Ramazan Pidesi or Ramadan Pita is a Turkish leavened flatbread. It does not require kneading and is usually made with either wheat flour or all-purpose flour, milk or warm water, yeast, yoghurt, olive oil, and sugar. Finally, the bread is glazed with egg wash and flavoured with sesame seeds or nigella seeds (kala jeera) to enhance the taste. It is also like a work of art since you need to use your fingers to indent lines around and across the dough to render the characteristic zigzag look to the bread.
The speciality of Pidesi is that it is of soft, fluffy, and bouncy consistency, and hence, the preparation process, though easy, is quite detailed, so it is recommended to follow the method of making the bread to a T.
Made for a special occasion
Pidesi is native to Turkey and is baked during the Holy month of Ramadan, often served in iftar or sehri meals during this time, but it can be made any time of the year and savoured for any meal. Here is the recipe for Pidesi.
Ingredients:
200 ml milk
5 big cups of all-purpose flour
10 gm yeast
4 gm granulated sugar
245 ml water
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp kala jeera or nigella seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Method:
. Heat the milk to 25-35 degrees Celsius.
. Add the milk, sugar, and yeast to a bowl, mix well.
. Add the all-purpose flour and mix well.
. Cover the bowl with a plastic sheet and keep aside for 25-30 minutes, till it fills out.
. To make the dough, add water and olive oil to a bowl, add the all-purpose flour and mix well.
. Ensure the dough is smooth, soft, and pliable, and not hard at all.
. Cover the dough in a bowl wrapped in a plastic sheet. Let it rest for 25-30 minutes.
. Sprinkle flour on a slab and pour the dough on it.
. Put a few sprinkles of flour on the top and sides of the dough and gently shape the dough as loosely round or oblong shaped.
. Get a baking tray ready and place the dough on it, and then stretch the dough into an oval shape.
. Let the dough rest for 25-30 minutes.
. Preheat the oven to high heat.
. Place a baking dish full of water to the brim to make steam.
. Make the egg wash.
. Gently apply the egg wash, with a brush, all over the dough.
. Press the tips of your fingers, gently and not too hard, on the dough and first indent a circular line along the circumference of the dough, and then create diagonal lines across the dough to give it a zigzag appearance.
. Then sprinkle sesame and nigella seeds.
. Bake the bread till the outside turns golden brown.
. Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool.
