Bazlama/Turkish Flatbread

1hour 30 minutes

Serves 8 Units

Author: Rajni Ram

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Bazlama Is a Turkish flatbread. Countries like India, Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, have a huge variety of flatbreads to offer. In the streets of Egypt and Turkey, they are sold in stand by the road. These flatbreads taste delicious with any curry. On our trip to Egypt, we went crazy over the breads, and we even got some back home. And believe me these breads always come in handy when certain foods don’t suit you while travelling.

I must confess that I am a flatbread lover, and most nights it is our dinner. I come up with a new variety every time I am bored of the regular ones. While I have documented a few here, you will find a few in my social media pages,where I would have given the recipe directly.

Bazlama breads are so soft and pillowy,because of the yeast used and the Greek yougurt. They are similar to the Naan, just that they are far more simple to make. As an avid food blogger and someone who enjoys documenting my cooking and recipes, I am always in the look out for something new to try. I chanced upon this recently while researching, and knew instantly I had to make it.

Just like my Garlic Naan recipe, I have used a mix of Refined flour/Maida, and Wheat flour for this bread too. I find that by blending the two, taste and texture both can be achieved. As you cook the Bazlama bread over a pan, that warm yeasty fragrance is enough to hit the taste buds and get them watering. And the best part comes now, these breads can be used as Pizza base too. Take my suggestions and make more dough, so that you get to make a few Pizzas also.

While you are here I request you to take a look at other recipes on the blog like- Buckwheat and Raw Banana Flour Hariyali Paratha, Palak Paratha, Paneer Paratha, Rice Rotis, and more…

Ingredients

Refined Flour 2 cups (1 cup = 150 ml)
Whole Wheat Flour 2 cups
Active dry yeast 2 1/4 tsp
Sugar 1 tbsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Olive oil or other neutral oil 2 tbsp
Greek Yogurt 3/4 cup to 1 cup
Coriander/Cilantro 1 tbsp finely chopped
Warm water to knead the dough 1 1/4 (refer note)
Oil for cooking

In a bowl Take the warm water, add the sugar, stir to dissolve sugar. Now add the yeast, stir again and leave it for 5 minutes to activate. Once activated it turns frothy. To this add the olive oil, stir and set aside.
Now in a large mixing bowl take both the flours. Add salt, Greek Yogurt and mix well with a spatula. Now add the activated yeast water a little at a time, and combine to form a dough. The dough should not be very firm, nor too loose. It must be easily pliable.
Brush the dough with a little oil, cover it with a lid and rest for an hour to rise. Punch the dough to release the air, knead again and divide it into 8 or 10 equal portions.
Now take one ball at a time, dust with flour and roll it out into a circle. It should not be very thin like Roti. Now put a pan over the flame. Grease it with some oil, and put the rolled out circle on it. Brush a little oil and cook on one side, flip over and cook on the other side. Brush with oil again, remove when light brown spots appear. sprinkle some finely chopped Coriander/ Cilantro. Repeat for rest of the dough. Serve hot with curry.

In a bowl Take the warm water, add the sugar, stir to dissolve sugar. Now add the yeast, stir again and leave it for 5 minutes to activate. Once activated it turns frothy. To this add the olive oil, stir and set aside. Now in a large mixing bowl take both the flours. Add salt, Greek Yogurt and mix well with a spatula. Now add the activated yeast water a little at a time, and combine to form a dough. The dough should not be very firm, nor too loose. It must be easily pliable. Brush the dough with a little oil, cover it with a lid and rest for an hour to rise. Punch the dough to release the air, knead again and divide it into 8 or 10 equal portions. Now take one ball at a time, dust with flour and roll it out into a circle. It should not be very thin like Roti. Now put a pan over the flame. Grease it with some oil, and put the rolled out circle on it. Brush a little oil and cook on one side, flip over and cook on the other side. Brush with oil again, remove when light brown spots appear. sprinkle some finely chopped Coriander/ Cilantro. Repeat for rest of the dough. Serve hot with curry.

Notes:

The water temperature to activate the yeast must be optimum. The water is at right temperature,when you can comfortably withstand the heat, when your little finger is dipped in water. Bubbling hot water will destroy the yeast and luke warm water will fail to activate it.
If your yeast does not activate in 5 to 7 minutes, means you will have to replace your packet.
Unlike Naan, the dough does not need to stand for a long time. 1 hour is enough time for it to rise,if the yeast is good.
That said, there is no harm in resting it longer. People in warmer climes may want to store their fermented dough in the fridge, once it has risen, and get it out an hour before use.