Layered Mashed Potato Bread
Concept
I wanted a versatile flatbread that incorporated potato. I also wanted to include truffles, and I loved the concept of layered flatbread. I had previously made a boxty cake, an Irish bread made with mashed and grated potato. As it is more like a pikelet, it is unsuitable for making layered bread. I had also made a farl, another Irish bread made with mashed potato. However, a delicious flatbread and great for topping, this is also cakeier and different from what I was trying to achieve. I will post the Boxty cake and Farl under recipes if you want to try them.
I love paratha-style breads. Not only is rolling and folding a lovey activity, but I find it almost therapeutic. You create a crispy, flaky layered bread that you can just pull apart and eat or fold around any of a number of ingredients. I love a paratha with a curry.
I aimed to develop the ultimate recipe, working on a variation of using mashed or grated potato and altering or adjusting the rest of the ingredients to form a basic flatbread dough. This dough is then divided into six balls. Each ball is then thinly rolled out and spread with softened butter. I used truffle butter mixed with regular butter (I got the truffle in!) or ghee rolled up into a log, and then this log is rolled up as two snails in figure eight (see video). The two snail rolls are then folded one on the other and pressed to make a circle. The dough is then rested, rerolled and pan-fried. I like to pan-fry until just cooked through and lightly browned. These can then be frozen or given a second fry just before serving.
Concept Details
For the first run, I wanted to make flatbread with mashed potato and create the layers using truffle butter mixed with butter. I started with the basic Farls recipe but omitted the grated potato, decreased the mashed potato and increased the plain flour. I also added cumin seeds as I love them and thought they would work well with the potato and truffle. Before rolling some of these, I dusted the butter layer with potato starch, as some recipes had advised adding a dusting of flour would help form the layers. I found this less successful, and the centre of the bread dusted with potato starch was mostly without any layers.
Recipe
Ingredients
750 g potato
30 g melted butter
1 ½ cup plain flour
Pinch truffle salt
1 tbsp cumin seeds
Freshly cracked black pepper
Additional 50g butter softened and mixed with 25g truffle butter.
Method
Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Place in a saucepan with water, bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain in a colander to cool. Once cool, put through a potato ricer or mash in a large bowl.
Add cumin seeds to a pan and place that on the stove on gentle heat until you can smell the cumin. Usually, 1 to 2 minutes. Add to the bowl with the potato. Add the flour and salt and mix with a knife or spoon. Add the melted butter and continue mixing until it starts to come together. Continue mixing with your hands to bring it into a dough. If it is too sticky to handle, add more flour. Turn it out onto a floured surface and give it a quick knead until it is smooth. You do not want to overwork the dough.
Divide into six equal portions. Place one portion on the work surface and keep the remaining covered. Roll the dough out to a large round shape and roll as thin as possible. Spread lightly with the softened butter (you can dust with potato starch or flour before continuing, but I found this did not help the result) and roll up like a snake as tightly as possible. One rolled into a snake, start curling the right end with your right hand down to form a circle. Turn the left end up with your left hand to form a circle. Keep rolling until they meet in the middle. Place one circle on top of the other and press down. Repeat with remaining dough, rest for an hour before the final roll and cook.
Roll each circle out to about dinner plate size. Heat a non-stick frypan with no oil, and add the bread. Dry fry on both sides until crispy and slightly browned. Place on a wire rack to cool.
Once cool, you can freeze or refrigerate for cooking later or do the second cook now. Heat a non-stick fry pan and add a little bit of oil. Place the bread in the pan and cook until heated through, crisp and browned. If the bread is frozen, it is unnecessary to defrost it first. The second cook can be done from frozen.
Video
Conclusion
This recipe and technique formed a lovely soft flatbread with great flavour from the mashed potato and the cumin. However, I feel the use of mashed potato only provided a bread consistency that could not sustain the layering process. Therefore, the end result was a bit hit and miss. There was some evidence of layers on the edges and some crispy parts, but the centre of the bread was still very much like a pikelet.
While this was an excellent flatbread that carried the flavour of potato and cumin well, it lacked the flakiness and layers I was striving to achieve. It was a lovely bread served warm with ham and cheese in between, but it would not have stood up to a curry.
Future Development
The mashed potato creates a very soft dough that is not really suitable for layering. I want to approach this from the other angle. I will take a recipe that yields the end result I am trying to achieve and add potato to this. For my next recipe, I will take a paratha bread recipe and add grated potato and cumin to see if this achieves more of what I am after.