Aish Baladi
Aish Baladi is a traditional Egyptian recipe for a classic leavened wheat flatbread with ancient antecedents that puffs up during cooking like a pita. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Egyptian version of: Aish Baladi.
prep time
15 minutes
cook time
10 minutes
Total Time:
25 minutes
Additional Time:
(+3 hours proving)
Makes:
8
Rating: 
Tags : Bread RecipesBaking RecipesEgypt Recipes
This is an Egyptian flatbread that puffs up like a pita but which tastes quite different. The name literally means 'bread of life' and the style of bread goes back to
ancient Egyptian flatbreads. Note that as with all bread flours, the amount of water needed will vary depending on how dry the flour is, so adjust the water accordingly.
Ingredients:
300g Whole wheat flour
½ tbsp Active dry yeast
2 tsp Sugar
½ tbsp Salt
½ tbsp Oil
60g Cracked wheat bran
300ml Warm water (more or less as needed to make the dough)
Method:
In a large mixing bowl add about 250ml of warm water along with the sugar and yeast and mix well. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside for the yeast to activate for 10 minutes or until it is frothy and bubbly. If the yeast mixture does not bubble up after 15 minutes, it means that the yeast is inactive — start with a new batch.
Once the yeast mixture has foamed up, add half the flour (about 150g) to the the bowl and mix with a spoon. Cover the bowl again with the kitchen towel and set aside to prove in a warm place for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, the dough will be be bubbly and frothy (this is your sponge or starter). Now add the remaining flour, salt and oil to the bowl and knead the dough for at least 10 minutes or until the dough is very soft and not sticky.
At this point cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).
Once the dough has doubled in volume, knock it back then divide it into 8 equal-sized balls.
Cut out 8 parchment papers to fit the rolled dough. (About 25cm wide sheets.)
Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of cracked wheat bran on the parchment and place a ball of dough on it.
Roll the dough out to a even circle less than 6mm thick. I also sprinkled some wheat bran on the top of the dough before rolling it out. As a result of this process, the dough did not require any flour to dust when rolling.
Place the rolled dough with its parchment parchment paper base onto a baking tray.
Repeat this process with the remaining dough balls and place them all on a baking tray.
Cover the rolled dough loosely with a tea towel and set aside to prove for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, pre-heat your oven to 225°C with a pizza stone inside. If you don't have a pizza stone, you can bake them on a baking tray (but a pizza stone always gives the best results).
Carefully place one of the rolled flatbreads with its parchment paper base on the pizza stone using a pizza peel or a ladle with a long handle. Be careful not to burn yourself when transferring the dough inside the really hot oven.
Let the flatbread cook for about 6 to 7 minutes. You will notice that they fluff up really well.
Carefully remove the cooked flatbread and place in a cooling rack for about 5 minutes and serve (in the meantime cook the next flatbread).