Quick and Easy French (Eggless) Dinner Rolls (MICROWAVE)

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”--Mahatma Gandhi

Bread baking is something new to me. Although I have made several Indian breads (leavened & unleavened) I have never really baked a loaf of regular white bread. It is a little ambitious, when it comes to yeast, patience and me…not quite a winning combination.


However, Usha (of VegInspirations) tagged me on baking for a noble cause. Two very good reasons to go ahead with my “Project Bread”.
One, it was my very first “tag”.
Second, it is for a great cause….to feed the multitudes in Africa who cannot afford the luxury of a piece of bread.



I have been doing social service for as long as I can remember..and I still do. Teaching poor children, co-ordinating with NGOs to re-build schools for children of sex workers’ and drug addicts, teaching dance to orphans and organizing charity shows etc. I was an active member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee in HSBC. God’s work still continues...
But never have I done something in the virtual world that will in turn,help in the real world. It amazes how my one act here can touch a life , miles away from me.


Breadline Africa is a registered charity in South Africa that is seeking to put an end to poverty in South Africa and further afield in Africa. Their aim is to break the cycle of poverty and help communities to achieve long term self-sustainability. Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 by social workers and communities in South Africa with minded colleagues in Europe, (who were well placed to source out donations). They are geared to help fund small ground level projects in Africa which are most likely to succeed with financial help.


It launched the Worldwide Blogger Baker Bake-Off Challenge aiming at raising $ 1 M in funds. This bake-off gives us baking bloggers the power to make a difference in this world. What do we do? Bake bread. Give Dough. Feed Africa. Vals says, "You can sign up for the campaign, make a donation, upload your bread recipes and document your culinary adventures in the media center to spread the word. You don't have to donate money but simply just mention the campaign and create awareness."


The following is quoted from the Breadline Africa Bake-Off site:

On 15 October, we launched The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off.The Blogger Bake Off is an online campaign that challenges bloggers to get involved by baking bread, and then acting by donating to end poverty. And then, challenge their readers and five other bloggers to do the same.

With the money raised, we will be supporting grass roots community projects aimed at ending poverty and hunger in Africa. We’ll be placing container kitchens, vegetable gardens and more in poor communities, sending emergency food relief where needed and helping these poor communities to help themselves.

Quick and Easy French (Eggless) Dinner Rolls (MICROWAVE)

Ingredients-
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp oil
1 cup warm water (not hot)

Method-
In a large bowl, seive together the whole wheat and all purpose flour.
In a separate bowl take warm water, add the yeast, sugar and salt and oil.

Tip:The yeast should release bubbles when warm water is added. This is a sign of good yeast.The water should not be too hot, as it will kill the yeast instead.

Now, make a well in the centre of the heap of flour, and add the warm mixture slowly.
Knead it well to form a soft pliable dough.Cover the dough in a slightly greased bowl with a cling wrap or moist kitchen towel, for about 2 hrs./ till it doubles in volume.
Then punch the dough back and knead it for another 10 mins. Rest covered again, for an hour.
Punch again after an hour and knead well.

Now, divide the dough into equal sized balls. Using your hands roll each ball of dough to form a long cylindrical (almost snake like) rope.Then, from one end of the long dough rope, keep rolling towards the other end. Twist and seal the loose end to look like rolled buns.

Arrange on baking tray, close to each other. Let rest (covered) for 30 mins.Bake on medium high setting in the microwave for 8 minutes.

Serve with jam, butter, cheese or your favourite dip or curry.

Note: The microwave doesn't brown the tops, like a conventional oven. However they look pretty and have a great texture. Soft and tasty!

The rules for bloggers are outlined below:
1.If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.
2.Bake bread, do something you wouldn’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.
3.Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.
4.Tag five bloggers, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.
5.The person who raises the most funds will get to name a Breadline Africa community kitchen and win $500 Amazon Vouchers. There are also three minor prizes of $250 Amazon vouchers for people who receive the most votes in the following categories:
Most Unusual Recipe; Most Nutritious Recipe and Most Traditional Recipe.

I in turn tag Sudeshna, Maria, Arundhuti, Anudivya and Sangeeth.

I send this recipie to Lore.

I send this to Vandana (Cooking Up Something Nice)'s Baking For Beginners' event, beacuse some of us out there also want to use the MW for quick baking. :)