Turkish Bread with Za'atar Spice and Baba Ghanoush Dip

I came across Turkish bread for the first time after I moved to the Netherlands and I bought it from a Turkish shop near my place. Absolutely fell in love with it! The softness and flavours were just amazing and right then I decided I am going to try making my own batch. This is absolutely lovely and versatile; you can pair it with anything. You can make a bruschetta, pair it with some shrimp salad or have it with some dip like hummus and baba ghanoush. I paired mine with some creamy baba ghanoush and a generous garnish of za'atar spices. The best part about creating this dish was that it was so simple and easy to make. In my head I had inflated the difficulty too much and was expecting some really hard and tricky process to it, but it turned out to be so simple! Not to forget the excitement I got when it came out as amazing as I was expecting. SOFT, FLUFFY AND DELIUCIOUS! So, read on to know how I made this amazing bread with a simple and fool proof method.

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SERVES: 8-10 (I made small ones so mine was around 16)
PREP TIME: 1hr 10mins

COOK TIME: 5mins

for Turkish Bread:

• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• ¾ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp oil
• 150ml warm water
• 150ml warm milk 
• za'atar spice for garnish 
• olive oil for brushing

for Baba Ganoush:

• 1 large eggplant
• ¼ cup tahini 
• 3-4 tsp lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ¼ tsp salt
• olive oil (garnish)
• parsley (garnish)
• za'atar spices (garnish)
• pomegranate (optional garnish)

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1. Make Turkish Bread:

a. Prepare Yeast: In a big bowl mix milk, warm water, sugar and yeast. Mix this well and set it aside for 10 mins till the yeast mixture looks bubbly. 

b. Make Dough: After 10mins add the flour, salt and oil in the same bowl as the yeast mixture and with a spoon bring the flour together. Once it starts forming a good consistency, on a lightly floured surface, take out the dough and fold and knead for about 5mins. Make sure you don't put too much pressure while kneading. This process is only to mix the ingredients properly. Once it forms a nice soft dough place it in a bowl and lightly brush some oil on the surface to prevent the dough from drying out. Cover with a slightly wet kitchen towel and let it rest for 1hr. After 1hr you will see that the dough has risen considerably. Remove it on a lightly floured surface and gently fold and knead for about 5mins making sure not to over work the dough. 

c. Roll-out Bread: Divide the dough into equal parts and make small balls out of them. Take out one of the balls to roll-out and keep the rest under a wet towel to ensure they don't dry out. Lightly dust the surface and roll the dough into a circle with a rolling pin keeping about 1 inch of thickness. 

d. Cook Bread: On a hot pan place the rolled out dough. Cook until it starts to fluff up and then flip to cook the other side. Cook on both sides making sure its slightly brown but not burnt. Enjoy them hot!

2. Make Baba Ghanoush:

a. Roast Eggplant: Make some slits on the eggplant and roast it directly on a flame till the skin looks wrinkled. Keep turning the eggplant so that it is cooked from all sides evenly. Remove and set it aside to cool down. Once cooled a bit you can peel off the skin. 

b. Make Baba Ghanoush: Roughly chop the eggplant and add it to the food processor or grinder along with the rest of the ingredients and give it good whip for a couple of times till you get a creamy texture. Put this in a bowl and garnish with some olive oil, parsley and za'atar spices and also some pomegranate if you like.

3. Plate: 

Serve your hot Turkish bread on a plate with a dipping bowl of freshly made baba ghanoush and Enjoy!

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