Pull Apart Whole Wheat Loaf

I am a big fan of pull apart breads and my family too reciprocates the same feeling. This is my version of a spicy pull apart loaf made of wholewheat flour and filled with a desi style paneer masala. The shaping is adapted from a bake along series on kingarthurflour.com. You can vary the filling according to your preferences. Garlic butter, pesto sauce, pizza sauce or any such sauce can be used as a filling besides using some sweet filling.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• Whole wheat flour 250 gm
• Fine semolina 50 gm
• Salt to taste
• Sugar 1 tsp
• Instant yeast 1/2 – 3/4 tsp
• Olive oil 1 tbsp
• Lukewarm water plus milk around 1cup

For the filling:

• Paneer 100 gm
• Onion 1 medium
• Capsicum 2 small
• Tomato 1 medium
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli powder 1 tsp
• Coriander powder 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves 2 sprigs
• Refined oil 1 tbsp

Method:

To make the filling:

• Finely chop the onion, capsicum and toma to and keep aside. Grate the paneer.
• Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions till it is pink in colour.
• Add the spices, salt and the grated paneer. Mix well and allow it to cool.

To make the dough:

• Mix all the dry ingredients till everything is combined.
• Knead for atleast 9-10 minutes into a soft and elastic dough.
• Keep the dough in a well oiled bowl and cover the bowl with a cling film. Allow the dough to rise and double in volume.
• Punch out the gases and knead for a minute or two.
• Take a bread tin of approximately 9 by 4 inches and oil it well. You can even line it with a parchment paper.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal halves.
• Lightly dust the counter and roll the dough into a big disk. Keep the thickness to less than 1/4 th of an inch.
  
• Use a big lid of approximately 3-4 inches in diameter and cut circles from the rolled dough.
• Fill each circle with a spoon of the filling and fold it into a semi circle. No need to seal the ends. Repeat with the other circles.
• Place the semicircles with the open end facing upwards in the bread tin.
• Stack almost 10-12 semicircles in the bread tin.
• Apply little milk wash in these semi circles.
• Allow it to rise for atleast 25-30 minutes till it is puffy.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for atleast 10-12 minutes.
• Bake the pull apart loaf for 25-30 minutes or till the crust is golden in colour.
• Apply milk wash again and sprinkle some finely chopped coriander leaves on top and bake for 2-3 minutes more.
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