Going against the grain

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Tardeo resident Aseem Hattangadi had almost given up on baking breads after a few misadventures with sourdough, when the lockdown happened. On his wife’s insistence, he attended an intensive workshop by chef Shriya Shetty in May, and discovered a new-found passion for baking bread. As the pandemic slammed the breaks on the travel industry, the travel experience creator started toying with the idea of selling his produce. That’s how Bread Zeppelin was born. “The name came about as I was listening to Led Zeppelin while baking.

I wanted a bit of myself in it, and also for the product to have its own USP,” says the retro buff. His pop culture inspired repertoire of whole-wheat breads boasts of seven different loaves including the pink garlic confit-laden Sweet child o’ mine, Godfather, which has an Italian flavour profile, Light my fire, which packs in Bhut jolokia oil and cheese, and Kolaveri di (in pic), that serves up a mix of turmeric, crushed black pepper and herbs.   
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When life gives you lemons

Versova-based writer Shokhi Banerjee has been baking for friends and family, just like her mother, for as long as she can remember. So, when local shops shuttered during the lockdown, she was flooded with requests, especially for bread. As someone who likes to make lemonade when life hands out lemons, Banerjee started Lemony Loaves. Her mainstay is sourdough. “I wanted to Indianise sourdough, so some of my bestsellers are ragi/amaranth sourdough, turmeric spice loaf, and chilli coconut sourdough, made using the local thecha,” she shares about her produce which are all slow-fermented and don’t contain sugar, oil, eggs or commercial raising agents. Banerjee also offers subscription models. 
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A crust-worthy name

From starting off as a small neighbourhood kitchen in Mumbai with four bakers, including herself, to surviving the lockdown and building a 25,000-sq ft pandemic-ready baking factory, The Baker’s Dozen has come a long way, reminisces Aditi Handa, co-founder and head baker. TBD bakes come without any preservatives, and are hand-made using traditional methods of baking. The Ahmedabad-headquartered bakery currently offers a wide variety of affordable sourdoughs, daily breads, multigrain loaves, pitas, pavs, croissants, rolls, and gluten-free options, apart from cakes, cookies, etc. “We were among the first few artisan bakeries that offered authentic products. We’ll expand our footprint to 15 cities by 2021-end,” she says. 
Log on to: thebakersdozen.in/order-online

Full pav-er

A conversation about breads in Mumbai is incomplete without the staple Bombay pav, which is an integral part of the city’s foodscape, due to its versatility and affordability. “It is a sort of bread culture adapted and truly loved by every Mumbaikar; one can pair pav with everything from butter to hot vada, misal and bhaji. It’s suited for all palates,” notes Handa.

Banana bread
If you are late to the #bananabread party, baker Aditi Handa shares a recipe to get you started off on this lockdown hit. 

Ingredients
>> 110 g flour
>> 100 g powdered sugar  
>> 50 g butter 
>> 45 g eggs  
>> 2 g baking powder  
>> 2 g salt 
>> 140 g bananas 

Method using
a whisk, cream the butter and sugar until it doubles in volume and lightens in color. Add bananas and whisk until light and airy. Tip in the eggs and whisk until double in volume; pour in flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour into mold and bake at 180 ° C for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool and enjoy.