Bazlama
A village bread from Anatolia, traditionally baked on a saç griddle over fire and at home in a dry cast iron pan. Bazlama are thick, fluffy yeasted flatbreads made with yoghurt, which keeps the dough soft and slightly tangy. In the pan they puff up like pillows and turn speckled brown. In Turkey they are served for breakfast with butter, cheese and honey, with soups and stews, or split as sandwiches.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Mixing 15 min
- Rising 60 min
- Shaping and resting 30 min
- Cooking in the pan 50 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMix yoghurt, water and yeast
Mix the lukewarm water with the yoghurt, sugar and yeast. The yoghurt should be at room temperature — straight from the fridge it chills the mixture and slows the yeast.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 150 g natural yoghurt · 200 ml lukewarm water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Knead a soft dough
Add the flour, oil and salt and knead 10 minutes, until smooth, soft and slightly sticky. Do not add too much flour — a soft dough makes fluffy bazlama, a stiff one turns dense.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 150 g natural yoghurt · 200 ml lukewarm water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Soft, slightly sticky — fluffy bazlama.Leave to rise
Cover and leave somewhere warm for an hour, until doubled. The yoghurt lightly sours the dough, giving it a gentle, pleasant, almost sourdough flavour.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 150 g natural yoghurt · 200 ml lukewarm water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Divide into balls
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape smooth balls. Cover with a cloth and rest 15 minutes, so the gluten relaxes and the dough flattens without shrinking.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 150 g natural yoghurt · 200 ml lukewarm water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Flatten into thick rounds
On a floured cloth press the balls with your hands into rounds 1.5 cm thick and 15 cm across. Do not roll — a rolling pin presses out the air bubbles. Rest another 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 150 g natural yoghurt · 200 ml lukewarm water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
By hand, not with a pin — the bubbles stay.Heat a dry pan
Heat a cast iron or heavy pan without fat over medium heat for 5 minutes. Too hot burns the breads before the centre cooks; too cool will not let them puff.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 150 g natural yoghurt · 200 ml lukewarm water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Cook on both sides
Cook a round 3–4 minutes, until puffed and speckled brown underneath, then flip and cook as long again. Turn once more for a minute, pressing the sides with a spatula to cook the edges. All six in one pan take about 50 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 150 g natural yoghurt · 200 ml lukewarm water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp olive oil
Until puffed — brown speckles underneath.Wrap in a cloth and butter
Stack the cooked bazlama and cover with a cloth — the steam softens the crust. Serve warm, spread with butter, with cheese, olives, tomatoes and tea.
Ingredients: 40 g butter
Before you start
To keep
Bazlama frozen once cool keep a month. Reheat a minute a side in a dry pan, or sprinkle with water and warm in the oven — they will be like fresh.
As sandwiches
Split bazlama are a popular Turkish sandwich bread for sujuk, sausage, cheese and tomato, or for bazlama tost, grilled with kaşar cheese.
Thick yoghurt
Thick Turkish or Greek yoghurt gives the softest dough. With a runnier yoghurt reduce the water by 20–30 ml. The dough should be soft but shapeable.
