Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

fuelling that adventure

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • As Seen…
    • PR & Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • The Food
    • All Manner of Sweet Things
      • Cake
      • Chocolate
      • Cookies
      • Ice Cream
      • Squares
      • Everything Else
    • Veggie
      • Salad
      • Vegetarian
      • Vegan
    • Carbohydrates
      • Bread
      • Pasta
      • Potato
      • Gluten Free
      • Rice
      • Pastry
    • Soup
    • Hoof & Feather
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Lamb
      • Pork
    • Fin & Shell
    • Breakfast
  • The Adventures
    • Shetland
    • Belgium
    • England
    • France
    • Italy
    • Latvia
    • Norway
    • Scotland
    • Spain
    • The Caribbean
    • USA
  • Contact
Home » Recipe » Carbohydrates » Bread » Baladi (Wholemeal Pitta Bread)

Baladi (Wholemeal Pitta Bread)

Published on June 4, 2013 by Elizabeth Atia 5 Comments
Last Updated on July 18, 2014

pitta-bread

The first time I was ever introduced to flatbreads was through an employer of mine back in Canada. I was in my late teens/early twenties and I was employed by a wonderful family originally from Tehran. One of the brothers used to tell me stories of his childhood in Iran, of the orange tree that grew outside his bedroom window and of the doves who used to sit in the orange tree and coo. He learnt to mimic their cooing and he used to absent-mindedly coo at work. It was a lovely noise. He really did sound like a dove.

He called us Westerners cake-eaters because of our fondness for processed white bread which resembles cake more than bread. He made his own flatbreads. I remember him telling me his recipe once, and I wish I had written it down then. When he was a child, he said, they used to have flatbreads stuffed with cheese for lunch.

I remember one time when they brought a bag filled with green almonds to work. There is only a brief period of the year in the Spring when green almonds are available; before their shells start to harden and brown into the almond we are familiar with. I’ve never seen them available in the supermarkets. I am under the impression that they are sold, lucratively, from the back doors of Middle Eastern grocers to a select few as they are such a delicacy. That day we had green almonds with salt and flatbread for lunch. It’s a very fond memory.

I made these baladi breads today for my family, much to their delight.  I wanted them to be authentic so I went for the from-scratch approach, opting not to use the bread machine and its handy dough setting.  I am glad I did as these beautiful soft little breads puffed up wonderfully forming a large pocket inside perfect for stuffing. I felt like I made a work of art out of them, something I’d like to think my Iranian employer would have been proud of me for.

This re-written recipe comes from Claudia Roden’s A New Book of Middle Eastern Cookery, where she describes baladi as the wholemeal version of khubz (eish shami), commonly known to us Westerners as pitta bread.

This month’s Fresh from the Oven food bloggers’ challenge, hosted by Michelle Utterly Scrummy Food for Families challenges us to make and share our pitta bread recipes, so I have entered this recipe into the challenge (which is co-hosted by Claire from Purely Food). The challenge is Blog Hop, so do scroll down to see what everyone else is making.

pitta-bread-2
Pitta Bread
by Elizabeth
A lovely soft bread with a pocket perfect for stuffing!
Ingredients
  • 7 grams active dried yeast
  • 300 ml tepid water
  • fat pinch sugar
  • 165 grams wholemeal bread flour
  • 335 grams strong white bread flour
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
1. Dissolve yeast in 100 ml tepid water. Add the sugar and leave for ten minutes to become frothy.
2. Mix together flours and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
3. Pour in the yeast mixture, the remaining 200 ml water and the olive oil.
4. Knead well for 15 minutes, until elastic.
5. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a plastic bag. Leave for 2 hours to rise.
6. Punch down dough and cut into 8 even sized pieces.
7. Roll each piece out to a thickness of 1/2 cm with a floured rolling pin.
8. Place on a lightly floured towel and cover with another towel.
9. Leave to rise for another half an hour.
10. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230 C for at least 20 minutes, heating a lightly oiled baking tray for 10 minutes.
11. Transfer the dough rounds onto the baking tray, sprinkle with a little water and bake for 6-10 minutes. Don’t open the oven while cooking.
12. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a plastic bag while still warm. This will keep the bread soft and pliable.
Details

Prep time: 45 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 3 hour 30 mins Yield: Makes 8 pitta breads

Filed Under: Bread, Recipe

« French Baguettes
Chocobanutty Ice Cream »

Comments

  1. Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says

    November 5, 2015 at 10:18 am

    I keep meaning to work n my pitta skills but not had luck yet. SO next step try your version.

    Reply
  2. Paula @ Vintage Kitchen says

    June 5, 2013 at 11:26 pm

    I´ve made pita bread a couple of times and it´s such a pleasure to watch it rise. Your bread turned out so great, still fluffy inside!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth says

      June 8, 2013 at 8:33 am

      It’s fascinating to see it do its thing! Is it supposed to be fluffy inside still? This was my first time making it and shop bought pittas are never fluffy so I thought I had done something wrong. It tasted fantastic nonetheless 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Quick Yoghurt Flatbreads | Recipes From A Pantry says:
    November 5, 2015 at 10:22 am

    […] Baladi (whole meal pitta) from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary […]

    Reply
  2. Almond Bar by Sharon Salloum says:
    July 18, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    […] but I was disappointed to see that a recipe for this wasn’t included, so I made my fail safe baladi bread to serve (although further reading of her cookery book reveals that Middle Eastern bread is […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




About Elizabeth

Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home - for now. One eye is always on the horizon. Read More…

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

SEARCH OUR WEBSITE


Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs
Foodies100

Connect

Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home, for now. One eye is always on the horizon.

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Posts

Top down image of a coffee cup showing the crema layer of a good cup of coffee.
Image of crispy lamb salad in white bowl with pretty white roses and flowers in the background.
Image of Thai green chicken curry in a bowl.
Image of wooden pub style platter with spicy honey roast chicken thighs, potato wedges, blue cheese dip and coleslaw.

Copyright © 2021 · Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary Ltd. · Website by Callia Web