Ethiopian Honey Challah Food

ETHIOPIAN MILK AND HONEY BREAD (YEMARINA YEWOTET DABO)

Steps:

• Mixing and First Rise
• Bloom the instant yeast for 2-3 minutes by combining it in a small bowl with the warm water and sugar.
• In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients.
• In a small bowl, mix the slightly warmed milk, honey, and egg.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with the yeast-sugar-water and mix thoroughly. Cover and let the dough sit about 15 minutes to develop the the gluten.
• Pour the oil over the dough and work it in by squishing and kneading for several minutes. Cover and let the dough rest another 15 minutes.
• Do 1-2 rounds of stretching and folding with a 15-minute rest in between.
• Cover and let the dough rise for another 1.5-2 hours or until the dough has doubled. In a warm summer kitchen, my dough rose for about 2 hours total from initial mixing to doubled. In a cooler kitchen, the dough may need longer.
• Shaping and Second Rise
• Wash and dry your banana leaves.
• Line a 9" springform pan with the leaves, making sure you have excess for wrapping over the top of the dough. (See the photo gallery below)
• Lightly oil the leaves on all parts that will touch the dough.
• Gently scrape the dough out of your bowl and into the pan. With damp fingertips, press the dough to gently de-gas it and spread it evenly in the pan. Wrap the leaves over the top of the dough, not tightly on top but with no exposed dough.
• Let the dough rise again for 1-1.5 hours until the leaves/dough are cresting over the top edge of the pan.
• Baking
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Place the pan on the middle rack and bake for 55 minutes. Check on the bread partway through the bake and carefully re-cover it with the leaves if some pop off from the oven spring. Bread in a heavier/thicker pan may need longer to bake. Aim for an internal temp over 200F.
• After baking, pop open the springform latch and let the bread cool on a rack for about 20 minutes before removing it from the pan and peeling off the leaves.
• Serve warm if desired, for breakfast, snack, or dessert.

HONEY CHALLAH

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup warm water. Separate two eggs; refrigerate two egg whites. Place remaining egg yolks and eggs in a large bowl. Add 2/3 cup honey, oil, salt, yeast mixture, 3 cups flour and remaining warm water; beat on medium speed 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky)., Pour boiling water over raisins in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Knead in raisins. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 1-1/2 hours., Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Divide one portion into six pieces. Roll each into a 16-in. rope. Place ropes parallel on a greased baking sheet; pinch ropes together at the top. , To braid, take the rope on the right and carry it over the two ropes beside it, then slip it under the middle rope and carry it over the last two ropes. Lay the rope down parallel to the other ropes; it is now on the far left side. Repeat these steps until you reach the end. As the braid moves to the left, you can pick up the loaf and re-center it on your work surface as needed. Pinch ends to seal and tuck under. For a fuller loaf, using your hands, push the ends of the loaf closer together. Repeat process with remaining dough. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg whites and honey with water; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to a wire rack to cool.