turn it on to a wire rack and let cool • Enjoy the knots, warm or cold! Tastes great with a bowl of soup. Tips n Tricks: • I use my microwave in convection mode for baking. I’m still not happy with my OTG. I preheated the oven to 40 deg C and left the dough in the oven to rise, and it worked fine. It doubled in about an hour and quarter • Use the exact measurements for better results Variations: • I felt the knots could have had some flavoring as well, apart from the glaze. I think I’ll add some herbs next time