There is a pot of soup bubbling away on the stove and you are just a little bit proud of yourself for coming up with a way of finishing off that crusty loaf that you bought a few days ago.
And you are just a tad excited about tearing off chunks of said loaf and dipping them into that incredible soup you’ve just made.
Then you open the bread bag and you pull out the remainder of the loaf.
Is it just a bit harder than you remembered? No matter, it’s probably soft in the middle
Say, what are those teeny tiny bluish dots on the cut surface of said bread? You know the ones.
Now did you pick up this bread two days ago on the way home from work? Or perhaps a week ago just after your gym session?
For a second you wonder if maybe you could just work with this here. You contemplate slicing off the fungal colonies and acting like it ain’t no thing.
Don’t be judging now………..we’ve all been there.
Then the Voice of Reason (VOR) in that brain of yours (it turns out she’s still there) speaks up. In one swift move the half loaf is in the bin and you are all souped up with no-where to go.
The shops are closed by now and it’s too cold to go out anyway. ‘Proper’ bread-making with all that kneading and rising is out of the question- you are so hungry that you’re likely to eat the dough raw and give yourself bloat.
So now what?
VOR tries to make up for things by suggesting you try and make that Irish soda bread you’ve been meaning to try and make. You take her advice but not being able to help yourself you throw in some spices and Indianise it a little.
What you end up with is a super tasty and crusty loaf that takes less than an hour to make.
Good one, VOR!
No yeast?
Don’t get your knickers in a knot…..this thing uses bi-carb soda which everyone has, right? Right.
This bread is the bomb. It makes soup dinner when previously it was just soup. And in the morning, you may just want to toast it and slather it with some good butter or cream cheese.
If an Irish person and an Indian person got together and had a baby, that baby would be this bread. Actually the only Irish-Indian baby I know is way cuter than this bread but I’m sticking to my metaphor all the same.
Masala Soda Bread
Modified from BBC Food
Get:
1 tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp chilli powder (less if you prefer)
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
2 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Make:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Toast the cumin seeds in a small pan until fragrant.
Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk. Stir until just combined. The dough should be quite moist but not sticky. Add a little more buttermilk if it is too stiff. With clean hands, on a floured surface, bring the dough together kneading very lightly until it is a flat ball. Place in a skillet or tray lined with grease-proof paper Make 2 deep indentations in the dough in a cross shape. Sprinkle a few more cumin seeds over the top if desired.
If you would like a softer exterior, cover loosely with foil. For a crusty exterior, leave uncovered. Bake for 30-40 mins until baked through. You can test this the way you would a cake- by passing a clean knife into the centre.
onesmallpot 