Niki Louca from My Greek Kitchen shares her favourite recipe for pita bread with The Greek Herald. You can follow her on Instagram @mygreekkitchen for more!
Ingredients:
- 500 – 550 gm strong bread flour
- 1 sachet dry yeast (7 grams)
- 100 gm Greek yoghurt – if you don’t have any you can substitute with an extra 100ml water
- 100 ml warm milk
- 120-140 ml lukewarm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
Method:
- In a small bowl add 100 ml of lukewarm water, warm milk, sugar and yeast together. Stir to combine well and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
- In a large bowl add your flour and salt – stir it through. Add the yoghurt and the yeast mixture. Knead together, adding the remainder of water as needed. Dough should be smooth and soft but not sticky.
- Keep kneading the dough for about 10 minutes till it all comes together – you may use a mixer if you prefer. Once ready, pour a little olive oil in your hands and rub it all over your ball of dough. Let it rest in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel for about an hour till its doubled in size.
- Divide dough into 8 equal portions and form little balls. Let them rest/proof again for 20-30 minutes. Make sure you cover them with a tea towel.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball into approx.. 20 cm round disk, and about 1-2mm thick. Yes, that’s pretty thin but once they heat up they will puff up and be thicker. In the meantime, heat your skillet or thick based pan, and put one pita in pan at a time. When you see bubbles emerge, flip the pita onto the other side. You should have a light golden colour on each pita. I like to put a bit of butter on mine once cooked.
- Cover pites with a tea towel once cooked to keep them warm and soft. Spread a little butter if you want. Serve immediately.
Niki Louca runs cooking classes in Melbourne. For more or to book classes visit My Greek Kitchen at www.mygreekkitchen.com.au or Instagram @mygreekkitchen. You can email Niki at: niki@mygreekkitchen.com.au.
