Bazlama
Early in the pandemic Tom was intrigued by a Turkish flatbread that sounded good, but it used a lot of yeast at a time that it was hard to find. Recently I ran into it again and decided it was time to give it a try. The dough is very easy, and I decided to use some whey from straining yogurt instead of water. I don’t know if that changed the flavor, and they were quite tasty regardless. However, I think people really like these for the texture. They’re very soft and pliable, with a little bit of stretchiness.
Ingredients
- 315g lukewarm whey (or water)
- 2 tsp yeast – I used active dry yeast
- ~1 tsp kosher salt (8g)
- ~1 Tbsp sugar (15g)
- 390g King Arthur flour
Note: I measure ingredients by weight most of the time, so volume measurements are approximate.
Mix first four ingredients, stirring to make sure everything has dissolved.
Add the flour and mix into a shaggy dough with no dry bits. Then let rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold the dough about 8 times. I happened to leave it alone for about another 30 minutes, but that’s not necessary.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a nice ball. Then cut it into four pieces with a bench scraper. The dough is very sticky. Dust with just enough flour to make it manageable, and shape into four rounds.
After they’re all shaped, take the first one and roll it out to a circle that’s about a half inch thick.
Meanwhile start heating a cast iron pan or griddle on the stove – not too hot. These are very thick, and you want them to cook slowly so they’re done all the way through. On my stove I had the burner on 4 out of 10.
Place the dough on the griddle, and let it sit for 1-2 minutes, until you start to see bubbles forming on the top. Flip to the other side for another 1-2 minutes, then flip again. They cook for about 6 minutes total flipping back and forth so they’re a nice golden brown on both sides.
While one is cooking start rolling out the next one. When they’re cooked, wrap lightly in a clean dishcloth to stay warm. Repeat until all the rounds are cooked. They’d go well with any middle eastern dip like hummus, greek dishes like souvlaki, or indian curries in place of naan.
