Pita bread and Baba Ghanoush

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                       As the time is passing, I am realizing we all are going to miss the 😈 adorable house arrest!! 

                    

                      When lock down started, we all were thinking it as a 15-20 days at best situation. So, we started the binge watching various web series and movies.  Things were scary outside, but the inside story was different. After all, that time the thought ticking away was - "aisa mauka phir kaha milega"😆.

                     It was only after a month that we realized the gravity of the situation and saw the gloomy picture!

                       So, the safest option was to stay put at home. During this phase of binge watching 🤓, that is in the beginning month followed by many phases of unlock series, we finished almost all the web series. Hunting through this web series spree we came across "Fauda". I loved watching the series 😬- It gave me some perspective 😅 into Israel, Palestine, Gaza Patti ,Tahini sauce, pita bread, hummus, black tea,  and Doron. 😆😄. 

(Perspective!!?? Yea - as I just remember the names of these places taken by various Doordarshan news readers when my dad used to be hooked onto the news - you see childhood memories 🤣)  

                      Well, jokes apart, it showed the gloomier picture than we are seeing here under the house arrest, felt concerned towards all the people who were/are actually facing all that. 

                      However, 🤩 Cuisine (Vegetarian part) got me interested. I have never enjoyed pita bread earlier, but thought of giving it a try again. Especially the Tahini sauce orders given each time they went to a café, made me think about it - "Ye Tahini sauce hai kya?" 😎 !! On searching for the recipe I realized its just the sesame seeds paste. But when made properly it tastes awesome. So then I tried all the things I could - Pita bread, Hummus, Tahini sauce, Falafel, Baba Ghanoush, Zaatar herb. 

                 So started the phase of experimenting with a few variations of these recipes and finally loved the ones that I will be sharing. 

                 Today I am sharing Pita bread and Baba Ghanoush. Pita bread made on Tava simply reminds me of Chulha roti we had the opportunity of eating during our childhood days in Dehradun. 😅 🥳.  


For Pita Bread 

Wheat Flour - 360 gms

Yeast - 1.5 tsp

Sugar - 1/4th tsp

Sea Salt - 1 tsp

Water - 250 ml

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp


For Baba Ghanoush

Eggplant - 1 big roasted

Garlic - 2 cloves

Tahini Sauce - 4 tbsp (Roast 2tbsp sesame seeds and 1/4 tsp of cumin. Add 4 tbsp water and 2 tbsp                               olive oil and make a fine paste in mixer. If you add salt to it your tahini sauce is ready to                         be used as sauce with salads. If you are using it for recipe don't add salt at this stage.)

Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Green Chilli -  2

Jalapeno - 1

Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp

Zaatar - 1 tsp (optional)

Parsley/Basil/Small Onion - 1 tbsp herbs chopped fine/ Onion Discs for garnishing


                     Take the pita bread ingredients in a bowl. Make the yeast mixture - warm water with sugar and keep aside for 5 minutes. Now knead all the pita bread ingredients together. Make a big ball of dough and keep it in a bowl on one side for raising. 

                     For ghanoush - dry roast the Egg plant nicely. You all will know this process by heart if you are a baigan bharta freak. I am one of the bharta lovers, so was quite astonished to explore this recipe.  Just a little bit of spices here and there, and our famous bharta becomes Baba Ghanoush....and the taste is mind blowing!!  

                    So, once it is roasted, peel it. Now put Roasted eggplant, Tahini sauce, Garlic, Green chilli slices, Jalapeno slices, Olive oil in the mixer - and make a fine paste. Take it out in a bowl - add salt as per taste, add lemon juice and Zaatar herb. Mix it all together. Garnish with chopped Parsley leaves. Now this is ready.....yummm!! Try it with cucumber slices...if not the Pita bread.

                    Now after an hour or so when the dough is ready we are ready to make our pita bread. Make 10 equal portions. You can make the size as per your desire. Make a ball and roll out like a roti. Now this pita bread can be baked or made on Tava like a roti. Difference will be that baked ones are crispier, and Tava ones are softer like roti.  Since its going to be a bit thicker then roti so the cooking time will be longer. 

                 For baking in oven - It will be 10 minutes each side - and it should puff up. When I read the recipe I thought how can you guarantee that it will puff up!! But to my pleasant surprise, the first pita bread I had kept in oven - puffed up fully on its own!! That was amazing - it came out quite well. Then I tried on Tava too. It comes out equally good. But yes, sometimes it does not puff up. 👿

                 Then I found out that both ways it will taste the same 😇. With the puffed ones you can make amazing sandwiches. And the ones which are not puffed up, can be used as it is for enjoying with hummus or baba ghanoush. 




Pita Bread Sandwich - Filling Salad Vegetables and Baba Ghanoush


                                                      Baba Ghanoush with baked Pita bread

   




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