"Challah (also ḥallah plural: challot/ḥalloth/khallos) (Hebrew: חלה) is a special braided bread eaten on Sabbath and holidays. According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday lunch, and Saturday late afternoon) and two holiday meals (one at night and lunch the following day) each begin with two complete loaves of bread. This "double loaf" (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh) commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath. Each single loaf is woven with six strands, both loaves have twelve which represent each tribe of Israel." - by Wikipedia.org
Challah - or chalka in Polish - is something I'm very familiar with :) I remember when I was only few years old and we had some leftover, a little on the hard side, chalka. My dad used to warm some milk and put a little bit of sugar in it. He then tear the chalka (or chopped into a big cubes) and add to the milk. Chalka would soak all the sugary, warm milk and... that would be my breakfast! Nothing better on a cold winter morning... especially when you have a hard school day in front of you ;)
This time it was my Hubby who fought with this month's challenge. It's Him who bakes all the breads at home so why not this time ;) The result was fantastic! Just like I remembered it.. You have to try it!
Oh, and Ruth - thank you my dear for the great challenge and bringing back those great, childhood memories! xoxo
How to make it...