The nostalgic thoughts of Goan poee, a whole wheat, round flatbread that is slightly puffed and hollow in the middle were on my mind today. My mind does not separate poee from the poder ( baker) and the unmistakable sound of his horn early in the morning. Arriving on his bicycle, the poder announces his arrival with the loud honking of a rubber horn that wakes up any sleepy head with the seduction of fresh, warm bread delivered right to your doorstep.
At my husband's house in Saligao, Goa, it was my father-in-law who was the early riser. He would start the coffee as soon as he awoke and when the poder arrived with his sweet melody it was my father-in-law that made his way out to get the poee for our breakfast. These were the sweet sounds I would hear in the morning as the rooster crowed and life slowly unfolded in the Goa villages.
When we first visited from Canada with my one year old son who was an early riser, my father-in-law would pick up the baby before venturing outside to meet the poder. My son would then accompany his grandfather in the morning routine armed with a fresh poee all to himself and still happily chewing on his prize when we awoke later for breakfast. Needless to say the poee looked so big in his little hands and gave us all something to smile about.
Far from Goa one can only imagine the sweet sounds and flavors of village life. We therefore try to recreate some of these flavors in our kitchens in faraway lands and reminisce of times spent with family in our native lands.
This evening I read an excerpt from a book called Crumbs: Bread Stories and Recipes from the Indian Kitchen, Saee Koranne-Khandekar, Hachette.
It was such an interesting read that I went ahead and ordered the book. At the end of the excerpt the author had a recipe for poee which I modified and used for this recipe. It should be noted that poee is traditionally made from whole wheat flour even though it is not specified in this recipe. I got 21 poee from this recipe so you can halve the ingredients if it is too much for you. I would also recommend using a 50:50 proportion of regular flour and whole wheat flour to get a nice soft and light consistency closer to the poee. I used all purpose flour and the poee turned out beautiful. It puffed nicely and split like the original poee does so that you can spread your favorite accompaniment on the bread and enjoy!!
Ingredients
6 cups all purpose flour ( or 3 cups all purpose flour and 3 cups whole wheat flour)1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons instant or quick acting yeast
2 cups warm water ( at 55 C) plus 2 teaspoons of oil
Approximately 1 cup of wheat bran for coating the poee
Method
Put the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand up mixer. Use a whisk to mix all the ingredients well.
Heat the water in the microwave for 30 second increments until it reaches a temperature of 50-55 degrees Centigrade. Do not let the temperature go any higher or it will kill the yeast.
Pour half the water and the oil into the dry ingredients and turn on the mixer to blend. Keep kneading and adding the water a little at a time until the dough is soft and pliable and not sticky. Do not worry if you do not use all the water. Knead for a few minutes.
Remove the mixer bowl. Form the dough into a rough ball and return to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a wet towel and leave it in a dark warm place for about 45 minutes. Hint: I put mine in the oven at 100 degrees Fahrenheit or at the bread proofing cycle.
The dough will almost double in size and look bloated.
Remove the bowl from the oven. Punch down the dough and knead it a little. Line 3 baking trays with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 21 to 24 small balls about an inch and a half to 2 inches in diameter and lay the balls on them. Put the trays back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
The balls will have bloated again. Sprinkle a good amount of bran on the counter top or board. Take a ball of dough and place it on the bran. Flatten it with the palm of your hand to form a flat circle , turning it over so that both sides take on the bran. Do this with all the balls. Note: You can use a rolling pin as well, although the dough was easy to form into a poee with just my hands.
When all the poee are formed put the trays in the oven one at a time. Remove the poee after 5 minutes when they are puffed and lightly browned. Be careful not to burn them. The kitchen will smell fragrant with the scent of freshly baked bread. Remove and enjoy. My husband ate them right out of the oven, splitting them open with his hands and watching the butter melt on the hot loaves as he spread it. He added a slice of cheese and we both reminisced of days long gone by in Goa. Enjoy!!
Approximate nutritional value per poee based on 21 poee
Calories 134.6 / Total fat 0.8 g/ Carbohydrates 27.5/ Protein 3.7 g
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