pita bread recipe – whole wheat pita bread

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so here comes the awaited pita bread recipe.
how much i am fond of pita bread…. a love since my childhood days. pita bread stuffed with tahini, hummus, falafel and raw veggies… i can keep munching the pita sandwiches for many many days without eating anything else.
generally i make them a little extra and store, so that i can have them for a couple of days more. the extra pita bread can cut into wedges and then baked till crisp, later to had with dips.
for those who do not know -

pita bread is a middle eastern flat bread  that puff up when baked in a hot oven, but collapse as they cool down. the “pocket” in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough. as the bread cools and flattens, a pocket is left in the middle….. source wikipedia

they are also the easiest bread to make. the first time i had made pita bread…. was on the stove top and i was so thrilled seeing the bread puffing up like phulkas… you will see in the pics below.
then later i started making pita bread in the oven and they would puff up like pooris… a step further
the recipe of pita bread is adapted from one of my favorite bread book the bread bible. i can tell you that this is the best recipe for making pita bread.
the bread is soft, moist light and has their trademark pockets… what else one can ask for…
and yes healthy too as they are made from whole wheat flour plus vegan.

when you make the bread on a tava or frying pan, they will get brown or black spots. but when you bake them you won’t get any spots.
i browned them a little more in the oven as i like my breads to be a little extra browned and baked well.
once you have lots of pita with you… then give wings to your creativity and come up with different sandwich combinations & fillings…
you can even stuff with potato sabzi or punjabi chana with some onion rings, tomato slices and some mint chutney + tamarind chutney…. or make some veg kebabs or veg cutlets and add our usual chutneys and serve…. so many ways…

so after a long time i am again presenting a step by step method of making homemade pita bread. i have divided the step by step pictorial of pita bread recipe into 3 parts:

1. making the pita dough
2. baking method
3. stove top method

lets begin to make the awesome pita bread recipe :

1: preparing the dough:
1: firstly proof the yeast by sprinkling a pinch of sugar in warm water & then adding dry active yeast to it. stir and keep aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

2: in a bowl or pan, add the flour, salt & olive oil.

3: now add warm water.

4: just mix everything with a wooden spoon.

5: the yeast mixture has frothed now.

6: so add the frothy yeast to the wheat flour mixture.

7: knead into a smooth and soft dough. if the dough is a little sticky & moist than no issues… if you, see mine was too.. after keeping it for leavening it becomes alright as you will see below in the 9th pic. the dough has to be moist and soft as well as smooth too.

8: apply some olive oil all around over the dough.

9: keep it in the same bowl covered loosely with a kitchen towel for 1 to 1:30 hours or till the dough has risen.

10: this is how the dough looks after 1 hour & 5o minutes…. i kept for a longer time as it was raining heavily this day and the temperature was on the cooler side. see the cracks in spite of it being a little extra moist & sticky dough.

11: deflate the dough gently and if you want then knead lightly.

12: now make medium sized balls from the dough. keep these covered again for 10 minutes.

13: dust some flour and roll each ball into a flat poori shape or rounds exactly the way you make pooris. you can also make them oval shaped if you want. keep the bread a little thick than you would keep for pooris. keep these rounds covered loosely for 10 minutes more.

2: oven method to make pita bread:

1: place the rolled breads on a greased baking tray.

2: bake in a preheated oven for 200 degrees C for 7-10 minutes. mine took 7 minutes to cook and 1 minute to brown.

3: look at those puffed up pita breads… don’t they look good?

3: stove top method to make pita bread:

1:  heat a tava or a non stick frying pan. place the bread on the hot tava and cover it with a lid for 2-3 minutes.

2:  the bread will begin to puff up.

3: turn over and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more till the bread is done and has brown spots appearing on both sides.

4: alternatively, you could also make them the way we make phulkas. after lightly cooking both the sides, place them on the fire and see them puff… cook both sides.

5: stack them up and store in a kitchen towel or bread box. you can also serve pita bread warm. just slice the bread into two… you will see the pockets. stuff the pockets with a filling of your choice and your pita sandwich is ready. i added falafel, roasted red bell pepper hummus with some veggies and olives to the pita. You can also serve with plain hummus too.

whole wheat pita bread recipe details below:

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the best whole wheat pita bread recipe

 

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Prep time

1 hour 30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

2 hours

 

whole wheat pita bread recipe with oven as well as baking method

Author: dassana

Recipe type: breakfast, brunch

Cuisine: middle eastern

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 11/4 cup warm water – one cup and an extra one-fourth cup
• ½ tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 or 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tbsp salt
• a pinch of sugar

Instructions

preparing & rolling the bread:

1. in a small bowl add ½ cup of the warm water. sprinkle a pinch of sugar. then and the yeast and stir.
2. keep aside for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature.
3. in a large bowl mix the rest of the warm water with flour, salt and olive oil with a wooden spoon.
4. after the yeast has frothed, add the yeast mixture and knead into a soft, smooth dough.
5. keep the dough moist and soft as well as smooth and springy.
6. place the dough into a greased container or in the same bowl with some olive oil applied all over the dough.
7. cover with a kitchen napkin and keep at room temperature for for 1 to 1.5 hours.
8. preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
9. once the dough has doubled up, then remove the dough from the bowl.
10. put the dough on your working surface & deflate the dough gently.
11. make medium sized balls from the dough.
12. dust the working surface with flour and roll each ball into round circles of about 6 inch about ¼ inch thick.
13. cover the circles with the kitchen towel loosely and let them rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.

baking the pita bread in the oven:

1. now place them on a greased tray and bake at 200 degrees C for 7 to 10 minutes or till puffed up and light brown.
2. bake all the pita breads this way.

making the pita bread on stove top:

1. heat a non stick frying pan or tava.
2. place the bread on the tava and cover for 2-3 minutes till the bread starts puffing up.
3. flip the bread the other side and cook for more 2 to 3 minutes.

serving:

1. stack them up and store in a kitchen towel or bread box.
2. you can also serve them warm.
3. just slice the bread into two… you will see the pockets.
4. stuff the pockets with a filling of your choice and your pita sandwich is ready.

Notes

if the dough becomes too sticky than add some more flour. remember to proof the yeast in warm water. less warm water or hot water will not not yield good results. you can also knead the dough in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. you can double as well as triple this recipe. like all my bakes, i have baked the pita bread in a microwave oven in the convection/baking mode. since the recipe is lightly adapted, the pita breads should fluff well in a regular oven too if the yeast proofing and leavening of the bread is done well.