in my flatbread era

pita, malawach, paratha + more!!

Ever since I first made those fluffy pitas that tasted like nothing I’ve ever bought at the grocery store, I started wondering what other flatbreads I’ve been bamboozled by. Obviously my expectations for grocery quality baked goods aren’t hiiigh, but some of the options are just bleek. I mean, I don’t think I can ever go back to buying those thin scrawny pita pockets again.

I recently moved on from pita (not forever, just for the sake of keeping things interesting) and made malawach. It’s a Yemenite Jewish flaky, butter laminated dough that is yeast-free.

It closely resembles Indian paratha. The reason I know this is the sheer amount of one word comments that I got on my videos that said - “paratha”. These were followed by comments comparing it to a chinese scallion pancake.

And something I found so interesting, is how connected cultures can be without even realizing. 1 style of bread can have so many variations and nuances that make it unique to a specific culture. We’re all connected through bread! Corny but true.

So, enter my flatbread era.

I posted a video asking what flatbread I should make next and got dozens of replies from around the world:

malawach, msemen, kaak, paratha, roti, lavash, barbari, laffah, samoon, naan, manoushe, chapati.

So if you were considering going keto soon, you might want to reconsider because we’re running through these breads. Actually, if you were considering going keto at all you should reconsider. Choose happiness!!!

Okay roll your sleeves up, let’s make malawach.

malawach recipe:

I used the recipe from Food52. But I will include it here with some photos for the steps to make it easier to follow along! You can watch my video for more visual help too.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup pastry flour (you can sub AP flour, pastry flour just makes it lighter)

• ¹/₄ cup granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

• 1 cup warm water

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, and salt.

2. Slowly pour in the warm water, and use your hand to stir and mix the dough until it fully pulls away from the bowl. If the dough is not completely combined, stir in 1/2 tablespoon of water at a time, mixing until the dough comes together.

3. Transfer the dough to a clean countertop and knead until it is smooth and elastic, roughly 5 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

4. Uncover the dough and with a knife or pastry scraper, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces; keep the dough covered with plastic wrap while you flatten each ball out.

   

5. Prepare a sheet tray by lining it with parchment paper and set it aside. On a clean countertop, rub 1 tablespoon of butter across the worksurface. Place one piece of dough at a time on the buttered countertop and use a rolling pin (or your empty ghia bottle) to shape the dough into roughly an 8-inch circle (you should not need to use flour to roll the dough).

6. Take 1 tablespoon of butter and use your fingers to dollop pieces of it across the surface of the dough; starting from the center, with both hands use your fingers to press and slide them across the dough, stretching it outwards, creating a large 12 x 14-inch rectangle. The dough should be thin enough to see through to the countertop, it's okay if a few tears occur.

   

   1. If creating a filling variation (you can do scallion, nigella seeds, cheese, herbs, anything!! I used everything but the bagel seasoning), sprinkle 2 tablespoon across the surface of the buttered dough now.

      

      I loved the everything but the bagel seasoning. Would be so good served with lox + labneh + tomato

7. Starting from the widest edge of the rectangle, fold over the dough in 1-inch increments until a long rope is created. Coil the rope into a pinwheel and place on the prepared sheet tray. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and roll the remaining pieces of dough. Cover the sheet tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough overnight, or until chilled, about an hour or so.

   

   try to roll the swirls very tight and tuck the tail underneath towards the center of the swirl so it doesn’t unravel later (i learned the hard way)

8. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Use a rolling pin to flatten the pinwheels into 8 1/2-inch circles. Stack the flattened dough in between pieces of parchment paper, and place inside a freezer storage bag. Freeze the dough until fully frozen, can store up to 1 month.

   

   i rolled the dough with parchment paper on top so the swirl didn’t separate as much

9. To cook, lightly butter a large non-stick or cast iron pan and place over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add a frozen piece of flattened dough to the pan and then turn the stove to medium. (The pan should not be smoking.) Cook the dough 1 to 2 minutes per side until it is golden brown. The malawach is best enjoyed fresh off the pan; if you plan to serve all the flatbread, place them in an oven at 200 degrees to keep warm until ready to serve. Cover the cooked pieces with a towel as you continue to cook each one.

zhoug recipe:

this is possibly the best sauce I’ve ever had. It’s so complex + umami + flavorful. You can double this recipe + top everything you eat for the week with it. Trust. Video for visual help here!

• 1-2 jalapeno minced (depending how spicy you want it)

• 2/3 cup olive oil (more or less if you want it thinner or thicker)

• 2 garlic cloves minced 

• 2 mint leaves minced (optional)

• 1/2 cup cilantro minced

• 1/2 cup parsley minced

• 1 tsp peppercorns 

• 1 tsp coriander seeds

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom (or 2-3 pods)

• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice

• salt to taste 

1. with a knife smash your minced jalapeño and garlic with some salt until a paste forms.

2. in a saucepan, toast your spices on medium low until fragrant (a few min). if using cardamom pods, remove the outer shell. grind in a spice mill or use a mortar + pestle until finely ground.

3. add spices to a bowl with the very finely chopped herbs, jalapeño paste and olive oil. mix and let sit for 15 min.

4. add your lemon juice, more salt if needed and put that shiz on everything :) can be stored in the fridge for about a week

other accompaniments:

• 2-3 tomatoes grated on a box grater, drizzled with olive oil + salt!

• soft boiled eggs! (how to make the perfect eggs here)

• labneh! I mixed 1/2 goat cheese 1/2 labneh and topped with olive oil + sumac. zaatar would be great too.

We’re 2 flatbreads down now, and next up we are making………….

aloo paratha!!

Since paratha alone is almost identical to malawach, I wanted to try the stuffed version. It’s typically filled with a spicy potato mix and fried in ghee, so I am really excited for that. Keep an eye out this week for that video!

location of the moment:

we stopped in Montreal for 2 weeks, on our way home from Mont Tremblant and have just been eating everything. Send me your reccs!!!

+ fun news: we’re heading back to NYC (okay hoboken, whatever) beginning of April and will be living + cooking it up there for 2 months. if you’re nyc based, hmu + let’s hang + go to all the shoppy shops <333

as always, I post throughout the week on instagram + tiktok:

instagram: @babytamagooo

tiktok: @babytamago

hope you have a delicious sunday <333