If you’ve only used shop bought Pitta Bread then you have missed out on a real treat. Fresh homemade pitta bread is both easy to do and much tastier than the packet stuff. It’s also a great barbeque side and is easy to cook on a hot barbeque. They can also be cooked under your cooker’s grill.
Ingredients
- 7g dried yeast (the little sachets are 7g or if you have a teaspoon measure that’s about 1¾ tsp measures)
- 150ml lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp honey
- 450g strong white bread flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- 100ml lukewarm milk
Method
- Dissolve the yeast in a jug with 45ml of the water and the honey. Leave it for about 15 minutes for the yeast to begin growing. The quantity of water can be an estimate and doesn’t need to be deadly accurate.
- Put the salt and flour in a big bowl, I don’t bother sieving
- Add the yeast mixture and the remaining liquids
- Mix to form a workable dough
- Turn the dough onto a floured (or oiled if you prefer) surface and knead it for 10 minutes (set a timer)
- Put the dough back in the bowl, cover, and allow it to rest and rise for about 1 hour
- Then tip it out and divide into 6-8 portions
- Roll each out to whatever disc or oval shape you like. About 3mm thick is fine but you will quickly learn what you prefer. If left lying around then cover them with some clingfilm or a damp tea towel.
- I leave them all lying on flour dusted non-stick baking sheets for about 10 minutes
- Take them out to your very hot barbecue. It needs to be very hot to make them puff up, which forms the pocket inside. Cook them till they puff and then flip them with tongs to the other side. It literally takes about a minute depending on the temperature.
- Alternatively, cook them under a very hot grill. I find they can sit a few inches from the grill. You need to do that because when they puff up they can touch the grill and catch fire. So be very careful.