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I was thinking about making some bread today, and I have some leftover red onion chutney.

I was wondering if it would be nice to mix the chutney into the bread dough, and then bake it. If so, would I add the chutney before letting the dough rise or after?

Thanks

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    I'd toss it in before the rise. You might want to puree if your chutney has big chunks in it. Not only do chunks interfere with kneading and rising, but big bits of wet vegetable matter serve as convenient nuclei for mold growth after you've baked your bread; shelf-life could be impaired.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 0:06
  • @WayfaringStranger you can make that as an asnwer. Seems Legit
    – User56756
    Commented Jun 10, 2015 at 6:42
  • @WayfaringStranger is right, it's better to add it before baking. You would get nice flavored bread. If you use it after baking it would become a spread or dip. Depends on what you really want to do with.
    – User56756
    Commented Jun 10, 2015 at 6:46
  • @WayfaringStranger So you'd add it straight in with the wet ingredients, before proofing it? Thanks!
    – Shivam Malhotra
    Commented Jun 11, 2015 at 15:07
  • @ShivamMalhotra Yes, unless your chutney recipe includes a lot of sugar. That'd speed up rising far more than wanted. Something like that, I'd add before the final rise, and keep a careful eye on.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Commented Jun 11, 2015 at 15:27

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Yes, you can add the chutney to the bread dough to produce a more flavorful bread.

When you add the chutney depends on exactly how you want it distributed in the bread.

  • If you'd like the chutney flavor to permeate the bread throughout, mix directly in with the wet ingredients during the initial mix.

  • If you prefer to have "streaks" of chutney or layers, you can proof the dough first, and just fold it in a few times before the final rise and bake.

Depending on the texture of the chutney and how much you add, these different approaches can have different effects on the finished product. For example, if you're adding just a small amount of chutney and it is already pureed or mashed, mixing it early could dilute it in the dough so much that it won't give much flavor to the bread. In that case, waiting to add it later and folding it in could produce "streaks" of flavor that might be a nice effect in the final bread.

If, on the other hand, your chutney is rather "chunky" or you're adding a large quantity, it might be better to mix it in earlier. Adding a lot of big chunks after proofing can produce layers in the final bread that can separate, make baking more difficult (with pockets of "filling" that don't rise in temperature as fast), and/or make the bread difficult to slice.

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