Khoubiz (Pita Bread)
Ingredients
1/2 ounce active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups warm water
8 cups plain flour
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons oil
Instructions
Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of the lukewarm water. Stir in the sugar. Set aside in a warm place. Leave it until it begins to rise up and foam. This will take about 15 minutes.
Sift the salt and flour together into a large, warm mixing bowl..
Form a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the yeast into the center. Gently mix the yeast into the flour. Mix by hand, adding small amounts of warm water if necessary.
Knead until this becomes a soft dough. Transfer the dough from the bowl to a floured pastry board and continue to knead until it is smooth and shiny. This will take about 15 minutes. Knead 2 tablespoons of oil into the dough. Roll into a large ball. Rub the remaining one tablespoon of oil over the surface of the ball. Return to the bowl. Cover with a moist cloth. Set in a warm place to rise. Leave it about 1 1/2 hours until it doubles in size.
Pre heat the oven to maximum heat at a minimum of 30 minutes before using. Punch down the dough. Pull the edges up to form another ball. Transfer to a lightly floured board and knead 2 minutes.
Divide into 8 equal portions and roll each portion into a ball. On the floured board flatten each ball and roll with a heavy rolling pin into flat round shapes approximately 1/4 inch or 6mm thick. They should be about 12 inches in diameter. Place the flattened bread rounds on a lightly floured cloth. Cover this with another floured cloth set in a warm spot to rise again to double their size. This should take about 30 minutes.
Pre heat the baking tray in the oven for 5 minutes. Carefully rub the tray with oil.
Place one round at a time on the baking tray. Cook 5 - 9 minutes. The bread should swell in the middle and become a light brown in color. Remove from the oven and wrap in a clean cloth to keep moist. The swelling will disappear when the bread is removed from the oven. Continue this procedure with the remaining rounds.
This pita bread is also known as a flat bread.
Servings: 8 loaves
