Sweet Red Bean Bread

This is a delicious bread filled with a sweet red bean filling. It is inspired by the Japanese anpan bread but is not a traditional recipe. This has been shaped as a star.  You can get really creative and shape it in any shape, like how we shaped it into a pretty bun earlier. This is a really great breakfast recipe but we often enjoy it as dessert as well. And it pairs really well with milk or coffee.

You can find a detailed tutorial on how to make the bread at the youtube link below.

Video, detailed Instructions for the sweet red bean bread

Ingredients
For the filling
3/4 cup uncooked red beans (we need only 1 cup of cooked beans)
4 cups of water
3/4-1 cup of sugar

For the dough
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup potato flour (optional)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water (minus 1 tbsp)
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg - well beaten to be used for the egg wash

Method
Soak the red beans in 2 cups of water for at least an hour. Then discard the water and add the beans to the pressure cooker (or instant pot). Add 2 cups of water and then pressure cook the beans till completely cooked. I cooked it in the instant pot for 30 mins on the beans/chilli mode and then let the pressure release naturally.

3/4 cups of beans cook to make 2 cups of cooked beans. I blended one cup of cooked beans and added 3/4 cup of sugar and made a puree. Then cook the bean paste in a pan to thicken it. Let it cool down.

While the beans are cooking, make the dough. First add the milk, 1/2 the water, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer, and set aside for 10 mins to activate the yeast. The mixture will get frothy.  Sift the flours together, so that there are no lumps. Then add the salt, vanilla essence and butter to the frothy liquid. Turn the mixer on and using the dough hook, add the flour. Then slowly add the rest of the water, a little at a time till till a soft dough is formed. Then knead for  about 7-10 mins. Scrape the bowl down as needed.

Shape the bread into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour till it is doubled.

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and shape into balls and let them rest for 10 mins. Divide the bean filling into 3 equal parts.

Now roll one dough piece into a circle with a 10 inch diameter. Place this on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, apply the egg wash. Dot the surface with the filling and use your finger tips to spread it. Then, repeat this process 2 more times. Once the final circle of dough is placed, then it is time to shape the dough

Place a small bowl/cookie cutter/measuring cup with about a diameter of 1.5-2 inches in the center of the dough. Then make 16 equal part of the dough. The bowl in the center will prevent the dough from getting cut through. At the end of this there will be small circle in the center where the bread is joined together and 16 strands. Take two strands, and twist them outwards twice (opposite in direction to each other) and then pinch the ends together to form a sharp point. You will have 8 star petals and the bread will look like a star or a flower.

Cover it lightly with plastic wrap and let it rise for 45 mins to an hour till it is risen and puffy. Then, apply the final layer of egg wash.

Preheat the oven to 400F and then bake the bread for 15-20 mins. The bread is ready when the internal temperature reaches 200F, which takes about 20 mins. You can also tap the bread to check for the hollow sound.

Cool the bread for 10 mins on a cooling rack and then it is ready to eat. You can also bake it the previous night for breakfast. Heat it in  the oven at 350 F till it is warmed through, about 10 mins and then serve warm. It tastes great with milk.

Tips
The potato flour helps retain moisture and keeps the bread moist after baking. You can skip this ingredient. Use room temperature water and milk so that you do not accidentally kill the yeast. Resting the  dough relaxes it makes it easy to roll out. If you try to spread the filling with a spatula, you may stretch or tear the dough and it is easier to gently spread it using the finger tips. When shaping the dough, pinch the edges well, so that they don't unravel when the dough proves the second time. Instead of a star, you can shape it into any other shape and then let the dough undero a second rise. 

Adzuki Beans/ Red Chori/ Red Chawali

I must confess that while I had eaten black eyed beans freqently, I had never eaten the red variety or even seen it until two years ago. I was looking for pulses that I could add my menu when I came across this. I decided to experiment with it and I really liked it. It has become a regular feature these days. Black eyed beans are called "chori or chawali" and the red variety is called "red chori or red chawali". These beans are also known as Adzuki or Azuki beans and you should be able to find it in regular grocery stores as well. This is a great alternate to your daily dal. The best feature of this bean is that it doesn't need to be soaked overnight and cooks fast. It makes for a perfect recipe for a quick meal.

Ingredients
1 cup adzuki/chawali beans
2 cups water
2 cloves garlic, grate one clove
1/2 inch ginger, grated
1 green chilli
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1 medium red onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Method
Pressure cook the beans, 1 garlic clove and water for 1-2 whistles depending on your pressure cooker. In another pan, heat oil. To this add the onions, chilli, grated ginger and garlic. Cook this till the onions turn a nice brown color, but do not burn. Then add the tomatoes. Cook this till the tomatoes reduce and the mixture starts turning brown. Add the turmeric powder and garam masala and cook for a couple of minutes more. Add the cooked beans and  salt. Cook this for a few minutes. Add some water if you want to thin the gravy and boil it all for a few minutes.

Serve hot with white rice or chapatis. Add a slice of lemon, some sliced onions and enjoy your meal.

If using the Instant Pot, use the beans mode or 12 minutes high pressure, manual mode with natural pressure release.

See the tips below which describes how this can all directly be made in the cooker itself which is a much faster method instead of using a separate pan for the gravy.

Tips
If you are running short of time, prepare the gravy in your pressure cooker as described above instead of a separate pan. Then add the beans and water and pressure cook for 1-2 whistles. Then boil it for a few minutes without the lid as needed to thicken the gravy. Add some water if the gravy is too thick and you want to thin it out. This is a faster way to make this vegetable for a quick meal.