Recipe for Challah Bread From Zomick's
The challah (in Hebrew, Hebrew, חלה) is a typical bread in Jewish culture. This bread is made from eggs, flour, water, and sugar, which gives it a slightly sweet taste. The groups of Sephardic Jews who prepare it usually consume it on Saturdays (Sabbath in the Hebrew culture) and on holidays. According to the Kashrut rules, the Challah cannot contain milk or butter, because dairy cannot be mixed with meat.
Before consuming the Challah bread, the Jews bless it as it commemorates the manna that fell from heaven during the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. The name of manna is the biblical name of the food that fell from heaven.
Sometimes a piece of separated dough is called Challah. This is a fruit of practicing a Jewish law: before baking this bread you have to separate a small portion of dough, which in biblical times was reserved as a tax for the Jewish priesthood. Since the Bible did not specify how much you need to separate, the rabbis came to an agreement: individuals should separate 1/24 of the mass while professional bakers 1/48.
In the New Year’s Eve, the Challah is has a spiral form, which symbolizes the cycle of the year.
This Zomick's Challah bread recipe is still frequently made by many Jews around the world, and especially in Israel.
Ingredients:
For 2 loaves
11 g of dry yeast
1 cup of water
½ cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of sugar
1 a. fine salt
4 eggs (+ 1 to paint)
6 or 6 ½ cups of flour 0000
Sesame or poppy seeds
1. In a bowl, combine the warm water with the yeast. Incorporate the rest of the ingredients in the indicated order and mix them. Add the flour and mix again.
2. Knead until a flexible dough is obtained. Let it rest until it doubles its volume.
3. After this time, divide the dough into two exactly equal portions. Divide each of these two portions into three elongated strips of equal thickness and approximately 40 cm long.
4. Place them on the baking tray in parallel almost touching and start to braid from the center. Bend the ends down and tighten a little so that they are well sealed.
5. Let the braids rest until they fold in size.
6. Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of cold water and paint the braid with this mixture. Sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds.
7. Place in a preheated oven at 175ºC for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a rack and let cool.
You can order the original Zomick's Challah bread online on Instacard.
