Today, I am going to share popular pita bread from Lebanon – it’s the Zaatar bread or Zaktar bread. It is also known by the name manakish zaatar. It’s a flatbread topped with Zaatar spice mix. To simply put, it’s the Middle Eastern delicacy similar to pizza/focaccia. This zaatar bread is one of the easy flatbreads to prepare and you can use it in different ways. Skip the topping and use the pita bread to make paneer schezwan pockets or pita pocket salads or even you can serve the bread with Indian curries.
So what’s it Zaatar?
It is a balanced mix of herbs and spices like thyme, oregano, sumac, and toasted sesame seeds. So now what is sumac? Sumac is a dried red berry native to the Middle East which is dried and ground into a coarse powder. The ground sumac is a versatile powder which used extensively in Middle Eastern cooking. Traditionally Zaatar is blended with olive oil and used as a bread topping. As I found the Zaatar spice mix online, I did not look out for sumac. But if you can source sumac, you can prepare your own zaatar mix by adding the same amount of dried thyme, sumac, dried oregano, and toasted sesame seeds. Some recipes call for dried basil too. Here is the simple Zaatar bread recipe,
Ingredients Required
For Yeast Proofing:
Sugar – ¼ tspActive Dry Yeast – 1.25 tspWater – ½ cup
For the Bread:
All-purpose flour – 1.5 cupsSalt – ½ tspOlive oil – 1 tbsp + 2 tsps
For the topping:
Zaatar spice mix – ¼ cupOlive oil – ¼ cup
How to Make Zaatar Bread
Yeast Proofing:
In a bowl add the lukewarm water, sugar and yeast and mixLet it sit for 10 minutes.
Preparing the Dough:
In a large bowl add the sifted flour, salt, and olive oil and combine them.Now slowly add the yeast mix and combine to form a dough.Knead the dough for 10 minutes.
Transfer this mixture to a wide bowl greased with oil and cover it with a cling wrap/plastic wrap and set aside until the dough has doubled in size. It took me about 1.5 hours this time.
Preparing the topping:
Mix the za’atar spice with ¼ cup of olive oil in a small bowl and set aside.
Preparing the bread:
After the dough has risen, divide the dough into four equal portionsKnead the dough on a dusted surface and roll out into a thin round shape.
Baking:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pizza stone drizzled with semolina or cornmeal while preheating.Now press fingertips all over the rolled bread forming indentationsSpread the prepared topping over the bread leaving the edges.Carefully place this on the pizza stone and bake for 8 minutes.
Let it cool and serve with hummus or cucumber sauce or with your favorite curry. This bread tastes great without any sides. Thanks to the Zaatar topping. :-)
Storing Leftovers
You can store the leftover bread for upto two days in room temperature and for upto 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. Make sure to wrap it tightly or place them in an air-tight container. I haven’t tried freezing them so I can’t talk much about it.
Recipe Notes
You can bake this in the regular cookie tray. I used my pizza stone.Instead of active dry yeast, you can use instant yeast, and instant yeast can be added directly to the dough and no proofing required.Adjust the zaatar spice mix as per your preference.Temperature plays a significant role in dough rise. So the rising time varies.
📖 Recipe
