Turkish-style flatbread

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg wheat flour, type 405 or type 550
• 150 ml milk
• 450 ml water (a little less depending on the flour consistency
• 1 cube of yeast, fresh
• 1 tsp sugar
• 20 g salt
• 3 tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• Sesame and black cumin for sprinkling

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

Pide, just like it tastes in Istanbul

Put the flour into a baking bowl or food processor, make a well in the middle, add the crumbled yeast, sugar, and a little lukewarm milk, and mix with some of the flour to form a pre-dough. Sprinkle a little flour from the edge over the dough. Let it rest, and when cracks appear on the surface, it’s ready to be worked. Add the salt, the rest of the milk, and about 450 ml of water to the pre-dough in the bowl. I do it this way: I first add 400 ml of water and then gradually add the remaining 3 tablespoons as needed. Then knead everything very well until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Continue kneading until it is no longer sticky and feels as smooth and soft as our earlobes. Now cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 30-45 minutes, until it has increased in volume significantly. In the meantime, line the baking sheets with baking paper, prepare the black cumin and sesame seeds, and heat the oil with the butter until the butter has melted. Divide the dough and shape it into a typical flatbread. This amount of dough will make two large pides. You can also make small mini pides, simit, boat-shaped rolls, or loaves. It’s best to cut the rolls and loaves about 0.5 cm deep with a sharp knife (e.g., a carpet knife) before baking. Large pides can also be lightly scored for decoration, if desired. Brush the flatbreads with the butter-oil mixture and sprinkle with black cumin and sesame seeds. Let them rise for another 10 minutes, while preheating the oven to 220°C. Place the bread in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Of course, you can also bake a pide with half the amount of ingredients, but since the bread keeps very well and can also be frozen, it saves time and energy if you use the whole amount at once.