Aish Baladi - Egyptian Flatbread

Step 1

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.

Step 2

Once the yeast mixture has foamed up, add half the flour (about 1 1/4 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.

Step 3

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.

Step 4

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.

Step 5

Once the dough has doubled in volume, divide it into 8 equal balls.

Step 6

Cut out 8 parchment papers to fit the rolled dough. I cut mine into 10 inch wide sheets.

Step 7

Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of cracked wheat bran on the parchment and place a ball of dough on it.

Step 8

Roll the dough out to a even circle less than a 1/4 inch thick. I also sprinkled some wheat bran on the top and rolled. The dough did not need any flour to dust when rolling. .

Step 9

Place the rolled dough with the parchment on a baking sheet.

Step 10

Repeat the same with the rest of the dough balls and place the on a baking sheet.

Step 11

Cover the rolled dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

Step 12

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.

Step 13

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.

Step 14

Let the flatbread cook for about 6 to 7 minutes. You will notice that they fluff up really well.

Step 15

Carefully remove the cooked flatbread and place in a cooling rack for about 5 minutes and serve.