Pita Bread

This pita bread can be the base of Shawarma roll or pita pocket sandwiches. It’s great for homemade pita chips and fattoush salad! Also, it can be a great company of Halwas in the Saab-E-Barat. Even after following the tips, if it doesn’t puff, don’t worry; it tastes good without pocket too.

Ingredients

Sponge

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon honey or sugar (honey keeps it softer)

1/2 tbs active instant yeast

For dough

3/4 cup to 1 cup more flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tbs olive or vegetable oil

Method

In a bowl add 1/2 cup warm milk. Add the honey and yeast. Now add 1/2 cup of flour and stir. Mix well. It will look like a batter. Now cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, you will see bubbles are all over and the batter rose and looks like a sponge.

Add salt to the sponge. Start adding flour; you may not need the whole remaining flour. So add little by little and knead until the dough become soft and pliable. Add 1 tbl spoon oil and keep kneading. Make a ball from the dough.

Now rub some oil over the ball and keep it in an oiled closed lid box and keep it in a warm place to let it rise again for an hour.

Punch down all the air from the ball and make 4 balls from it. Cover the balls with a wet cloth and keep them like this for 15 minutes.

Roll the balls to disk evenly on a flour-dusted surface.

Heat a cast-iron pan or fry pan and fry the pita on medium flame with the cover for 2 minutes. Turn the bread and again cover the lid. You will see the pita is puffing up.

If you bake it, preheat the oven to 450F. Place the baking tray in the oven and place the pita on the hot baking tray and bake for 3 minutes or until puffs up. After 3 minutes just turn over the pita and bake another 1 minute. Take it out from the oven. And cover all the pitas with a kitchen towel to keep them softer.

Tips:

Please don’t skip the sponge-making step. Pitas are softer and nicer if made by the sponge method. It helps to puff up too.

Try to roll the pita thinner. The thinner is puffier.

There must be no crack on the pita while frying or baking.

Important to notice, make sure the oven is very hot before you bake the pita. If the oven is not hot enough, the pita won’t puff up. Same way, try to ensure the frying pan, or cast iron griddle is too hot before you fry the pitas on the stovetop.

Always cover the pitas with a kitchen towel right after you take them out from the oven or stove.