Ethiopian Pan Cooked Shabbat Bread

September 13, 2019

Ethiopian Pan Cooked Shabbat Bread (Rabbi Deborah Prinz)

1 bread

active:
45 min

total:
8 hrs

Here’s another easy bread requiring no oven, no mixer and no braiding. Also, no fussy flour needed. Perfect for summer, though delicious all year long.

Adapted from The Sephardic Kitchen by Copeland Marks

Ingredients

1 teaspoon dry yeast

2 tablespoons baking powder

3 cups lukewarm water (about 110º F)

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

4 cups or more, unbleached flour

Assorted recipes suggest spicing with nigella seeds, with coriander, cardamom, cloves, fenugreek, and/or cinnamon. Use about 1 teaspoon of each preferred spice or more to taste.

Steps

Dissolve the yeast and the baking powder in the water. Mix in the egg yolks, salt, sugar, spices of choice, and oil. Add the flour and prepare a smooth dough by mixing the “wet” dough for 5 minutes. Let the dough rise in a plastic bag covered and oiled bowl at room temperature for about 6 hours. Deflate the dough gently.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled large round skillet or divide among two, and let rise, covered fully by the plastic bag, for 1 hour. Cook it on the stove, covered with matching pan lid, at low heat for 25 to 30 minutes. Turn the loaf over and cook for 5 more minutes. Cool on racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.