This Vegan Egyptian Flatbread looks and feels very similar to Pita, but it tastes very different. It forms a great pocket just like pita bread to stuff literally anything. All we needed was a good smear of hummus and it was heavenly. We are beginning our Month long Mega Blogging Marathon and the theme for this month is very close to my heart. I am going to be blogging International FLATBREAD, this whole month of September and it is going to be in A to Z order. We had 3 different options to choose from and I chose the A to Z International Flatbread as my theme.
What does Aish Baladi mean
It literally means bread of life. That is how the Egyptians looked at bread. This is one of the very ancient form of traditional bread in the Egyptian culture. ‘Baladi’ means traditional and ‘Aish’ means life. Most of the Arabic speaking country use the word ‘Khobz’ for bread, but since the Egyptians have a very special place for the bread in their life, they call it the ‘Aish Baladi’. It was very interesting to read about the history of this Egyptian Flatbread in this website. This bread was baked with ancient wheat called ‘Emmer’ in the olden days and was baked in a very hot oven that was built using the red mud from the Nile river. They used wild yeast to help proof the dough. Rich or poor used the same ingredients and method of cooking when making the Aish Baladi. Bread plays an very important roll in the Egyptian culture. They eat it at every meal and all kind of people, rich or poor eat it. Aish Baladi was very affordable for every person in any economic status. It is available every where and you don’t really need anything else to eat with it. The wheat bran coating adds a very rustic feel and flavor to the bread. I would highly recommend using it for the bread to get that authentic feel. This is made with 100% whole wheat flour and is entirely Vegan. Preparation time - 15 minutes plus about 2 ½ hours of rising timeBaking time - About 6 minutes plus flatbreadDifficulty level - IntermediateRecipe adapted from - Saveur
Ingredients to make Aish Baladi - Makes 8 flatbread
Whole wheat flour - 2 ½ cupsActive dry yeast - ½ TBSPSugar - 2 tspSalt - ½ TBSPOil - ½ tablespoon plus more to greaseCracked wheat bran - about ¼ cupWarm water - about 1 ¼ cup (more or less as needed to make the dough)
Step by Step Process
To Make the Dough
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer, add about 1 cup of warm water along with the sugar and yeast and mix well.
Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it sit for about 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 and start with a new batch.
Once the yeast mixture has foamed up, add half the flour (about 1 ¼ cup) to the the bowl and mix with a spoon. Cover the bowl again with the kitchen towel and let it proof in a warm place for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, the dough would be bubbly and frothy. 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.
Again cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. It took me about 1 hour for the dough to double.
To Shape and Bake
Once the dough has doubled in volume, divide it into 8 equal balls.
Cut out 8 parchment papers to fit the rolled dough. I cut mine into 10 inch 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 a ¼ inch thick. I also sprinkled some wheat bran on the top and rolled. The dough did not need any flour to dust when rolling. .
Place the rolled dough with the parchment on a baking sheet.
Repeat the same with the rest of the dough balls and place the on a baking sheet.
Cover the rolled dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 500 F with a pizza stone inside. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you could bake them on a tray, but the pizza stone gives it a beautiful texture.
Slowly place one of the rolled flatbread with the parchment on the pizza stone using a pizza peel or a ladle with a long handle. Be careful when placing 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.
If the yeast does not bubble up when activating, discard that yeast and use a new batch.
Using wheat bran gives the flatbread a very rustic flavor. If wheat bran is not available, use semolina or more wheat flour to dust the dough.
Pizza stones helps in cooking the flatbread really quickly in high heat. You can use a baking tray if you don’t have a pizza stone.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve the Aish Baladi flatbread with any spicy stew or treat it as a pita and stuff them with falafel. A good Quinoa Tabbouleh on the side is a great refreshing idea to serve this rustic flatbread. You could also make the Vegetarian shawarma from this Aish baladi Wrap. If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
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