Pitta Bread in Dubai

My first encounter with pitta bread was in Dubai when my family and I had gone for our holidays. After travelling for more than 12 hours ( Pen –Kul-Dubai) and checking into our hotel we realized it was an apartment complex, we found out that there was no restaurant in it or even near by it. We were all exhausted and hungry. Later we went out to look for a plate of rice which is of course Malaysian staple diet. Surprisingly the cafes and restaurant along the Diera town did not sell any rice. All the food sold was either wrapped in a pitta bread or filled in a pitta pocket. So here it is after some trial and error I finally started making pittas better than the ones sold in the supermarket. I’ve even alterd the recipe to omit as much white flour as possible and include whole meal. Both the recipes are below. Enjoy kneading!!

Pitta Bread Recipe
3 cuos of flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 10g sachet (or 3 teaspoons) instant yeast or ¼ oz / 8g active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil
Wholemeal Pitta Bread Recipe
1 cup of flour
1 ½ cups of whole meal flour
½ cup of wheatgerm
1 teaspoon salt

1 10g sachet (or 3 teaspoons) instant yeast or ¼ oz / 8g active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil
(Method for both is the same. Just combine all three flour first before continuing)


Sift together the flour and salt. Combine yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a cup and leave for 10 minutes until it starts to froth. Mix the yeast mixture into the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon and start kneading by handi to form a dough, adding another few tablespoons warm water as needed. Knead the dough on a floured surface for approx 10 minutes until it is smooth, springy and elastic. Put some olive oil into the bowl and place the dough back into the bowl, spread the oil all over the dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 ½ - 2 hours until it has doubled in size.
Punch the air out of the dough and knead briefly, then divide the dough into twelve pieces. Roll each one out to a ¾ cm / ¼ inch thick round and put on a floured baking tray. When they're all done cover the tray and leave to rise again for another 45 minutes .Preheat your oven to its highest temperature - about 220C / 450F if it will get that hot. Heat up a baking tray or put large frying pan in the middle of your oven to heat. Once the dough has risen, put one or two pitta breads onto the griddle and return to oven to cook for 2 ½ to 3 minutes until they have puffed up. Bring the bread out onto a plate covered by a damp cloth to cool off. Once cool they can be frozen in bags. Reheat under the grill or in a toaster.Pitta bread is now ready and can be eaten with numerous fillings be it vegetarian or non vegetarian,