‘I found my baking mojo again’
LFC Delhi | October 2025
After years of being away from the oven, Payal returns to her craft with ‘Papo Secos’ or crusty Portuguese rolls.
Payal: When my kids were young, like any enthusiastic mom, I decided I didn’t want to give them ‘store-bought’ snacks.
I embarked on a bread/ cake/ cookie journey. Since I was an intuitive and irreverent cook, I tried to wing my way around baking and made lots of blunders: dense bread that could be used as a weapon, cookies that could be hurled at enemies, cakes that looked like pancakes and no one wanted to eat!
I realised that baking was a different ball game and became a more measured and careful baker.
My bread became famous, kids crowded for my cookies, and friends begged for my cakes. I had wonderful years of baking and no readymade snack dared to enter my kitchen.
Then the kids left home to start their own lives and culinary adventures, and I stopped baking. It seemed too much trouble for two! I became a virtuous vegan for health reasons, and turned my attention to lauki and torai with wonderful results to health… but happiness?
I’m restarting my bread journey. Found my baking mojo again.
Yesterday I made ‘Papo Secos’, crusty Portuguese rolls that are great for dunking into soup or for making sandwiches.
As experiments go, it was fun. The recipe let me down though. While the crust and crumb were great, the Papo Secos lacked the flavour that comes from a longish proof. They were too bland.
Next time, I’ll try a different recipe with a long proof or use poolish [a liquid preferment dough] to get the complex flavour of a good bread. Maybe, I’ll mix in some ‘makki atta’ (used in some regions of Portugal), and for sure I’ll add more salt than this recipe had.
Papo Secos are supposed to have a great crunchy crust, high absorbency, and a salty hit. I used to love buying these from our local bakery in Spain, and in NY there was a Colombian bakery that had these fresh and ready by 6:30 am.
I’m thinking I’ll restart sourdough too… but not for Papo Secos, which have to be sweet- salty-chewy-crunchy.
Thoibi: This is really heartwarming Payal.
Yukti: I’ll learn bread from you, and offer you my brownies, cookies, teacakes, and ladoos or savouries. You tell me!
