It is difficult to imagine a person who does not like shawarma. But only a few buy it. The reason for many is the same: there is no guarantee that normal meat is used. People with suspicion and skepticism look at the vertical grill ramrod with strung pieces, only no inviting aroma is able to make them step over themselves. Alas, history knows many examples when the most unpleasant suspicions about what kind of meat is put into shawarma were confirmed. As a result, someone is learning how to make this Middle Eastern stuffed flatbread at home. Firstly, there is nothing complicated here. Secondly, you can wrap anything you want (or need to use) in pita bread. And if you don't have pita bread at hand, you can make it.
It is necessary
- - Flour;
- - water;
- - vegetable oil;
- - salt;
- - starch;
- - Bowl;
- - sieve;
- - rolling pin;
- - frying pan;
- - stove.
Instructions
Step 1
Prepare flour. The texture of lavash for shawarma will directly depend on its quality. Also pay attention to whether the packaging indicates the type of wheat from which this flour is made. If you are leading a healthy lifestyle, nutritionists recommend using durum wheat flour. It is often called "durum" and is sometimes confused with whole wheat flour - grit. In fact, they are about the same for healthy food advocates - and definitely more so than traditional premium flour. The main competitive advantage of the former is that it has a lower glycemic index, therefore, it gives less weight gain. The advantage of the second - when grinding it, all the grain is used in its entirety: both the part that goes into ordinary flour, and the shell (from it they would get bran). In other words, grit is a kind of mixture of premium flour and bran, although in terms of fraction it is more like semolina. But the main thing is not appearance, but consumer qualities, in our case - how elastic the flour will allow to make the dough.
Step 2
Heat the water to 30-40 degrees, combine in a bowl where you are going to knead with extra virgin olive oil. Since all flour has different hygroscopicity, which can differ several times, it is possible to assume the proportions of the dry and liquid parts of the future dough for lavash only approximately. We recommend taking 10 g of salt, 250 g of warm water and 50 g of butter for 750 g of flour. By the way, oil can be not only olive oil, but also linseed, mustard, sunflower - any oil, just not refined. Sift the flour first. Both durum and grit require a sieve with larger openings than you would normally sieve. If you don't have one, just slowly pour the flour from one bowl to another several times. Our task is not to separate any impurities unusual for flour, but to saturate it with oxygen. At the same time, the future dough will turn out to be exactly the same consistency as required by most types of unleavened baked goods. Including - lavash for shawarma.
Step 3
Combine flour and salt. Add vegetable oil mixed with water. It is better not to pour everything at once, it may be too much liquid for your flour. Knead the dough, which should be as soft as possible, but not stick to your hands. Knead for about 5 minutes. Roll into a ball, cover with a towel and leave at room temperature for half an hour to an hour. Then knead again, cut into pieces - depending on the size of the future shawarma pita bread, start rolling.
Step 4
Dust a large cutting board with premium flour or starch. For these purposes, you can take both potato and corn starches. The latter has a lower glycemic index, in the context of carbohydrate restriction, it is slightly less "dangerous". If there is no cutting board of the appropriate size, it is not forbidden to roll pita bread right on the table top. Just be sure to wash and wipe the work surface dry - it should be perfectly clean and dry. After the surface and the rolling pin are burned, take a piece of dough and roll it out until it becomes transparent. Remember that when baking, the dough will slightly swell and swell a little. In any case, shawarma pita bread should be as thin as possible.
Step 5
While rolling out the dough, constantly move it around its axis. It is important to turn in one direction, only this way you will achieve an evenly rolled circle of the same diameter as the selected pan. Lavash for shawarma should be transferred to the pan with a rolling pin, wrapped and then carefully transferred to a hot surface. Tellingly, it is not worth lubricating it. On the contrary, any fat will give a crust effect that is completely unnecessary now, and the cake in which we are going to wrap the shawarma does not imply it.
Step 6
Bake pita bread for 3-5 minutes at 200 degrees, then turn over to the other side and hold in the oven for another couple of minutes. Sometimes it is more convenient to bake lavash on gas. They will also work, but in this case it is necessary to select an absolutely airtight lid for the pan, which will help create a closed space where steam circulates. Of course, in both cases, it is necessary to give preference to cast iron pans with thick walls and a bottom, capable of retaining heat well.
Step 7
Put the finished cakes in a pile, covering the top pita bread with a waffle towel folded in several layers. When everyone is ready, you can start preparing the filling. Traditionally, beef or lamb meat, sorted into fibers, is put into shawarma; in Russia, pork or chicken is more often used. They're tastier when grilled, but in the absence of a grill, it's perfectly okay to use pan-fried meat. Chop lettuce or young cabbage, chop tomatoes and onions, fried meat or poultry, season with sauce, for which mix sour cream and mayonnaise in equal proportions, add a little garlic passed through a press, salt and pepper to taste. The proportions of the main ingredients can be arbitrary, but it is optimal when they are taken in equal parts.
Step 8
On each pita bread, put 3-4 tablespoons of the filling, and then, carefully tucking in the edges, roll up and fry in a dry frying pan until browned. Homemade shawarma in pita bread is ready. It is very tasty, and most importantly, it is made from understandable products.
