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Jun 24, 2017

Aish Baladi - Egyptian Flatbread

Aish Baladi is an Egyptian whole wheat flat bread that looks a lot like pita bread, but is unique to Egypt.

Aish Baladi is an Egyptian whole wheat flat bread that looks a lot like pita bread, but is unique to Egypt.

In ancient Egypt, Aish Baladi was made with emmer, an ancestor of modern wheat.

The modern version of Aish Baladi is made with 100 percent whole wheat flour, and is even coated with wheat bran. This bread is really easy to make, as long as you have a very hot oven fitted with a baking stone. I've also seen sites that demonstrate it being baked on the stove top.

If you are interested in working with ancient grains, you can make this bread with emmer. Emmer, along with other ancient grains, is actually enjoying a revival, and is now grown in the Pacific Northwest, among other places. If you want to make this bread with emmer, you will have to special order it, unless, perhaps, you have a very well stocked Middle Eastern grocery in your area. If you follow this blog, you may be aware of my ingredient obsession. For once, I resisted the temptation (how did that happen?).

Some of my favorite quotes from the website Arab America about this bread....


"Wheat had an important status in the Ancient Egyptian economy..... Emmer earned its worth from it's high fiber content... it was the food that both the rich and the poor ate, and it was a sacred plant to ancient Egyptian Gods..."

"Even today, growing wheat brings happiness, hope, and thankfulness to God by Egyptian farmers and their families."

"Aish means 'life,' which is how Egyptians have perceived bread since ancient times. Bread is considered a commodity that Egyptians cannot live without in their daily diet.... It never fails to make a person feel full and happy."

Aish Baladi is an Egyptian whole wheat flat bread that looks a lot like pita bread, but is unique to Egypt.

This bread's whole grain flavor shines through. It is typically served warm from the oven after a brief rest, and is used to sop up sauces and fill with whatever's on the dinner table.

For a sweeter and softer Egyptian bread, be sure to try Shoreek. It's amazing in an entirely different way. 

When my friend Sue from Palatable Pastime suggested a bunch of us share Egyptian recipes, I couldn't resist. After all, the Nile River Delta is the original bread basket of the world.

For more #EatLikeAnEgyptian recipes, be sure to check out the links after the recipe.



Aish Baladi - Egyptian Flatbread Recipe

Aish Baladi - Egyptian Flatbread Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups (10.6 ounces) whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tablespoon instant yeast
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups warm (about 100 degrees F) water
  • Wheat bran for coating (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water, mix with your hand or a dough whisk, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for one hour.
  2. Set a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven, and preheat the oven to as high as it will go.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Cover with oiled plastic wrap.
  4. Sprinkle two pieces of parchment paper with wheat bran. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll each into a ball, and then flatten each into a 5 inch round. Sprinkle the top with more wheat bran.
  5. Cover with tea towels, and let rest for 30 minutes while the oven is heating, until puffy.
  6. Using a pizza peel or the back of a baking sheet, transfer the parchment sheets to the baking stone, one sheet at a time, and bake for 8 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool briefly, and then serve immediately.
Yield: 8 flatbreads

Recipe adapted from Saveur


Welcome to #EatLikeAnEgyptian! Today we are having fun exploring our favorite Egyptian cuisine recipes to commemorate the holiday of Eid-el-Fitr, which begins at sundown.


Aish Baladi is an Egyptian whole wheat flat bread that looks a lot like pita bread, but is unique to Egypt.


Would you like to comment?

  1. Those look delicious - must give it a try!

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  2. Bread is life....and this bread sounds amazing. Wish I had some when I was eating my Lahma Bil Basal.

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    1. Totally agree that this would go perfect with your beef!

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  3. That looks so good! I love baking with whole wheat and could definitely use to expand my flatbread repertoire. I love eating it but rarely think to make it. I need to change that!

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  4. I make flatbread with regular flour but this version is healthier for sure. Trying it for sure!

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  5. A good reason for adding Emmer to my next Shipton Mill Order. Thanks.

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    1. I would have done that too! I wish I had more room for ingredients here, ha ha!

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  6. Emmer/farro is such an interesting wheat! We love making bread with it, it adds a very distinct flavor, doesn't it? These pitas look fantastic. Are they crusty? They look like they are, right?
    Have a wonderful week ahead Karen!
    xoxoxo

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    1. They are actually fairly soft. I think the dark wheat makes them look more crusty. Thanks so much!

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    2. Oh we see. More like pitas then. Thanx for clarifying Karen! xoxo

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  7. Wonderful bread. Looks perfect for dipping in hummus!

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    1. Thanks Sue! It would be perfect with hummus!

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  8. I love the bran on the outside. This looks perfect for baking in the barbecue!

    It also looks perfect as a foil for ful medames and mint lemonade - how handy that there are links at the bottom of your post (going to look now...).

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth! Isn't it fun how we came up with a complete meal?

      P.S. these would be perfect in the barbecue. As hot as you can get it!!

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  9. Thanks for sharing this recipe! I am excited to try it in the near future and perhaps with the emmer flour. My husband is Egyptian and misses aish baladi a lot. I am curious though because the bread we get fresh in Cairo is very large and stretchy in texture which seems hard to achieve with whole wheat flour unless gluten is added. Maybe this is unnecessary though because it seems that Egyptians wouldn't be adding anything like gluten into their breads. Is your bread stretchy at all? I haven't found any recipes addressing the stretchiness, and I haven't experimented yet so maybe it is. Either way, I'm sure this bread is fantastic.

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    1. Hi Sara, it's not really stretchy, and you are right about whole wheat. If you try it with emmer, I'd love to hear about it!

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  10. Hello Karen, thank you for the recipe! I've made this Egyptian 'pita' with baked falafel. It's really tasty, particularly warm - just as is, even without anything! By the way, a Wikipedia page leads to your website - I found it out while googling what Baladi means. Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baladi#cite_note-2

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    1. I'm so glad you liked it... and how fun is that!!!

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  11. This recipe and your photos looks good! Better than Saveur's, I have to agree.

    Comparing it to the source recipe however, I'd like to know your thought process for changing the process. I'm curious more specifically about why you chose to skip the autolyse process and shortened the proof time from 90 to 30 minutes. Also why you omitted the oil.

    Thanks!

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    1. Thanks Roscoe. The 30 minute rise is for after the breads are shaped. I still did the first rise until doubled, but didn't list the time, since mine rose faster. As far as the autolyse, I can't remember why I skipped it, but it worked! If you are using freshly ground flour, I'd probably do the autolyse. FYI - these are great cooked on a stone on a grill.

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  12. My son and I just made this with Emmer flour for his school project on Ancient Egyptian farming along the Nile. It looks beautiful, smells delicious and is soft. The dough was extremely sticky and a little hard to work with but otherwise came out great! My oven went up to about 525 and I pulled it out at 6 minutes as it was getting brown.

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  13. Hello, How can I buy some Egyptian bread from you please ? I need to make order ... Thanks

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    1. I'm sorry, I don't sell bread. I just provide recipes.

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