Recipe Moroccan: Batbout (Semolina Pita Bread)

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I was on the hunt for recipes involving semolina for the latest ingredient challenge and came across these Batbout (Moroccan Pita Bread) which I though would go really well with tonight's evening meal of (vegan) chilli sans carne!

the Moroccan equivalent [of Pita bread], batbout, is cooked stove top in a skillet or on a griddle. Also known as mkhamer or toghrift or matlou', it features a soft and chewy texture

Makes around 40 Batbout

Ingredients
450g plain white flour
400g semolina flour (grind your own!)
150g plain wholemeal flour
2 tbsp sugar (golden caster or raw)
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil
1 tbsp yeast
400-500ml warm water (approximate)

Method

1. Activate the yeast by combining it with 75ml of warm water and a teaspoon of the sugar. Set the mixture aside (in a warm place) until it's frothy roughly 10 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the flour, remaining sugar and salt. Add the activated yeast, the oil and roughly 3/4's of the warm water, and mix to form a soft, manageable dough. Add more water as needed. My first batch needed 400ml of water (excluding the yeast) but it will depend on the flour used.
3. Knead the dough using the dough hook in a mixer, or by hand on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should be quite soft but not sticky.
4. Divide the dough into smooth balls the size of small plums and leave them to rest, covered, on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes. (1kg of flour makes roughly 40 balls.)
5. Roll out each ball into a thin circle about 1/8 inch (3mm) thick. Set the rounds of dough on a clean, dry tea-towel and cover.
6. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until light and puffy. If you don't leave them to rise long enough they rise unevenly on the griddle.
7. Preheat a very lightly oiled griddle or other non-stick pan over medium heat. Allow the pan to get quite hot.
8. Cook the batbout in small batches until golden brown on both sides. Turn repeatedly cooking for a couple of minutes on each side before turning again. The browning will be a bit uneven but that's fine.
9. Transfer the cooked batbout to a rack or basket lined with a tea-towel lined to cool.

This recipe is taken directly from here (https://www.thespruce.com/batbout-recipe-mkhamer-toghrift-matlou-2394366) with the intention of testing it and reporting back on it!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My photos and notes. You need to roll the dough balls into quite thin circles. Leave them to rise, you will see a difference in them. If they haven't started to rise they are not warm enough to do so, so move to somewhere warmer otherwise they will not rise evenly or cook evenly on the griddle and you won't get the nice pita split down the middle which is really easy to achieve.

They form a sort of soft pita for want of a better explanation. They split like a traditional pita bread, but inside they are soft and fluffy!
Please excuse the white balance and the steam in one of the pictures!



There's a few more to come of the final products!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Finally lunch today with a hard boiled egg fresh from the garden. They are rather nice and the semolina works really well in this recipe.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

These look terrific..visually, they remind me a lot of what we call an English Muffin.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

These look terrific..visually, they remind me a lot of what we call an English Muffin.

Thank you. They are similar, but they are no where near as thick as what I know as an English Muffin which is about an inch thick and you would slice it with a bread knife. These are thicker than pita bread and have the texture of a yeast bread, but act like pita bread. Another batch is going on today.
I usually aim for the balls of them to be about 40g in weight before cooking which gives me around 40 batbout a time.