Light Rye bread with caraway seeds

Rye bread is one of my favorite. It gives a sour taste and an earthy flavor to the bread and I can't have enough of it! Usually Rye bread recipes, that I know, require sourdough starter and are denser than the normal white bread. Hence it is very unpopular among the rest of the family here. Then I found this recipe in a book for light rye bread loaf. So it was a win-win situation. The loaf turned out perfect and all three of us enjoyed it for breakfast this morning.  I was a little worried that Anjalie might complain about the caraway seeds. But it was sweet enough for her to get over the bread "having bits" in it :)

Additionally, rye flour is nutritionally better than wheat flour (especially the white flour). It is higher in protein, phosphorus, iron and potassium than wheat. It’s high in lysine, low in gluten and very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Zinc, Copper and Selenium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber and Manganese. FYI: http://skipthepie.org/cereal-grains-and-pasta/wheat-flour-whole-grain/compared-to/rye-flour-dark/ So I am very happy to get everyone to enjoy a healthy breakfast which is the best start for the day!

You will need (for a small loaf):
1 and 1/4 cup of warm water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sunflower/vegetable oil
3/4 cup rye flour
2 and 1/2 cups strong bread white flour
1 tbl sp dry milk powder
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp salt
2 tsp light brown sugar
3/4 tsp active dry yeast.





Pour the warm water, oil and lemon juice in the bread machine's bread pan (unless your bread machine instructs to place yeast first, in which case, reverse the order given here). Place the flours into the bread pan next so that it covers the liquids well. Place the milk powder, salt, sugar in the corners of the bread pan. Make a shallow indentation in the middle of the pan and place the yeast in the middle. Set your bread machine for basic/normal setting with medium crust. Add the caraway seeds when the machine beeps for nuts/fruits.

You can knead the bread dough by hand as well by mixing all the dry ingredients first and the adding the liquids and kneading well for at least 20 mins. You can knead for 5 mins at a time taking a break in between but knead for a total of at least 20 mins. After the kneading, cover the dough and let it raise for 1 hr in a warm place. Punch out the dough, shape it into a loaf and place it in a greased loaf pan and let it raise again for another 45 mins to 1 hr. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (fan assisted) for 40-45 mins. When you thump the bottom of the bread it should sound hollow. If not pop it back in the oven for another 10 mins.

 Remove the bread from the pan after the baking cycle and let it cool on a wire rack.

Note: Caraway seeds are similar to fennel seeds, but, are sweeter and more subtle in the flavor. Do not replace caraway seeds with fennel since it will over power the whole thing with flavor. You may skip the caraway seeds altogether if you do not like them.