Pide

I used to make a flatbread like this years ago but lost the recipe, so glad to rediscover this one.

“Pide” is basically the same word as “pita” as far as I can make out, meaning simply “bread”. Unlike what’s commonly meant by pita, this pide doesn’t have a pocket. Instead, it’s a spongier bread, marked with a pattern and, in this case, sprinkled with nigella seeds (aka kalonji, aka onion seed).

These quantities make two loaves.

2 tsp / 10g of dried yeast or 15g of fresh yeast
1/2 tbsp sugar
325g tepid water
500g strong white flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
Egg for glazing
Nigella seeds

1. Dissolve the sugar in the water, sprinkle on the yeast and leave for 5 or 10 minutes. Stir to break up and mix in the yeast.
2. Put the flour and salt in a bowl, then pour in the yeast water and olive oil and bring to a dough. You’ll want a nice soft, damp dough. Don’t keep chucking in extra flour!
3. Knead until smooth.
4. Form into a ball, and rest in a bowl covered with a towel or plastic bag. Leave till doubled in size – around 1 1/2 hours depending on the warmth of your room.
5. Turn the dough out, deflate with your finger tips.
6. Divide into two equal pieces (easiest with scales).
7. Form the pieces into balls, and rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan).
9. Roll the balls out into rounds about 25cm in diameter then rest, covered, for another 20 minutes.
10. Using the straight edge of a dough scraper, mark a criss-cross pattern in the discs, four lines in each direction.
11. Glaze with an egg/water wash, and sprinkle with nigella seeds.
12. Bake for around 12 minutes until a nice golden colour.
13. Wrap the breads in clean tea towels immediately to keep them nice and soft.