It wasn't probably until my teen years when my mother started buying bread from a bakery. Flat Arabic bread is known to be the main everyday bread for Palestinians. So my mother, like all other mothers in Palestine used to make bread at home. Bakeries making pita bread at the time were not in existence.
I loved those winter days when we were off from school and my mom would make the dough then she'd make us mana'ish bi za'atar (thyme) for brunch (mana'eesh are dough covered with Thyme and olive oil), or with eggs, baked fresh at home with a hot cup of tea. So cozy warm and yummy!
Lately, I had some friends asking if I knew how to make pita bread. Well, in a way I know how it’s made but I never made it! Growing up I watched my mother kneading the dough for bread at least twice a week, and as the youngest in the family, my mother would rely on me helping with baking the bread. We had this special electrical baking pot for baking pita bread (see below, I asked my sister back home in Ramallah to take a couple of pictures of the electrical pot).
As for making bread from scratch I never tried to make any myself, though I know that the taste of home bread baking is like no other. When I first moved to the US I was living close to my aunt who makes her bread at home, so every time I visit her she gives me some, and oh the taste is just so good.
So when I checked with my mother for the recipe, it was hard to get the exact measurements out of my mother, because she never measured anything while cooking, and yet always turned out so good, so she couldn't give me any exact measurements. I turned to my aunt and between both of their recipes and a bit of experimenting I came out with a pretty good outcome.
Honestly, in the beginning, It was a bit intimidating. However, after doing it twice I felt confident, and now I can say it wasn’t hard at all.
So here is how to make pita bread. Mix 2 tablespoons of yeast with half a cup of warm water, stir well until yeast is fully dissolved then add 1 teaspoon of sugar mix and set aside for 2 minutes.
In a large bowl pour in the flour, and salt then pour over it the mixed yeast and another half a cup of warm water. Knead together, if the dough is dry add the remaining ½ cup of water gradually until you have a smooth dough.
With your hands rub a few drops of olive oil over the dough and the bowl, then cover the bowl with wrapping paper and a warm blanket and leave for an hour until it has risen.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Once risen, cut the dough into 6 to 7 equal ball shapes and place them on a sheet or baking tray, cover, and let them sit for another 10 minutes. Then take each ball flatten it with a rolling pin, and lay it on a baking sheet, keep the dough flattened for another 10 minutes. Then place the baking sheet in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the pitas have puffed up.
Once out of the oven let the bread completely cool off. Bread can be stored in a zip bag in the freezer to maintain freshness.
Arabic Bread – خبز كماج
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 60 minutes to rest:
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 7 pieces of flat bread 1x
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Palestinian/Middle Eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Arabic flat bread. A popular type of bread used across the Middle East. Used for sandwiches and with numerous dishes.
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 - ½ cup of warm water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Mix yeast with half a cup of warm water until yeast fully dissolved, then add sugar and set aside for 2 minutes.
- Place flour in a large bowl, add salt and pour in the mixed yeast and the second half of water.
- Knead together, if the dough is dry add the remaining ½ cup of water gradually until you have a smooth dough.
- With your hand rub a few drops of olive oil all over the dough and the bowl. Cover with wrapping paper and a blanket and leave for an hour to rise.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
- Once risen, cut the dough into 6 to 7 equal ball shapes and place them on a sheet or baking tray, cover and let them sit for another 10 minutes.
- Take each ball and flatten with a rolling pin, and lay on a baking tray, keep the dough after flattened for another 10 minutes. Then place the baking tray in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the pitas have puffed up.
- Once out of the oven let bread completely cool off. Bread can be stored in a zip bag in the freezer to maintain freshness.
Notes
If the dough is dry add 1-2 tablespoons of water, one at a time and knead until you get a smoother dough.
If the dough is too soft add 1-2 tablespoons of flour, one at a time and knead until you get a smoother dough.
Elana Golden says
Wow! This is a lot of work, but so delicious!
Wafa Shami says
Thank you Elana!
Bob says
Made this to the letter and with only one cup of water to all that flour, it just wasn't incorporating into a dough
Wafa Shami says
Hi Bob, I'm sorry to hear that. Not sure exactly what happened, it's possible the flour measurements are not the same, the flour tend to stick together if there is humidity. It probably would be best to add water gradually and knead, until you get an incorporating dough. If by any chance you got a sticky dough you can sprinkle some flour, and knead again. Another tip is to let the dough rest for 30 minutes to an hour. I hope these tips are helpful.
Horeya says
💪🏽 🍉
Wafa Shami says
Thank you.
Eve says
viva palestina
Wafa Shami says
Thank you.
Serene says
Free free Palestine! Thank you for this recipe.🇵🇸🍉🫶
Wafa Shami says
Thank you for the support. Free Palestine.
HS says
I just made a half batch of this to try and its delicious. I had to use honey instead of sugar as I had run out. Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow. Free Palestine. Ceasefire now xx
Wafa Shami says
That's awesome! Keep praying for a ceasefire.
Anthony G says
Pitas are currently baking and look great! My fiance is half Palestinian and we are going through your recipes one by one to learn her ethnic cooking to pass along to others. We're having a great time doing it! Thank you! Free free Palestine!!!!!
Wafa Shami says
Hi Anthony,
That's great, I'm so glad to hear that. Happy cooking and free free Palestine!
Melissa Ellithi says
My husband is from Egypt (we live in USA) we recently moved where it's hard to find good breads and they are very expensive.
I made it tonight and he is loving it. I overcooked a few pieces but adjusted and the rest were great. Not pretty and round but tasty. This is our go to recipe now and I'm going to batch some and freeze also.
Thank you
Wafa Shami says
Hello Melissa, I'm so glad to hear that, the more you make them the better they'll turn out -:) Thanks for sharing your experience.