Garlic Breadગાર્લિક બ્રેડ
Bread spread with garlic butter and herbs, then baked or toasted. Fifteen minutes, and it turns soup or pasta into a proper meal.
Ingredients
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- 1 loaf or 6 thick slices of bread
- 4 tbsp softened butter
- 6-8 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1 tsp oregano and chilli flakes
- Chopped parsley or coriander
- ½ cup grated cheese (optional)
Method
- Mash the butter with the garlic, oregano, chilli flakes and herbs.
- Split the bread and spread the garlic butter generously on both halves.
- Scatter cheese over if using.
- Bake at 180°C for 8-10 minutes, or toast covered in a pan on low heat for 5-6 minutes.
- Cut and serve hot while the edges are crisp.
Tips
- Grate the garlic rather than chopping it, so the flavour spreads.
- The butter must be soft or it won't spread evenly.
Storing and reheating
Make extra garlic butter and it keeps a week in the fridge or a month in the freezer. Baked garlic bread goes limp within two or three hours, so eat it fresh. Do not refrigerate it, because bread stales faster at fridge temperature than anywhere else and turns rubbery. Reheat in a pan or oven, never the microwave.
What you can swap
- No oregano? Dried mixed herbs or a pinch of dried mint will do. With nothing at all, add more black pepper instead; pepper beats tired herbs.
- Without a loaf, split pav down the middle and use that, which works beautifully. The same butter on a leftover roti, toasted on a tawa, is also good.
- If you are grating a cheese cube, freeze it for ten minutes first. Firm cheese grates cleanly instead of smearing.
- Use fresh garlic. If you must use garlic powder, half a teaspoon stands in for six cloves, but the flavour is flat and a little artificial.
What to serve with it
Garlic bread next to red sauce pasta or a bowl of soup is the pairing most Indian homes reach for. It also works as an after-school snack with ketchup. At small home parties and birthdays it is the first thing out of the kitchen, cut and served while hot.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not spread cold butter straight from the fridge; it tears the bread. Leave it out half an hour and mash it with a spoon until it is creamy.
- Too much butter waterlogs the crumb and leaves the base greasy. Spread it generously but not so thick that you can see a layer.
- Do not push the oven past 180C. Raw garlic burns at higher heat and turns bitter, and that bitterness cannot be fixed.
- Avoid very fresh, soft bread. Day-old or slightly dry bread holds its structure under the butter and crisps properly at the edges.
Questions people ask
Can I make garlic bread on a tawa without an oven?
Yes. Heat a heavy tawa on low, put the buttered bread on it and cover with a plate. In five or six minutes the cheese melts and the base crisps. Keep the heat low throughout, or the bottom burns before the top has melted.
Why is mine soggy in the middle?
Either too much butter, or bread that was too soft. Toast the bread dry for two minutes first, then butter it. That single step removes most of the sogginess. On a filled loaf, leave the halves slightly apart so steam can escape.
Can I prepare it in advance?
Buttered bread can sit covered in the fridge for four or five hours, but bake it only just before serving. Garlic bread baked ahead hardens as it cools and never returns to the same crispness on reheating.
