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Author:
Franco Salzillo
Pita is the most famous flatbread on earth, and it’s enjoyed all around the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East.
Pita, though, is not from any specific place since it’s made with only wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. Keeping in mind that yeast is all around us, we can see that these flatbread types are some of the oldest foods in humankind’s history.
The pita is ubiquitous and ancient. It’s versatile too. From Moroccan stews to grilled meat and curries, many dishes can benefit from pita. The bread is not only perfect for picking up all those delicious sauces from the plate, but pita is also a plate in itself and an eating utensil. It does it all!
Today, the only people that can’t enjoy pita are the ones that suffer the rare celiac disease. The body reacts negatively to a protein in wheat and other seeds — that’s gluten.
Let’s also acknowledge that other people also avoid gluten for different reasons, so the need for a gluten-free pita is real, and here’s how you cook it.
Substituting wheat flour is not an easy feat. The most commonly used flour in the world has lots of properties. To mimic those characteristics, we must use two types of gluten-free flour: brown rice flour and tapioca starch, also known as tapioca flour.
We’re also using salt, baking powder and water. Have some oil in hand to grease your skillet, but that’s about it. Perfect, fluffy, tender and steamy pita bread guilt-free. And it’s super tasty!
We’ll make a dough, and it must be nicely incorporated. You must make sure the flour has absorbed all the moisture. Otherwise, the dough will be too sticky, and your flatbread won’t rise. The good news is that this is a flatbread, so we don’t need it to increase much in size. Are you ready to give it a go?
In a mixing bowl, add the rice flour, tapioca flour, salt and baking powder. Combine.
Warm the water in the microwave for 1 minute and pour into the flour mixture.
Mix until a dough forms. Add more water if needed, but you should get a firm dough. Set aside for ten minutes at room temperature covered with a tea towel.
Heat a skillet, coat it with just one tablespoon of canola oil.
Form dough balls about what fits in your fist, flatten them with the palm of your hands and cook in the skillet, about two minutes and flip once. Cook for 2 more minutes.
Enjoy with your favorite curries!
