Recipe: Bagels
Make your own
bagels.
By Claudia Roden
Reprinted with permission from The
Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, published by
Knopf.
When I phoned around for tips to
improve my bagels, I found that most people now use an egg in the dough, which
makes the bread lighter, softer, and less chewy than the traditional version,
which calls for only flour and water. I made the egg version with the “fast
action” dried yeast, which is mixed straight into the flour, and it was
perfect.
Makes 11:
3˝ cups (500g) bread flour
1 envelope “fast action”
dried yeast
1˝ teaspoons salt
1˝‑2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1˝ tablespoons vegetable oil, plus a drop more to grease the
dough
About ˝ cup lukewarm water
1 egg white to glaze
In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar well.
Then mix in the egg and the oil and add the water gradually, working it in with
your hand‑-enough to make a soft dough that holds together in a ball. Add
more water if necessary, or more flour if it is too sticky.
Turn the dough out and knead on a
floured board for 10‑15 minutes, until it is very smooth and elastic.
Grease the dough all over by putting a drop of oil in the bowl and rolling the
dough around in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a
warm place for 1˝ hours, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch the dough
down and knead again briefly. An easy way of shaping the bagels into rings is
to roll out the dough to a rectangle about 1 inch (2˝ cm) thick and cut it into
11 equal strips with a pointed knife. Roll each strip between your palms into a rope about 7 inches (18
cm) long and ˝ inch (1˝ cm) thick and bring the ends together, pinching them to
seal and form a bracelet. Place the rings on an oiled surface, and let them
rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Bring plenty of water to a
boil in a wide pan, then lower the heat to medium. Slip in 4 bagels at a time.
Boil them for 1‑2 minutes, turning them over once as they rise to the
top. Then lift them out quickly with a slotted spoon and place them on a cloth
to dry. Do the same with the rest of the bagels. Arrange on oiled baking
sheets, brush with egg white, and bake in a preheated 375°F (190°C) oven for 15‑20
minutes, until nicely browned.
VARIATIONS
- Sprinkle the bagels lightly with poppy or sesame
seeds, fried onion, or coarse salt before baking.
- Another way of shaping the bread is to roll it into
small balls, make a hole in the middle, and widen it by pulling the ring
from the center.
- If you want to make the bagels in the old way,
without the egg, you will simply need to add a little more warm water to
bind the flour.
Copyright 1996 by
Claudia Roden. Claudia Roden is one
of England’s leading food writers; her New Book of Middle Eastern Food is now regarded as a classic work. The
Book of Jewish Food won both the André
Simon and Glenfiddich Awards.
