Estonian sourdough rye bread
Homemade bread tastes much better than store-bought and is much cheaper to make. You need a sourdough starter to make this bread - once you have it, you can keep some for the next bread and don't need to get more.
Ingredients
3 tbsp sourdough starter
2,5 cups warm water
rye flour
about 1 tsp salt
about 50 ml sugar
handful of caraway seeds
handful of other seeds (such as sunflour seeds, linseeds etc.)
oil or vegan margarine to grease the baking pan
Directions
Stage 1. In a gib bowl, mix the sourdough strater with the warm water. Add rye flour until you have a substance about the thickness of a thick yoghurt. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and leave the dough for 12-15 hours. The time depends on the temperature - if you keep the bowl on a warm floor or next to a heater, 12 hours is enough. The bread will be more sour if you leave the dough to stand longer.
Stage 2. Take some sourdough starter from the mixture for the next bread - if making 2 breads, double the amount (about 6 tbsp). Store it in a clean glass jar (with a lid) in the fridge. Add the salt, sugar and the seeds to the rest of the mixture. Finally, add as much rye flour that the mixture becomes thick and is difficult to stir with a wooden spoon. Grease the bread baking dish with oil or margarine and place the dough in it. With a wet hand, spread the dough evenly and level the bread. If desired, make a pattern on the bread with your fingers. The dough should not cover more than half of the depth of the baking dish. Place the baking dish in warm oven of 50 degrees Celsius and keep it there fore 2-3 hours. During this time, the dough will raise.
Stage 3. After 2-3 hours, turn the heat to 230 degrees Celsius and bake the bread for about one hour. When the bread starts to become too dark on top, lower the heat a bit. You could cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake until the bread has become rather dark brown on the top. Take the hot bread out of the dish and grease its top and sides with some oil. Wrap a clean towel around the bread and let stand for about 15 minutes before eating.
This amount makes one large bread, which keeps fresh or several days.
