Chicken stuffed braided bread

I was waiting for something special to publish on my 100th post. But time was not really allowing me to do much of cooking since my little angel daughter was born in September last year. The 4 months old demands all attention from everyone at home and thus the over caring daddy hardly gets any time in hand to do anything in kitchen. But anyways tried to manage some time to make my 100th post. Yay!

The chicken stuffed braided bread was an awesome try and turned out really well satisfying every taste buds of everyone who devoured it. The filling could be anything of your choice, fish, paneer, vegetables or even just plain Nutella. The chicken filling is something I thought would go well for my taste and it genuinely did justice to my thought and taste buds too.

Preparation           : 1.5 hours

Cooking time         :  40 mins

Serves                      : 2-3

Ingredients:

For dough:

• All purpose flour  - 1.5 cups
• Dry Yeast               - 1 tsp
• Sugar                      - 1 tsp
• Salt                          - 3/4 tsp
• Baking powder      - 1/2 tsp
• Egg                           - 1 
• Oil                             - 2 Tbsp
• Warm milk              - 2 Tbsp
• Lukewarm water   - 2/3 cup 

For filling:

• Chicken(cooked and shredded)   - 1.5 cups
• Onion                                                - 1 small, chopped
• Ginger                                               - 1/2 inch, finely chopped
• Garlic                                                 - 3-4 pods, finely chopped
• Green chilli                                       - 2, finely chopped
• Cilantro(chopped)                          - 1 Tbsp
• Oil                                                      - 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder                            - 1/3 tsp
• Salt                                                     - to taste

Method:
1. In a mixing bowl add yeast, sugar and milk. Mix well and keep aside for 15 mins for the yeast to get activated.
2. Add all the remaining ingredients for the dough in the bown. Using hand knead to form a medium soft dough. Shape the dough into a ball, apply 1 tsp oil over it. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and keep in a warm place for the dough to rise, about an hour.
3. For the filling, heat oil in a pan. When hot add chopped ginger and garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. 
4. Add chopped onions and green chilli and cook until onions turns translucent.
5. Add shredded chicken, add salt and turmeric powder. Mix well and cook till everything is blended well. Add chopped cilantro and mix well. Remove from heat and keep aside.

6. Dust the rolling surface with flour. Roll the dough into a long oval medium thick sheet. Transfer it into a baking sheet or baking tray.
7. Add the chicken filling at the center.
8. Using a sharp knife make slits in the rolled out dough, refer to the picture.
9. Take a strip from top, pull it over the filling across to the other end. Do it for another strip from the other side. Complete the braid in this fashion till end.

10. Apply egg wash(mix 1 egg, 1 Tbsp water) on the bread. 
(You can sprinkle some sesame seeds or cilantro on top.)

11. Pre-heat the oven at 350 F. Bake the bread for 15-20 minutes, till it turns golden brown on top.
12. Remove from oven and serve hot with dip or sauce of your choice.