Pita Bread

My first attempt at Mediterranean food was in the initial days of pregnancy which were really hard. I ordered fancy things but I ended up eating only pita bread dipped in hummus. And then somehow I never returned to the place all throughout my pregnancy and even post that, the new mother gets so busy that somehow trying mediterranean food never crossed my mind. But in the past 2 years, we have been indulging a lot in it. Its one among our favorite cuisines to try and have whenever we think of dining out or even trying something different at home other than the daily Indian food. All of us love it.

We used to buy the pita bread from grocery stores to make our wraps. One day we thought of trying it ourselves. I had least expectation of it getting all puffed up. But surprisingly, all of them puffed up with the same perfection that I quickly made a note of the recipe. Well why not, right? Such recipes are keepers that you may always want to document it. And this recipe has never disappointed me even once. So here is it. You should think twice or may be thrice before you get pita breads from outside, when you have such easy recipes at hand :).

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 tsp of active dry yeast
2. 1 tsp of sugar
3. 1 cup of lukewarm water
4. 1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
5. 1 cup of whole wheat flour
6. 1/2 tsp of salt
7. 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil

Method

• In a bowl, take the yeast, sugar and lukewarm water. Mix it well. Keep it aside for about 10 minutes for the yeast to get frothy and active.
• Add the salt, olive oil and whole wheat flour and all purpose flour little by little to bring it all together.
• Remove it on to a floured surface. Add more flour(little by little), only if you feel it is too sticky, while you knead it into a smooth and soft dough.
• Return the dough on to the mixing bowl and place it in a warm place for it to double in size. It may take up to 1-2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 475 F. Place a cast iron pan or thick bottom baking sheet in the oven's bottom rack.
• Meanwhile, punch down the dough and divide it into equal golf sized balls out the dough. Cover it under a moist cloth while you work on rolling them out into breads.
• Take a ball of dough, roll it out into about 7 inch diameter circle with about 1/4 inch of thickness. 
• Place the rolled out dough onto the baking sheet/ cast iron pan. In a couple of minutes it would puff. Flip it or turn it around and cook it for another minute. Remove it onto a basket lined with kitchen towels to wrap it up, to let it stay soft.
• Repeat with the rest of the dough balls to make the pita bread.
• Enjoy it warm with some hummus or as pita wraps.

Tips

1. The water used in making the dough should be just warm enough, else the yeast wouldn't grow.
2. Covering the pita bread in kitchen towel helps to retain its freshness untill all of the pita breads are made and served.