Bread - Gurmat Bibek

Ingredients:

• 700g of Strong White Flour

• 1 teaspoon of Dried Yeast

• 1 teaspoon White Sugar (preferably golden)

• ½ to 1 tablespoon of salt

• 425ml of Hot Water (not boiled)

Instructions:

1. Grease 900g bread loaf tin well

2. Preheat your oven to the lowest temperature setting available

3. Put the yeast, sugar, salt water and flour into the mixing bowl and combine. Then make a well in the middle of the mixture, and carefully pour in the water. The water should then be mixed in with a wooden spoon, until such time as you can work it with your hands. You may or may not need to add small splashes of water, depending on the dough's consistency.

4. Once the mixing bowl is almost clean of flour, transfer the dough mixture onto a clean work surface. Be careful if you choose to flour the surface, as the added flour can make the bread heavy. An alternative is to use a little vegetable (preferably olive) oil on the surface to stop adhesion.

5. You can then start kneading the bread until it becomes elastic - you shouldn't need to knead for more than 5 minutes - and then transfer back into your mixing bowl and cover with cling film. Make sure to leave the dough at room temperature for a couple of hours at least, until the dough has visibly 'grown' to more than twice the original size. Putting a small amount of cooking oil onto the cling film will stop it sticking to your dough mixture.

6. After the 'rest' period, you'll need to knead the bread again for two or three minutes to help rid of any air bubbles that have formed. The dough can then be rolled out into an oblong shape to fit the loaf tin.

7. At this point you should start preheating the oven to 450F or Gas Mark

8. The dough can then be placed in the pre-greased baking tins (make sure that they are greased liberally) and left at room temperature for 60 minutes. You will notice that the dough continues to rise during this time. Ideally the dough should have risen enough to poke over the top of the loaf tin before being placed in the oven.

9. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about three quarters of an hour. The way to test if the loaf is cooked all the way through is to tap the base of the loaf. If it sounds hollow then the loaf is ready and can be removed from the loaf tin upside down. For extra crustiness, the loaf can be put back in the oven out of the tin for a further 10 minutes or so, before removing and leaving to cool.