The lockdown last year gave rise to an indie food boom in India. Bread was called comfort food that took the edge off the long months of disruption. The Beriwalas in Mumbai, mother Aaditi and daughter Sanaa, are behind The Dough Diaries, purveyors of fine bread bowls. Unable to travel for fear of infection or travel restrictions, they were nudged by memories of a 2014 San Francisco vacation. It was in the Golden City where they had a bread bowl for the first time. The empty hours of post-Covid-19 life inspired them to translate their nostalgia into reality. The Dough Diaries was born. “I was fascinated that I could eat a bread bowl from inside out,” recalls Aaditi. The women put on their aprons and stirred their creative juices in their little home kitchen.
Today orders for their hearty, soaking, drippy, cheesy bowls never seem to end. The first bread bowl to come out of their kitchen was the 4C-Chilly Cheese Corn Crockpot. People loved it. “It gave us the confidence to experiment.”
All their preparations are made with two types of bread—sourdough and artisan. The bakery came up with bowls of chilli garlic sourdough, piquant sun-dried tomato and parmesan sourdough, and the delectable thyme and sea salt sourdough. “The response was terrific. Next, we baked eccentric varieties of bread such as activated charcoal sourdough with olives and pine nuts and spirulina sourdough with blueberries and almonds,” says Aaditi.
The Dough Diaries are written with flour and exotic spices. Its bestsellers are cinnamon and coffee walnut sourdough, and raspberry sourdough with white and milk chocolate chips, with the mushroom au gratin bread bowl and the spicy spaghetti soup bowl flying off the shelf. Sanaa observes, “The best part is introducing bread bowls to people who haven’t had them.” Keeping with the woke crowd in mind, there are vegan and gluten-free options too.
What makes The Dough Diaries bowls popular and delicious? Good quality and freshly sourced ingredients, shares Aaditi. “I cannot imagine cooking without garlic and home ground spices. I love the versatility. They can be crushed, pounded, minced, ground, roasted, fried or powdered. They can change the flavour profile of the dish entirely,” she confesses.
For Sanaa, nothing beats the dynamic woodsy, citrusy, pine flavour of rosemary. “It amalgamates wonderfully with a variety of bread dishes, especially our bowl breads.”It is a true cliché that food trends come and go; which is why the Beriwalas try to stay ahead of the curve by keeping their menu fresh. The Wasabi with Pickled Ginger and Black Sesame bread deserves special mention for pure imagination. The gluten-free activated charcoal and olive pine-nut topped proof is to dough or die for.
They have added salads to their menu recently. A medley of juicy strawberries and blueberries with fresh spinach, crunchy almond flakes and poppyseeds is one of their star salads. “Our spicy pomelo Thai salad with rice noodles and crunchy peanuts is a super hit,” says Aaditi. There is a lot more waiting for your try. The greatest thing since bread? The bread bowl.
How to make a basic bread bowl
Ingredients
● 4 cups bread flour/T65
● 1/2 spoon pink Himalayan salt
● 1.5 cups warm water
● 1 tbsp active dry yeast
● 1 tbsp mixed herbs
● 1/2 tsp olive oil
● Cheese for garnishing
Method
● Mix all the ingredients while folding the dough gently. Stretch the dough lightly on
all four sides and fold it under.
● Cover this with a muslin cloth/cling
wrap and leave for about one-two hours
till it doubles in size
● Open the cover and press it with your fingers to remove the air bubbles
● Sprinkle some flour on the counter surface and stretch the dough again on all four sides
● You can bake this in either a Dutch oven
or any oven-safe deep round bowl
● Preheat the oven to 225 degrees and bake for 35 minutes. Covered with a lid
● Remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust turns golden
● Once removed, let it cool completely on the rack
● To scoop the bowl, cut a circle in the centre with the knife going deep into it
● Scoop the insides gently using a dull knife so as to not weaken or tear the crust
● Put filling of your choice inside it, and brush the bread bowl with light olive oil and sprinkle cheese (optional), and bake again till ready. Then serve hot.
Request: Don’t throw the scooped bread chunks. Consume it to connect with an animal welfare organisation that can use it for feeding strays.