Arabic bread

Ingredients

760g flour, a mixture of white bread flour and wholemeal flour, e.g. chapatti flour (atta), half and half

450ml water

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp dried yeast (or approx 30g fresh yeast)

1 tsp sugar

60ml olive oil

Mix all the ingredients to make a dough. Knead well, approx 10 minutes in a machine, slightly longer by hand
Cover and allow to rise for 2 hours, until doubled in size
Punch down and divide into balls - 12-16 in total depending on size of pitta you like. Cover and rest for 30 minutes
Roll out thinly and rest another 30 minutes
to cook, three options

Pre heat oven as high as it will go with a baking stone if you have one. Cook the flatbreads on the stone so they puff up
or, Heat a large frying pan and a grill. Cook the flatbread in the dry hot pan for 30 seconds then transfer to grill to puff up
or, my preferred option now. Heat a tawa (indian, heavy, slightly concave pan for frying chapatis) or a heavy frying pan till very hot. Place a pitta on the pan and allow to cook. Hopefully they will puff up, in which case when fully puffed flip over and briefly cook on other side. If they don't puff up on their own, if you have a blowtorch you can encourage them to puff up with that - usually works.

The Gaza kitchen Laila El-Haddad & Maggie Schmitt

pita pitta flatbread

middle_eastern

Flatbread or pitta

Pitta - arabian flatbread