Today I wanted to make an Indian dish for lunch. I really wanted to try making pita bread since I had it once at an Indian restaurant, and it went really well with soup. But I didn't have everything I needed to make the soup, so I just decided to make the pita bread and then cook up ground beef with garam masala (a mix of Indian spices). Then I made rice on the side too.
I looked up a recipe online for pita bread. It looked very simple and easy to make with only a few ingredients. So I went to work!
While I was making it, I felt like I added way too much water to the yeast. But I still added it to the flour after waiting a bit, so the yeast mixture can start blooming. Then, after adding everything, I put on gloves and mixed it until it reached a doughy consistency. It was still pretty sticky, so I added a little more bread flour. Then it was perfect!
I had to let it proof for about 20 mins in the bowl. After it was done proofing, I took it out, split the dough into twelve round balls, and placed them on a pan, covered them with a towel, and let them proof for fifteen more minutes.
I brought out our cast-iron pan and set it to medium heat. While the pan heated, I started taking the balls out and stretching each one with my fingers until it reached my desired pita bread size. Then I got a fork and started stabbing it (probably the most enjoyable part of it all 😁), creating that bubbly look pita has.
After placing it in the pan, I covered it with a lid (to keep the moisture in) and let it sit for about 2 to 3 minutes before flipping. I did that twelve times for all of them.
I let one cool and tore a piece off to taste it. It tasted like a pita should. It usually has no flavor, kinda chewy, but it's really good for dipping in soups and stuff. Then I thought it would taste really good with butter and honey. So I put that on there, and it tastes really good together.
Having the rice, the ground beef mixed in garam masala for that delicious flavor, then the pita bread and some cooked vegetables on the side, tasted incredible altogether. I was pretty happy the way it all turned out. 😊
