Flatbreads

Here's one for Stuart...

I discovered today that if you make your standard bread/pizza dough recipe, and fry it, you end up with a reasonable facsimile of an Indian flatbread (paratha, roti etc - I'm a bit vague on which is which).

flatbread 002.jpg

I rolled out small pieces of well risen sourdough spelt/wheat dough onto heavily floured parchment paper. You need lots of flour to roll them out really flat. Then I turned them into an unoiled non-stick pan, leaving the paper on for a few seconds until the dough had cooked enough to remove it (be careful not to set fire to the paper). Then brushed the topside with a little grapeseed oil, flipped it over and smacked it down to squash the bubbles out. Repeated the flipping and squashing a few times until it was cooked.

I kept wishing I'd made Gary's eggplant dip to go with it! Next time...

Much the same system as used by the Bedouins throught North Africa and the Middle-East.

Best
Rogov

Rogov, I wonder if theirs is yeasted? I'm not sure you need a rising agent, although I think it might contribute to the bubbles in the dough...

OK, you caught my attention! If I had to guess, what the yeast does is provide microbubbles and dissolved CO2, enough to get some light/bready quality, but not so much as to make it puff like pizza. This might be in the cards for me today...

An ex sister in law, who married into an Indian family, used to make puris. I think she only used flour, salt and water to make the dough, no rising agents. The puris were flattened out, and then fried in oil or ghee. They always puffed up nicely and had a light texture - I think it was the heat of the pan and the quick frying that did that. Is it the moisture vapourising inside the dough? Physics is not my strong point, but something like this must be the key to making the bread puff up.

Matilda

Rogov, I wonder if theirs is yeasted? I'm not sure you need a rising agent, although I think it might contribute to the bubbles in the dough...

Many of the Bedouin who prepare their flat breads use a starter, that originally having been lightly yeasted. If the flat bread is to be used to house lamb or other fatty meat, merely dough, water and salt. When yeast is used it is often wild yeast taken (by use of the fingers) from the table grapes that grow in the dessert.

By the way, when breads are made in this manner in the Middle-East they are not called "pita". The correct name is "lafa"

Best
Rogov

Many of the Bedouin who prepare their flat breads use a starter, that originally having been lightly yeasted. If the flat bread is to be used to house lamb or other fatty meat, merely dough, water and salt. When yeast is used it is often wild yeast taken (by use of the fingers) from the table grapes that grow in the dessert.

That has to be a most amazing sight to behold.

Many of the Bedouin who prepare their flat breads use a starter, that originally having been lightly yeasted. If the flat bread is to be used to house lamb or other fatty meat, merely dough, water and salt. When yeast is used it is often wild yeast taken (by use of the fingers) from the table grapes that grow in the dessert.

I found these pics. It looks wonderful - is this the lafa you were referring to?

Thanks, Celia

Here's one for Stuart...

I discovered today that if you make your standard bread/pizza dough recipe, and fry it, you end up with a reasonable facsimile of an Indian flatbread (paratha, roti etc - I'm a bit vague on which is which).

From the picture, I'd say that it looks more like the naan that I get from our local Punjabi restaurant, but that's cooked on/in a clay oven known as a tandoor. Bengali roti and paratha are unleavened breads, but are fried. They look more like (slightly greasy) tortillas.

Mark Lipton

I found these pics. It looks wonderful - is this the lafa you were referring to?

Yup....that's lafa.

...From the picture, I'd say that it looks more like the naan that I get from our local Punjabi restaurant, but that's cooked on/in a clay oven known as a tandoor. Bengali roti and paratha are unleavened breads, but are fried. They look more like (slightly greasy) tortillas.

Indeed the similarity to naan is there, the major difference being the effects of the taboon or tandoor oven (in which the bread is literally slapped up against the wall of the oven) and the flat surface. Many Israelis, both Arabs and Jews, who make such breads at home heat their ovens to an absolute maximum and use those instead of the taboon. The result, of course is not quite as good as the walls of even the best oven will remain some 100 degrees Celsius lower than those of the brick/clay ovens.

Best
Rogov

That looks amazing Celia! I bet it tasted amazing as well.

Indeed the similarity to naan is there, the major difference being the effects of the taboon or tandoor oven (in which the bread is literally slapped up against the wall of the oven) and the flat surface. Many Israelis, both Arabs and Jews, who make such breads at home heat their ovens to an absolute maximum and use those instead of the taboon. The result, of course is not quite as good as the walls of even the best oven will remain some 100 degrees Celsius lower than those of the brick/clay ovens.

How about on my charcoal grill?

How about on my charcoal grill?

Jeff, Hi.....

I'm not sure how Americans are building their charcoal grills these days but such breads need a flat and not a grilled surface on which to cook properly. If you could get close enough to the charcoals with a round, flat cooking surface it might just work.

Best
Rogov

The grills are still made of bars. I think I can generate more heat on the grill than I can in my oven, and the smoky flavor adds to the result. We make do, we make do...

I don't remember where I first saw this link but this is one way to BBQ pizza and it sure looks good. http://bbqpitboys.com/special_barbeque/ ... style.html

Good link, Duane!

An ex sister in law, who married into an Indian family, used to make puris. I think she only used flour, salt and water to make the dough, no rising agents.

Matilda, yes, puris are unleavened, rolled flat, then deep-fried. The hot oil seals the outside and the steam trapped inside makes the bread puff up into a pillow shape (hollow in the middle).

-Paul W.

An ex sister in law, who married into an Indian family, used to make puris. I think she only used flour, salt and water to make the dough, no rising agents.

Matilda, yes, puris are unleavened, rolled flat, then deep-fried. The hot oil seals the outside and the steam trapped inside makes the bread puff up into a pillow shape (hollow in the middle).

An Indian friend of mine, now a distinguished academic back in India, survived his exile on Manhattan by making puris by deep-frying Pillsbury biscuit dough that he rolled flat -- surprisingly decent.

Mark Lipton