turkish bread | Sam's Kitchen

I was born and grew up in beautiful Baku, Azerbaijan. Bread is a staple of any meal in my home country, and this flatbread is a very traditional type of bread that is cooked in a wood fire oven called tendir, which is where the name of this bread originates.

It is the most delicious bread in the world to me and I missed enjoying it a lot when I moved to Australia so one day I decided to attempt to make my own tendir bread. After a few experiments, it worked and now I’m so excited to share this recipe with you all.

I have adjusted the recipe to be cooked in a conventional oven; it’s a relatively easy bread to make. The bread is sprinkled with sesame and nigella seeds, they give this bread a local flavour that takes me right back home. It tastes delicious, especially straight from the oven served with dips or just about anything else 🙂

Ingredients

1 ( 7g ) sachet active dry yeast
1 measuring cup lukewarm water
1/2 measuring cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil + extra for oiling ( see method )
3 to 4 measuring cups plain all-purpose flour ( I normally use 3 1/2 cups of unbleached bakers flour )
1 tsp salt or to taste

1 egg lightly whisked – for brushing
1/2 tsp raw sesame seeds
1/2 tsp raw nigella seeds

Method

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water and set aside till becomes frothy.
Sieve 3 cups of flour into a large bowl. Make a well, add olive oil, plain yoghurt and yeast mixture, mix well. Start adding more flour if needed, but very little at a time as you may not need to use full four cups. The texture of this dough has to be very soft. It will be very sticky at first, but after a few minutes of kneading it should become more elastic. If the dough continues to be sticky add more flour, but very little at a time and continue kneading. Once your dough is elastic place it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours or till doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 180 C.
Prepare a baking tray about 45 cm in length. Place 45 cm long piece of baking paper on top of the working bench.

Lightly knead the dough, and move it on baking paper. Wet your hands and stretch the dough into a flat oblong shape. You may need to wet your hands a couple of times to avoid the dough from sticking to them. Make 4 equally linear indents with the outside edge of your hand. Leave your bread to sit in a warm place for 40-50 min. Brush with an egg and repeat the indents with the edge of your hand once again. Sprinkle with seeds and bake for 30-40 minutes or till cooked through. Cool, and enjoy :).

Let yeast become frothy before using ( proof the yeast )