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Bazlama

A dough wet enough to spread with the fingers rather than roll, cooked on a dry griddle.

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

Ingredients

Method

  1. THE DOUGH IS WET ENOUGH TO SPREAD WITH THE FINGERS RATHER THAN ROLL, and that is what makes a bazlama thick and soft instead of thin and crisp. It is a slack, sticky dough -- noticeably wetter than a bread dough and too wet for a rolling pin, which would simply drag it. Each piece is dropped onto a floured surface and pressed outward with oiled or floured fingertips to about a centimetre thick, keeping the dimpled uneven surface the fingers leave. That thickness and that wetness together give the open, almost spongy crumb. Rolled out from a firmer dough it is a pleasant flatbread and it is not this.
  2. THE YOGHURT IS WHAT MAKES THE CRUMB SOFT AND KEEPS IT SOFT. A hundred and fifty grams. The acid relaxes the gluten so the dough stays extensible rather than springing back, and the fat and solids keep the finished bread pliable for a day where a plain water dough is stiff by the evening.
  3. IT IS COOKED ON A DRY GRIDDLE AND IT PUFFS IN THE MIDDLE. No oil in the pan at all. A medium-hot dry surface, two to three minutes a side, and at the second turn it balloons up. Oil in the pan fries the outside into a crust before the inside has set, and the puff does not happen.
  4. IT IS STACKED UNDER A CLOTH STRAIGHT OFF THE PAN. Each one onto the pile and the towel folded over. They steam each other and stay bendy; left on a rack in the air the surface dries within a few minutes and the bread cracks when it is folded.
  5. THE PAN IS NOT TOO HOT, WHICH IS THE COMMONEST FAULT. A centimetre of wet dough needs time for the heat to reach the middle. On a fierce pan the outside is dark and the centre is raw and gummy; on a medium pan it browns in patches over two or three minutes and cooks through.
  6. The flour, yeast, sugar and salt stirred together, salt away from the yeast.
  7. The yoghurt and warm water added and mixed to a SLACK STICKY dough -- wetter than a bread dough.
  8. Kneaded in the bowl 8 MINUTES with a wet hand. It will stay tacky; it is not meant to come clean.
  9. Covered and risen 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES until doubled.
  10. Divided into 6 pieces on a well-floured surface.
  11. Each PRESSED OUT with floured FINGERTIPS to about 1 cm thick and 18 cm across. Not rolled.
  12. Left on the floured surface, covered, 20 MINUTES.
  13. A griddle or heavy pan set over a MEDIUM heat, COMPLETELY DRY.
  14. Cooked 2 to 3 MINUTES, until browned in patches underneath.
  15. TURNED and given 2 to 3 MINUTES more. It should PUFF UP in the middle.
  16. Stacked STRAIGHT ONTO A PLATE UNDER A FOLDED CLOTH, each one onto the last.
  17. TESTED: torn open, the crumb should be open and soft with no gumminess. Best the same day; keeps 2 days wrapped.

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 Turkey · All recipes