Braided Chicken Bread

Stuffed chicken bread on a wooden serving board served with green chutney.

This homemade Chicken Bread is stuffed with a delicious, creamy chicken filling. Despite looking complicated, it's easy to make the bread, and perfect for tea-time, parties, and Iftar time during Ramadan.

Course Breads

Cuisine Pakistani/Indian

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 35 minutes

Servings

Calories 355kcal

Author Wajeeha Nadeem

Equipment

Stand mixer or hand mixer
Baking Tray

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast or Instant yeast
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon granulated or castor sugar I used granulated
1/2 cup warm water for kneading the dough

Creamy Chicken Filling Ingredients

2 cups boiled and shredded chicken
2 small red onions finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
4 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander
3 chopped green chilies de-seeded if you prefer the filling to be mild
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups milk

Topping the Bread

Sesame seeds for the topping optional
Egg wash

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 C and prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or aluminium foil.

Make the Dough

Start by proofing the yeast. In a medium sized bowl, combine the water, yeast and sugar and mix well. Cover and let rest for a 5 minutes until the yeast mixture is creamy and frothy.
In a large mixing bowl combine 4 cups of flour, 2 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoon oil, 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, and the yeast mixture.
Knead the dough using your hands or a stand mixer for about 10 minutes until it is soft and springs back at the touch of a finger.
Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover the dough and let it rise for about 40 minutes to 1 hour in a warm place nearby the oven.
While the dough is rising, prepare the chicken filling.

Make the Creamy Chicken Filling

In a medium sized saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 chopped red onions.
Cook the onions till they are just translucent, we don't want any color on them.
Add 2 tablespoons of flour and let it cook for about 1 minute while stirring continuously.
Pour in 1 1/2 cups of milk and stir slowly until it becomes thick. The sauce is ready when you run a finger down the back of the mixing spoon and it remains.
Add the shredded chicken, coriander, green chilies, black pepper and salt. Mix well and let it cool.

Assembling the Bread

After the dough has risen, divide it into 2 equal sized balls.
Roll one dough ball into a rectangular shape.
Put your cooled chicken filling in the middle of the rectangle and cut diagonal slits on the longer sides of the rectangle.
Fold over the slits in a criscross fashion, neatly folding at the end. (Refer to to the pictures below to see the method).
Repeat this for the second dough ball.
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Place the breads on a greased baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Enjoy with chili garlic ketchup or green chutney.

Video

Notes

Notes & Substitutions

All-purpose flour: measured correctly.
Dry Active Yeast: I prefer this yeast, but it is perfectly fine to use instant yeast as well. I always prefer to proof my yeast separately to ensure that it's activated properly.
Oil: Use any neutral-flavored vegetable oil of your liking.
Water: Use lukewarm water or it should be at 38C / 100 F. Any higher, and it will kill the yeast.
Shredded chicken: I boil 450 grams of chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Once it's cooked through, I let it cool and shred with two forks. You can also use leftover shredded chicken, or even roitsserie chicken.
Onion: Use any onion you have on hand, I used red onion.
Green chillies: Add as many or skip altogether to your liking.
Coriander/cilantro: Adds a delicious fresh flavor to the chicken filling. Can replace with parsley but the flavor won't be the same.
Butter: I use salted but you can use unsalted as well.
Milk: For a creamy chicken filling, it's best to use whole milk. However, you can also use low-fat milk as well.
Egg wash: I combine 1 egg with 2 tablespoons of water and whisk well to make the egg wash. You can also simply brush with some milk as well.
Sesame seeds: Can be substituted with black sesame seeds or skipped altogether.

Make Ahead/Freezing Instructions:

After baking, let the bread cool completely. Then wrap tightly in cling film, and freeze for up to 1 month. To reheat, thaw completely overnight in the fridge, and bake in the oven at 170 C for a few minutes until it's warmed through.

Filling Variations & Ideas:

Minced Meat: You can use this keema as a filling for this stuffed bread. It's spicy and full of flavor, and perfect as a filling.
BBQ Chicken: You can also mix the shredded chicken with BBQ sauce (like I do in this recipe for Dorito Nachos) and use this as a filling for the bread. Top with some pickled jalapenos and cheese, and bake!
Nutella: You can also use nutella as a filling, and top it with crushed walnuts, for a sweet version of this bread.
Turkey & Cheese: Stuff the bread with your favorite cheese and turkey slices for a deli version.
Malai Boti Filling: For a different take, you can also use this Malai Chicken Tikka Boti, and shred it before using it as filling.

Nutrition