Since ancient times, one of the Russian Orthodox traditions was considered the manufacture of bread in monasteries. Surprisingly, the practice of cooking monastery bread has survived even the Soviet Union and continues to this day. It should be understood that this product in its natural form is quite rare and has its own niche of customers who seek to eat products prepared exclusively from plant products without the addition of margarine and eggs, as well as various chemical additives and preservatives. This article will discuss how to independently prepare leaven monastery bread with sourdough.
What is bread from the monastery?
At the moment, food production is shifting to automatic labor at an accelerated pace. Indeed, in this way, you can significantly save time and money, which are so important for entrepreneurs. However, in practice it has long been noticed: such changes lead to the fact that the quality of the product made in this way is much lower.
It is worth preparing for the fact that independently at home it will be incredibly difficult to prepare yeast-free monastic bread and require time and effort. The direct recipe of the product requires adhering to ancient methods in baking. But the bread cooked in this way will be not only incredibly tasty, but also healthy.
Cooking features
As mentioned earlier, monastic bread without yeast requires adherence to ancient methods. First of all, you need to prepare exclusively natural ingredients. Therefore, you should immediately set aside the yeast. When preparing this type of bread, they have never been used, since it is believed that only lazy people can cook on yeast.
Therefore, you should prepare for the fact that you will need to first learn how to prepare the leaven for bread, since it is here that plays the main role. It will take more than one day to cook it, so you need to do it in advance.
Pros of monastery baking
Quite a lot of doctors are of the opinion that baked by yeast baking is harmful to health, as the mushrooms contained in them can provoke the development of various malignant tumors and formations in the body. That is why monastery bread is so useful - the absence of yeast in it completely removes this factor.
In addition, the fermentation itself is prepared by means of a fermentation process with the use of beneficial sour-milk bacteria. Such baking is perfectly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, since these microorganisms are natural for the gastric environment.
In addition to the above benefits, sourdough bread has a more delicate texture and excellent taste. Once in the body, it is digested very quickly, and therefore does not start the fermentation process in the body itself. In addition, despite the fact that no baking powder is used in the preparation, the monastery bread can be stored for quite some time without spoiling.
Sourdough Ingredients
The first step is to prepare an excellent sourdough for bread. At home, it will be quite difficult to do, but if you select high-quality ingredients and provide the necessary conditions, then it is completely possible. So, to prepare the starter culture you need to take:
- 1/2 cup rye flour;
- 1/2 cup barley grains;
- 1 cup wheat grains;
- 1 cup of premium white flour;
- 40 grams of sugar.
In a modern city, it will be quite difficult to find high-quality barley and wheat grains. Therefore, it is best to go to a health food store and buy grains for germination there - they will be most useful.
Sourdough cooking
After all the ingredients for the starter culture suitable for the monastery bread are collected, it is necessary to proceed directly to its production.
- To do this, you first need to mix the barley and wheat grains with each other, and then pour them into a deep bowl. Next, these ingredients are poured with ordinary cool water so that they completely hide under it.
- Dishes should be set aside exactly one day, but before that the bowl is covered tightly with a cloth. After this time, excess moisture is drained. However, this does not mean that the grain is prepared. Then you need to wet a piece of matter and cover it with mixed wheat and barley. So the mixture should stand for several days. It is worth checking it periodically to prevent the rags from drying out.
- During this time, the grain should already have sprouted, so you should proceed to the next step. You will need to take a meat grinder, and then twist the sprouted cereals through it. Next, pre-sifted flour of both varieties, as well as sugar, is added to the resulting mixture.
- All you need to transfer to the pan and put on a small fire. Fermentation takes about one hour with constant stirring. Ready sourdough is left for another day in a warm place.
This is the basis for sourdough. It should be stored in the refrigerator. Subsequently, to obtain a new starter culture, you just need to take a small amount of the mixture and add the right amount of flour and water to it. The consistency of the resulting mixture should resemble a thick dough with virtually no liquid.
Monastery Bread Recipe
As soon as an excellent sourdough is ready, then, you can say, most of the cooking work is done. So it’s worth the next step. To make a tasty and fragrant loaf you will need:
- about 6 tablespoons of sourdough;
- 500 ml of water;
- 300 grams of rye flour;
- 300 grams of premium wheat flour;
- a teaspoon of salt;
- a tablespoon of sugar;
- about one and a half tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Step cooking
The preparation of monastery bread is a very responsible matter, so you should carefully follow the instructions below:
- First of all, put the necessary amount of leaven in a bowl. Water should be added to it, which must first be heated (the optimum temperature is about 38 degrees). Then rye flour is added to the resulting mixture. Everything needs to be thoroughly mixed, closed and put for a while in a warm place until a dough appears.
- As soon as the dough foams well, it needs to be mixed well again and poured into the jar exactly in the quantity that it was originally. The can is then covered with a napkin and put away in the refrigerator until the right moment.
- Then sugar, salt, wheat flour and vegetable oil are added to the dough. The resulting mixture in consistency will be noticeably less dense than ordinary dough, which is kneaded. So you just need to take a spoon and stir until the dough is smooth and without lumps.
- When the thick mass is ready, it needs to be covered and put in a warm place for an hour for lifting and thickening.
The right way to make bread
While the dough is being prepared, it is necessary to take baking dishes. If desired, they can be covered with baking paper or simply greased with vegetable oil - there will not be much difference. As soon as the dough increases, it needs to be transferred to the form and again covered for one hour. As soon as this time is up, the bread must be greased on top with plain water, and then sprinkled with sunflower seed and cilantro for beauty and good.
The monastery bread is being prepared in the oven, previously heated to 220 degrees. Thus, you need to cook it for about half an hour, and then lower the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. During cooking, at the lowest level of the oven, it is necessary to put a bowl of water so that it constantly releases steam when it is warmed up. As soon as the bread is ready, it needs to be transferred to the grid and covered with a towel. It is recommended to eat such baked goods only 5 hours after it has completely cooled down. So cut the bread and serve.
Conclusion
If you want to try to cook a truly delicious and healthy bread, then pay attention to this recipe. Let there be more fuss with him than with a simple one, but the final result will simply amaze you with its taste and aroma. The recipe with centuries-old traditions, which has long been used by monks, has been passed down from generation to generation and still has not lost its relevance. Even one piece of this baking will be remembered for many years, so it definitely deserves the time and effort you spent. And the leaven prepared once can then be used for a long time.