Pita

A soft flatbread with no pocket in it, cooked in a dry pan rather than an oven so it stays foldable.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white flour
• 7 g fast-action yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 10 g salt
• 150 g Greek yoghurt
• 200 ml warm water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing

Method

1. THIS ONE HAS NO POCKET AND IS NOT MEANT TO. A pocket pita is baked on a scorching stone so the outside sets before the inside has finished steaming, and it splits into two walls. The bread that holds a souvlaki is the opposite: cooked on a moderate dry pan so it puffs unevenly, stays one layer, and folds without cracking. Anyone chasing a pocket is making the other bread.
2. THE YOGHURT IS WHAT KEEPS IT SOFT. Water alone gives a bread that is pleasant hot and leathery twenty minutes later; the fat and acid in yoghurt keep it foldable for hours and make it reheat properly.
3. Yeast and sugar into the warm water, 10 minutes until frothy.
4. Flour and salt in a bowl, then the yeast mixture, yoghurt and oil. Brought together and kneaded 10 minutes to a soft, slightly tacky dough.
5. Risen 1 hour 30 minutes, covered, until doubled.
6. Knocked back and divided into 8. Each rolled into a ball, covered, and RESTED 15 MINUTES before rolling -- a ball rolled straight away springs back and will not stay thin.
7. Each rolled to about 20 cm across and 5 mm thick. Thicker than most flatbreads: thin ones go crisp and crack when folded.
8. A heavy dry frying pan over a medium heat. NOT HIGH -- high heat chars the outside in thirty seconds and leaves raw dough in the middle.
9. One in at a time, 90 seconds, until bubbles rise and the underside is patched with brown.
10. Turned, 60 to 90 seconds more. It may balloon in one place; press it gently with a cloth.
11. STRAIGHT INTO A CLEAN TEA TOWEL, stacked and wrapped as they come off. The steam they give off is what keeps the pile soft; left on a rack they dry within minutes.
12. Brushed with oil and warmed through for a few seconds a side before serving.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Greece · All recipes