What is a Challah?
Challah, pronounced Ha-lah, is a sweet brioche like bread which is often used as the bread for Shabbat meals celebrating Jewish traditions. Traditionally, you say your prayers over this bread before starting dinner and make sure everyone around the table eats a piece to share its blessing.
The bread is sweet, soft and airy yet elastic . It works so beautifully with the taste of spicey food, any variation of spreads or salads or my favorite, dipped into some good sauce where poultry, meat or fish were cooked in.
You can braid it in various different ways, the classic 3 braid form, 6 braid, long, round, thick, thin or anything in between- the dough is really very easy to work with. I personally prefer the 6 braided long type, you can see an easy video tutorial made here by the wonderful Maya. After 2-3 tries you will master it.
Baking times vary with different ovens, but with a few taps with your fingers on the bottom of the loaf you can easily determine how baked it is, a hollow sound will let you know it’s ready to take out. Also, the smell in the house is not something you can ignore, a perfect way to get everyone hungry before dinner.
Combine it with some Matbucha and thank me later 😉
Here is a video I made of the process, and also how to make challah buns: https://youtu.be/DYHV1zGDitM
- 1kg (2.2 lbs) All-purpose flour
- 22g (0.8 oz) Instant dried yeast
- 1 Tbps Bread Improver (Optional)
- ¾ Cup (150g/ 5.29 oz) granulated sugar
- ½ Cup (118ml) vegetable oil (or melted butter)
- 3 Large eggs (one for brushing the bread)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1¾ (415 ml) cups of luke warm water
- Sesame Seeds
- In the bowl of a mixer attached with dough hook, add flour, yeast and sugar. Mix it around a bit and then add salt.
- Add oil, 2 eggs and start the mixer for 2 minutes.
- Slowly add first cup of water, and continue to add more until the dough is formed and does not stick to the sides of the bowl.
- Let it knead for 10 minutes (you can also knead by hand)
- Place in a large, well oiled bowl and cover tightly with a moist towel or plastic wrap. Leave in a warm spot for 1 hour or until it doubles it doubles in size
- Oil the surface you're working on with a few drops and divide the dough into two (use weight for accuracy)
- Divide each piece into the number of balls you want to braid into (use weight for accuracy)
- Using a rolling pin or your hand, apply pressure on the ball and spread it lenght wise in an oval shape
- Fold it, length wise from one side and bring the other side on top of it. Then roll it with your hands into a rope and repeart with all the pieces. If the ropes shrink as you try to roll them, let them rest for a few minutes to allow the gluten to relax and then try again.
- Braid the loaf in your preferred shape, repeat the following with both loafs.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the braided bread on it. Sprinkle the top with a little bit of flour. Cover with a clean dry towel and place it back in you warm spot. Let it rise until puffed, about an hour.
- About 20 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 150 degrees (turbo mode) and scramble the remaining egg.
- Brush the Challah carefully, getting into every corner and on the bottom sides. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden, depending on your oven. Check if it's ready by taking the loaf out and gently tapping the bottom with your fingers. If you get a good hollow sound - the Challah is ready!
- Cover the Challah with a tean towel immediatelly when it comes out of the oven and let cool. covered before slicing.
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