Pan-Fried Bread
Bazlama
Preparation info
Difficulty
Easy
Serves
4
Appears in
Anatolia
By David Dale and Somer Sivrioglu
Published 2015
Bazlama is the simplest form of bread in the world—it doesn’t even require an oven. The technique is probably at least 3000 years old. In Turkish villages, lumps of dough are spread on a sac (pronounced ‘sazh‘), which is like an upturned wok resting over hot coals. You could try that, or use a frying pan instead.
Unlike most breads, bazlama involves little preparation time. You could leave it to rise overnight, or you could wake up on a Sunday morning, decide ‘Lets do a bazlama brunch’, invite your friends, leave the dough to rise while you’re showering and tidying up, and fry your bread while your guests are sitting down.
Because it contains yoğurt it has a rich flavour and an interesting texture—soft inside and crunchy outside. You’d serve it with jams or cheeses (which you would need to make earlier).
Ingredients
2 teaspoons 1 teaspoon 600 g 1 lb 5 oz 4 cups 1 teaspoon 125 g 4½ oz ½ cup - vegetable oil, for frying
- butter, jam or cheese, to serve
Method
Put the yeast and sugar in a bowl with
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, make a well in the middle, and pour in the yeast mixture. Knead the dough for 1 minute, then add the yoğurt. Knead for a further 10 minutes or until the dough has reached, as we say in Turkey, ‘the softness of an earlobe’. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and rest in a warm place for 2 hours. The ball of dough should double in size.
Add the salt to the dough and knead for 3 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and divide the dough into four balls. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp cloth and rest for 10 minutes.
Place one ball of dough on the work surface and, using floured hands or a rolling pin, flatten into a round about
Heat
Serve the bazlamas with butter, jam or cheese.
© 2015 All rights reserved. Published by Murdoch Books.