Sometimes in the recipe for baking and other dishes created from dough, starch can be seen as part of the necessary ingredients. According to experts, depending on which raw material this product is derived from, it is divided into types: corn, potato, wheat, rice, sorghum, etc., which differ slightly from each other in their properties and composition. For many plants, starch is the main accumulator of energy. Why is starch added to the dough? Let's try to figure it out.
Structure and properties
The use of starch in baking and cooking is generally based on some features of the properties of the product and the structure of its grains. Starch grains have a crystalline, finely porous structure (the exception is wheat starch, whose grains are round or elliptical).
As a result of wetting or heating, the starch granules swell, become more loose, their volume increases. This process is called gelatinization. In this state, the product becomes malleable to various amylolytic enzymes.
Why is starch added to the dough?
The type of starch for its use in cooking is chosen in accordance with the goals that are planned to be achieved. To properly use this product, you need to know why starch is added to the dough. There may be several reasons for chefs to use this product. Let's try to figure them out.
Why do you need corn starch?
This product, according to experts, is the most tender. Usually it is used in baking, if necessary, to make biscuits more juicy and soft. Corn starch does not contain gluten, so it is actively used in medical and dietary nutrition. Baking from dough mixed with corn starch turns out to be very pleasant, crumbly and aromatic, it has a particularly bright taste and a golden brown crust. Excellent casseroles, muffins, muffins, cakes, pancakes and pancakes are baked from corn starch dough. In this case, the products do not feel the usual mealy flavor at all.
About Potato Starch
This product, which is also called "potato flour", is the most popular in Russia. It is added to cream and berry fillings for pies in order to thicken them. Potato starch is added to the dough in the manufacture of shortbread cakes and cookies, butter biscuits in order to give them a special friability, a softer and wetter feeling when bitten, openness of the crumb texture.
Wheat starch
This product is added to the dough in order to enhance the quality of the flour. Recipes of dough with wheat starch are used in baking pies, muffins and biscuits, due to which the products acquire a larger volume, softness, “graininess”, their structure and taste are significantly improved. An advantage of wheat starch is experts consider its high palatability. From wheat starch, a paste with a low viscosity and greater transparency is obtained, in comparison with a paste from corn starch.
What gives starch in the test?
If 30 percent of the flour is replaced with wheat starch in a biscuit cake mix, this will not only significantly improve the structure, volume, and taste properties of the dough, but the shelf life of the biscuit will significantly increase. In confectionery products, replacing 30 percent of flour with wheat starch provides an increase in their softness, reduces the consumption of fat, necessary to ensure friability of the dough, by 18-20%. By replacing wheat starch (non-pasteurized) 30 percent of the flour also facilitates the rolling of cookies. In the process of making bread, starch is necessary to perform the following functions:
- it is a source of fermentable carbohydrates in the dough;
- when kneading with this substance, up to 80% of moisture is absorbed;
- during baking, starch absorbs moisture and is involved in the formation of bread crumb; it is starch that causes stale bread during storage - the starch paste becomes old, resulting in stale bread.
About the use of starch in the home kitchen
Answering the question of why starch is added to the dough, housewives share their experience with this product and some tips: it would be nice to add starch to the biscuit dough.
From this, it will become drier, airier, loose and light. You can also use it in the process of making fruit or apple pie. A good idea is to use this product when baking a variety of confectionery products: rolls, muffins, etc.
How much starch to put in the dough? During kneading, you can replace starch with 20-30% flour. You can add more to pancakes.
Professional and home-cooks give advice: if starch is added to the dough, knead it exclusively on milk and dairy products. Due to the fact that the starch dessert is not given a particularly expressive taste, you should not forget about spices.
Dough for manti
An especially good idea, experts say, is adding starch to the dough for manti. This is necessary so that the dough does not tear, being as thin as possible. It is simply impossible to achieve this without starch, experienced housewives assure.
Dough for manti should be rolled as thin as possible. When sculpting, the edges of the dough are wrapped so that it is not collected in thick folds, but lies evenly. The thinner the dough is rolled, the more delicious the products are. The skill of making manti is evaluated precisely by how thinly rolled dough is used to sculpt them.
For those who don’t know how to thinly roll out the dough for making manti, pasties, pancakes, dumplings or dumplings, experienced craftswomen give valuable advice: when preparing these dishes, the dough should certainly be added to starch. During the cooking process, the dough will not break. It can be poured as finely as possible (when baking pancakes) in a pan or the finest rolling out of dough for dumplings, manti, etc.
Classic recipe
The classic manti dough recipe does not contain starch. The hostesses themselves began to add it, modifying the recipe. Used products:
- one glass of warm water;
- one egg;
- one teaspoon of salt;
- two glasses of flour.
How to cook?
In a deep bowl, flour is sieved through a sieve. This should be done in order to exclude the appearance of lumps and enrich the flour with oxygen. Inside, they make a deepening and carefully hammer an egg in there and add water, salt. The optimum temperature of the water used to knead the dough is t = 40 degrees.
They begin to knead the dough from the middle, so the water can gradually absorb all the flour. Knead for 15 minutes. The consistency of the mass should be steep and uniform. Then the dough is wrapped in a bag or cling film and left alone for about an hour.
Mistresses recommend adding starch to the classic dough recipe. Of two glasses of flour used in the preparation, one can be replaced with a similar amount of starch. The dough will be easier to roll and will not tear.
The infused dough is again kneaded and rolled into a layer with a thickness of about two millimeters. For real manti, the dough should be rolled out very thinly - this assesses the skill of the cook. The thinner the dough is rolled, the tastier the manti will be. Next, the dough is cut into squares (15x15 cm).
Tip: the sliced ​​dough pieces will not dry out if they are covered with polyethylene, otherwise the dough will break and it will be difficult to work with it.
Then, minced meat (in a tablespoon) prepared in advance is applied to each square. Next, the stage of modeling manti begins directly, requiring considerable skill and skill.
Manti recipe with minced meat and pumpkin
There are many ways to prepare this dish, which is traditionally classified as Asian and Oriental and cuisine (although some Siberian nationalities consider it their national treat). We suggest you familiarize yourself with one of the recipes in which starch is used.
Product Composition
To prepare a dough for twenty mantis use:
- flour - three glasses;
- water - one glass;
- salt - half a teaspoon;
- vegetable oil (one 1 tablespoon);
- one egg
- starch - two to three tablespoons.
To prepare the filling you will need:
- meat (300-400 g), lamb and beef;
- onions (400 g);
- pumpkin (300-400 g);
- Kurdyuk (100 g);
- ice water (a quarter cup);
- spices: zira, coriander, pepper, salt;
- tomato juice (if desired).
About making dough
The flour is sieved and mixed with starch. The water is heated. Break an egg into a glass, salt, add vegetable oil (1 tbsp. L.) And mix thoroughly, while pouring water (heated). The resulting warm mixture is poured into flour and knead the dough.
After the dough becomes homogeneous, it is wrapped in a film (food grade) and put in the refrigerator for an hour (or overnight).
How to cook the filling?
The meat is chopped with a knife, chopped onion and pumpkin, cut the fat tail a little larger. Rub the onion with salt. Add some spices (half a teaspoon). If desired, you can also add tomato juice (a little). Then ice water is added and everything is kneaded. Fat tail with the rest of the ingredients can not be mixed, but simply lay out a few pieces in each of the manti on top of the filling.
Modeling
The dough is rolled into a bundle of about 3-4 cm thickness, then it is divided into 3 equal parts. Each part is again rolled into a tourniquet (thinner - about 2-3 cm thick) and divided into 6 - 7 equal parts. Each of the pieces is rolled out, laid out the filling on them and sculpted manti. Finished products are dipped in vegetable oil and laid out in the mantle. Spray from above with water and put on fire. The water in the mantle should be salted. Prepares the dish in 45 minutes.
How to cook "porcelain" manti?
These manti are called “porcelain” because of the special lean dough with starch. Products are thin, white and extremely delicate. Use any filling, traditionally this dish is prepared with meat.
Four Serving Ingredients
Use:
- 200 grams of corn starch;
- 100 grams of flour;
- half a teaspoon of salt;
- water (one glass).
To prepare the filling you will need:
- 0.5 kg of pork;
- three branches of parsley;
- one tomato;
- one onion;
- pepper and salt to taste;
- two cloves of garlic;
- half a teaspoon of ginger (ground);
- one tablespoon of teriyaki sauce and soy.
Cooking
The pork is twisted in a meat grinder with a small nozzle. Also chopped onion (onion), tomato and garlic. Parsley (minced), pepper, ginger, sauce (soy and teriyaki) are added to the minced meat and mixed until smooth.
The dough is divided into equal pieces, each of which is crushed by hand and rolled into a circle, wetting the edges with water. The minced meat is laid out in the center and the edges are plucked as in a khinkali, but the middle is left open. (Important! Billets should be kept under the lid, as the dough kneaded on starch dries very quickly.) Cook the product for half an hour. Finished products are laid out on a dish, poured into each of them by a teaspoon of butter (melted). Served with sauces.