← Nouns Cooking · Lebanese & Turkish

Ingredients

• 500 g Strong bread flour
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1½ tsp Salt
• 350 ml lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp Plain yogurt
• 1 tsp Olive oil
• 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp Nigella (black) seeds

Method

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, add the water and oil and knead for 8–10 min. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky; that is what makes the bread light. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.
2. Tip the dough onto a floured sheet of baking paper, halve it and gently shape each half into a round or oval about 25 cm across. Cover and rest for 20 min. Heat the oven to 230°C (450°F) with a baking tray inside.
3. Whisk the egg yolk, yogurt and oil into a glaze and brush it generously over the dough.
4. Dip your fingertips in the glaze and press firmly down into the dough to make deep parallel lines, then lines the other way for a diamond pattern, leaving a 2 cm rim. Scatter with the seeds.
5. Slide the breads on their paper onto the hot tray and bake for 15–18 min until deep golden. Cover with a tea towel as they cool to keep the crust soft.

Tips

• Nigella seeds are also sold as black seed or çörek otu.
• Best eaten the day it is made; freeze any leftovers and reheat straight from frozen.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

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