Thursday, April 30, 2009

Pita Bread




Days before, while dining out at one of our favourite restaurants(and a hang out place too) a menu was placed before us that had pictures of the dishes along with the title and description. Through visual viewing of the dishes it was easy to place the order afterwards. Since then I have been thinking to do something similar in my blog too, where an user would be able to select a recipe by viewing the picture of the dish along with the title. I started working on it and though it took me few days due to the limited time I'm able to devote to blogging daily I have finally come up with a new Recipe Index, the link to which I have provided at the top of the page. Hoping this would provide easy access to the recipes.With the page creation having taken much of my blogging time, today I'm here with a simple and easy dish-Pita Bread.

Pita bread is a type of flat bread and belongs to traditional Middle-Eastern cuisine. This soft and spongy bread can made with either wheat flour, all purpose flour or combination of both. This may be served along with dips like Hummus or may be wrapped around fillings like gyros, kebabs to form sandwiches. Pita bread is usually baked at high temperatures that cause the bread to rise and turn puffy. The dough is kneaded well for few minutes and left to ferment for few hours by placing it in a container greased with oil and covered with a damp dish towel. The fermented dough is then punched to release trapped air, spread with a roller and baked.


Ingredients:
1.5 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
1.5 tbsp olive oil+ more for greasing
Warm water for making dough

Method:
  • Dissolve granulated sugar in 1/4-1/2 cup warm water. Add yeast and keep in a warm place for about 15-20 minutes or until it rises and foam forms at the top.
  • Mix the flour with oil, yeast and salt. Add enough warm water and make a smooth dough. Knead the dough for at least 7-8 minutes.
  • Place the dough in a bowl greased with oil and lightly coat the surface of the dough with oil too.
  • Cover the bowl with a damp towel and keep in a warm place for about 2.5 hours till the dough has doubled in volume.
  • Punch the dough to release trapped air and divide into equal balls.
  • Spread out each ball into any shape you desire-oval or round.
  • Allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes before placing in oven.
  • While its resting prepare your baking tray. Preheat oven to 400F(200C) and keep your baking tray inside the oven while in preheat mode.
  • Bake for about 4 minutes. The bread should have puffed up after this time.
  • Serve hot with hummus.

Pooja.

Other Middle-Eastern Dishes:

Dill RiceKuku SabziHummus

36 comments:

Pooja said...

Looks nice and soft pooja..

FH said...

You made those too! Looks very nice, perfect! :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Pooja..that was quick!! :)

Renuka said...

Pita looks soft and fluffy..

Pooja said...

Thanks Renuka :)

Parita said...

Pita bread looks nice and fluffy..perfect :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Parita :)

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Looks great!!!!!! i didn't know its easy to make at home.picture is excellent

Pooja said...

Thanks Ms.Sailaja :)

VineelaSiva said...

Wow nice post pooja i love pita bread.We can eat with dips ,sandwiches and also favourite one falafal.The bread looks fluppy and easy to prepare in home.Thanx for the recipe.

Pooja said...

Thanks Vineela :)

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Looks great! Have to try it... I love hummus with pita bread...
Very nice site...

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

Great that you made it at home-I buy the whole grain pita from the store!
It looks so soft :)

Nandinis food said...

Pita bread looks soft and perfect.Lovely pics! Creating Recipe index is a wonderful idea. It makes easy for the readers. Gr8 work!

Pooja said...

Thanks Sweta :)
Thanks Usha and welcome :)

Varsha Vipins said...

Amazingly yum dear..Loved that dish too..:)

Unknown said...

Pita and Hummus! I can have this for breakfast lunch dinner!! Great looking pitas!

chef and her kitchen said...

Wow lovely pita bread lol..it looks quite soft..

Pooja said...

Thanks a lot Varsha, Divya & Prathibha :)

Vibaas said...

Pita bread and hummus perfect combi. Pita bread looks yum and soft!

Vrinda said...

Pita bread ethiyo.?looks so soft dear..Does it taste like our naan?

Saritha said...

Great arabic bread pooja:)

Pooja said...

Thanks Vibaas :)
Thanks Vrinda..yes ethi..hehe! No Vrinda it has a different taste. Soft n spongy its good to have with a dip only. Naan athu pole kazhikkanum taste alle :)
Thanks Varunavi :)

Sree vidya said...

Thanx Pooja for ur comments.
I luv bindi.

Pooja said...

Thanks Sree Vidya for dropping by too :)

Kalyani said...

Love this pita bread .. it would be great with hummus .. Thanks pooja for the recipe .. will try soon ....

Pooja said...

Thanks Kalyani, yes it goes with hummus well :)

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Looks great. Yummy..., :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Valarmathi :)

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

For the longest time I have been wanting to make my own pita bread. Thanks for the recipe.

Pooja said...

Thanks Helene for dropping by :)

Deepa Hari said...

Pita bread looks perfect and soft Pooja.

Pooja said...

Thanks Deepa :)

Nithya said...

It looks really perfect. I have been looking for this recipe since I visited New Yorkers(A restaurant here). And got to tell this for sure.. Your Presentation and photography is cool too.. Keep it going. I am an absolute fresher to cooking and its interesting to see ur blog. Do visit my blog when u find time. :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Nithya for dropping by and for your lovely words. Will see you too :)

Anonymous said...

It was certainly interesting for me to read the blog. Thanks for it. I like such themes and anything connected to this matter. I would like to read a bit more soon.