Armenian flatbreads come in different types. The thin version is called “lavash”, the thick version is called “matnakash”. They resemble Indian or Greek bread in appearance. Interestingly, in many countries around the world there are identical versions of certain products. What is the classic recipe for Armenian flatbread?
What is lavash?
Lavash is a thin type of Armenian flatbread. It can be stored for a long time. Any filling can be wrapped in it, so it is very widespread.
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Lavash is believed to have originated in Armenia, and the classic method of making it is on the top side of a hot clay oven. Individual pieces of dough stuck to its walls for several minutes and eventually became slightly brown and crispy. Common fillings for this Armenian flatbread ranged from cheese to shredded and tender meats, from vegetable oil and herbs to jam. Sometimes fresh fruit was piled on top and the pita served as a plate to be eaten.
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What does the recipe for making Armenian flatbread look like? It is extremely unlikely that you have a clay tandoor oven at home. However, a regular cast iron frying pan can greatly simplify this process. After you have made the dough, you should cut and roll it out on a flat surface. Its layer must be very thin.
Instead of a clay tandoor, a preheated cast iron frying pan will do. Do not lubricate it with oil or grease. Also, exercise some caution. This Armenian flatbread recipe requires high heat and will only take a few seconds to cook. You want to brown the dough a little, but you want it to still be pliable. Use a spatula to flip and remove it. Wear a thick oven mitt every time you touch the handle on the pan.
How to make the dough?
The recipe for Armenian flatbread begins with kneading the dough. To prepare it you will need the following:
- 3 cups wheat flour;
- 1/4 tsp. table salt;
- 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil (any odorless);
- glass of water.
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When making this recipe for homemade Armenian flatbread, you can use a bread maker. Place all the ingredients in it and set it to the basic setting for preparing and kneading the dough. After that, all you have to do is roll it out.
If you are making it by hand, mix the flour, salt, oil and water to form a smooth dough. If it seems too dry, add a little water to it. If it is too sticky, add a little flour.
Knead until the dough becomes smooth. Divide it into several even balls of the same size.
How to bake these products?
The recipe for Armenian thin flatbread is quite easy. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Roll each ball into a thin circle, about 25cm in diameter and about 5mm thick. If you wish, you can sprinkle it with sesame or poppy seeds before baking.
Place the tortillas one at a time on the hot pan and turn frequently with a spatula until you see brown spots on the surface. Remove them very carefully and place them on a plate on top of each other. Fill them with any filling and serve.
Italian flatbreads with cheese and herbs in a frying pan without oil
This flatbread is also baked in a dry frying pan. It comes from Italy and is called Piadina. In this case, the cheese used is soft varieties. If desired, you can add not only cheese and herbs to the flatbread as a filling, but also any other meat products, mushrooms, and vegetables.
Premium flour - kilogram
Two tablespoons of pork fat - can be replaced with margarine
Two tablespoons of olive oil
Two teaspoons of baking soda
200-300 grams of soft cheese such as Philadelphia, Ricotta and others
Parsley and basil.
Sift the flour, place it in a mound, and make a well.
Put salt, soda in it, pour olive oil, melted fat or margarine and water.
Knead the dough, wrap it in film and put it in a warm place for three hours.
Divide into pieces and roll out into thin flat cakes.
Bake in a hot frying pan.
The barely removed flatbread should be half greased with soft cheese, sprinkled with herbs and folded in half.
Serve slightly cooled so as not to burn yourself.
Option with herbs
Armenian thin flatbreads are often served with spicy herbs. How is this delicious snack prepared? Only thin pita bread is suitable for this. It is important that the dough is rolled out as thinly as possible without sticking to the work surface. To do this, you will need to keep a bowl of extra flour and a thin spatula on hand. If the dough breaks, don't panic. Just pinch it with your fingers to secure it back together.
The original recipe for flatbread with herbs is prepared in a tandoor, but you can also use a non-stick frying pan greased with oil for this purpose. To prepare this snack you will need:
- pita dough prepared according to the above recipe;
- assorted fresh herbs, 3 cups total or more (for example, mint, parsley, cilantro, sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, dill, etc.);
- table salt;
- a little vegetable oil.
Cooking with potatoes
Kefir flatbreads with cheese will be more satisfying if you add boiled potatoes to the filling. This option is quite often found in the national cuisines of different nations.
For this recipe, before starting work, you need to prepare the following required components:
For the test:
- half a glass of kefir;
- 250 grams of wheat flour;
- 8 grams of sugar;
- 0.5 teaspoon of salt;
- 70 grams of butter.
For filling:
- 0.5 kilograms of raw potatoes;
- a couple of tablespoons of cream;
- 150 grams of cheese;
- a little salt, various peppers and garlic.
To make these cakes, the housewife needs:
- Combine butter (pre-melted) with salt, kefir and sugar.
- Add flour to the ingredients and knead into an elastic dough.
- Boil potatoes in salted water. Drain the liquid and mash the tubers themselves with a pestle, adding cream and a little salt.
- Add grated cheese, spices and a little garlic to the resulting puree.
- Divide the dough into parts, which are then rolled into thin cakes.
- Spread a thick layer of filling on each one. Then fold the workpiece in half and pinch the edges. Flatten the product slightly by hand.
- Fry the pieces in a frying pan, adding just a little vegetable oil, until each side is browned.
These hearty flatbreads can even be used as a full dinner. By the way, after cooling they will be no less tasty.
How to cook Armenian flatbreads with herbs: recipe with photos
Wash and squeeze the herbs with your hands or a towel. Chop them coarsely and sprinkle with salt to taste, add a drop of oil and stir. Set aside until ready to use.
Divide the dough into 4 equal sized balls. On a very well cleaned work surface, roll each ball into a very thin circle or rectangle. If you make the layers thick, they will remain raw inside.
Place enough herb filling on each tortilla to almost completely cover it. Leave only the edges free. Fold the dough so that the green filling is inside. Gently press the rolled pieces with a rolling pin to secure the herbs inside.
Grease a large non-stick frying pan with vegetable oil and heat. Place the herb tortillas, one at a time, into the pan and fry until brown spots appear on the surface. Carefully turn over and cook on the second side as well. Serve whole or cut into pieces.
Tomato cheese cakes with herbs in a frying pan
These flatbreads have an original slightly orange color and a slight tomato flavor. Adding sausage to the filling makes them more filling, but it is not a necessary ingredient. The advantage of flatbreads is that they are baked without oil, in a dry frying pan.
Half a glass of tomato juice
Two tablespoons of vegetable oil in the dough
100 grams of cheese
100 grams of semi-smoked or smoked sausage
Spoon of butter
Mix water, tomato juice, vegetable oil. If you don’t have tomato juice on hand, you can mix a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste with another glass of water.
Heat the mixture, adding salt, until it boils.
Pour flour into the boiling liquid and knead the dough. It should be soft, but keep its shape.
Cool, divide into pieces.
Grate the cheese, cut the sausage into strips.
Roll out pieces of dough, put cheese and sausage on each piece, seal it, giving it a round shape.
Fry in a heated frying pan without oil until golden brown.
Place in a stack, brushing with butter.
What is matnakash?
This is a thick Armenian flatbread with an oval shape and longitudinal lines. This bread is distinguished by its elastic crust and soft crumb. To prepare it, sourdough dough is used. Unlike pita bread, this flatbread is not intended for long-term storage. To prepare it you need the following:
- 100 ml warm water;
- 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil plus extra for lubrication;
- 1.5 tsp. salt;
- 1 tsp. Sahara;
- 2 cups bread flour;
- sea salt flakes for serving (optional).
For sourdough:
- 200 grams of bread flour;
- 250 ml warm water;
- 1 tsp. instant yeast.
How to make dough for Armenian flatbread?
The recipe with photos demonstrates that everything is quite simple. First you need to make a starter. To do this, mix flour and yeast in a small bowl. Gradually add water and stir until a thick paste forms. Cover with cling film and place in a warm, draft-free place for an hour and a half. The mixture should double in size during this time.
Place the finished starter in a large bowl along with water, oil, salt and sugar, mix with a mixer. With it running, gradually add flour to form a soft dough, then beat at the lowest speed for eight minutes. You should get a homogeneous, elastic and sticky mass. Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl, cover with cling film and set aside in a warm, draft-free place for an hour. It should double in volume.
Knead the dough by punching the center of the dough and then folding it back on itself about 3 times to remove any air bubbles. Cover with a lid and set aside in a warm place for another hour.
Indian Naan flatbreads
In addition to the Butter Chicken recipe, I suggest you prepare mega simple yeast-free Indian Naan bread, which can be dipped in various sauces or decorated with a variety of toppings, turning them into pizza. This is what we will do today.
The dough is made very quickly. In a separate bowl, mix the liquid ingredients: milk, Greek yogurt and melted butter (you can use ghee, then the flatbreads will be even more flavorful).
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, pour in the liquid and knead into a dough.
Roll into a ball, wrap in film and leave for 30 minutes. In the meantime, turn on the grill in your oven to preheat. We will prepare the flatbreads on an inverted baking sheet, which also needs to be warmed up thoroughly. Of course, if you have a baking stone, use it.
While the dough is resting, prepare the ingredients for the fillings. The first filling is the simplest - butter, salt and black cumin seeds. This is not black sesame, but cumin; it is often sprinkled on oriental flatbreads, and you can find it in the spice department at the market. After baking, we will fry the second flatbread with aromatic garlic oil and cilantro, and from the third we will make a pizza - we will take pesto, blue cheese and cherry tomatoes.
To make garlic butter, simply take butter at room temperature, add pressed garlic and finely chopped cilantro to it and mix well. You can make a lot of butter at once, transfer it to foil, roll it into a sausage and freeze it, and then spread it on toast, baguettes or flatbreads.
Divide the dough into 3 parts, roll into balls and roll out. The shape can be whatever you like: round, oval or the classic shape of Naan flatbreads - in the form of a teardrop.
My baking sheet fits 2 tortillas, so let's start with those. Grease the first one with butter and sprinkle with salt and black cumin. Let's leave the second one as is.
Now carefully transfer the cakes onto a hot baking sheet (but quickly enough so that it does not cool down) and bake under the grill in the top position for 2-3 minutes. The surface of the cakes should begin to bubble and brown. Monitor the process carefully; if you see the bread starting to burn, take it out.
We take out the flatbreads and grease the “empty” one with garlic butter, which will instantly melt and permeate the bread with an amazing aroma.
Now let's take the last flatbread and prepare it in the European style: brush it with a spoon of store-bought or homemade pesto.
Transfer the bread to a preheated baking sheet, quickly sprinkle with blue cheese and cherry tomato halves and place in the oven for 2-3 minutes.
We wait until the dough turns brown.
Take out the flatbread and sprinkle with olive oil.
Naan can be eaten either hot or cold. Serve it as an appetizer, to accompany various dishes, or as a main course. Make this simple bread and experiment with different fillings, shapes and serving methods! Good luck and have a delicious day!
How to form a product?
Then you can continue to follow the Armenian flatbread recipe in the oven. Place the oven rack in the middle and preheat it to 250°C. Line two large baking trays with baking paper.
Release the air from the dough by punching it in the center. Place it on a lightly floured countertop and knead for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide it evenly into 2 parts and form each into a ball.
Place each ball on a baking sheet. Use lightly oiled hands to form flat ovals measuring about 20 x 33 cm and about 1 cm thick. Lightly cup each piece with your palm and squeeze the side to make indentations about 3 cm from the edge. Then straighten your arm and make three linear indentations along the length of the bread. Cover the scones with clean, damp tea towels and set aside in a warm, draft-free place to rise for 20 minutes, or until slightly risen.
Drop a handful of ice cubes into the bottom of the oven to create steam. Bake the cakes for 10 minutes. Swap the baking sheets and bake them for the same amount of time. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 15 minutes before serving, sprinkling with flaky sea salt if desired. As you can see, the recipe for Armenian flatbread at home is very simple.
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