Turkish Pide Bread Recipe

This Pide Bread Recipe aka Ramazan Pidesi is incredibly easy and fun to make! It only contains a few basic ingredients which creates a deliciously soft and fluffy bread! This bread can be served with a wide variety of dishes and makes the ultimate accompaniment to any meal!

We know that most of you love pide stuffed with beef, which is one of the most popular Turkish fast foods. This bread recipe shouldn’t be confused with that one! Pide bread is one of the traditional Turkish breads like bazlama bread, street bread simit, lavash bread. Its dough is shaped by hand, dented with wet fingertips and then topped with sesame seeds. It is specially sold in bakeries during Ramadan.

Ramadan bread, or in Turkish Ramazan pidesi, is a leavened flat bread that uses yeast. It is traditionally shaped by hand into either a circle or oval.

The texture of the bread itself is unmatched! It is soft, fluffy, and very porous. Another thing we love about this bread is its simplicity. It only contains a few basic ingredients, but the ratios they are used in leaves you with a beautifully balanced pallet.

Pide bread is often served at dinner time in Ramadan called iftar. It can easily be an accompaniment for virtually any dish. But our choice to pair with it would be a portion of flavor-packed meaty doner kebab or Bursa iskender kebab. And you can end your iftar dinner with the delicious Ramadan dessert gullac.

Is it the same as pita?

Although these two flatbreads have a lot in common and even sound similar, they aren’t the same thing. Many people confuse them because “pita” means “flat dough” in Latin.

Both these breads contain virtually the same ingredients, but what differentiates them is their ratios.

Pide bread is shaped by hand into an oval or circle. A border is created by hand, as well as diagonal lines to form diamonds inside.

Pita on the other hand, even though it is circular, forms large air pockets once it has been cooked. Oh and while pita can be baked in the oven or cooked on the stovetop, pide bread requires the oven method only. 

Ingredients

This Turkish bread recipe only calls for a few simple ingredients that you already have at home.

Flour – We would recommend using all-purpose flour and make sure to have a bit more than 3 cups available for dusting and shaping.

Sugar and Salt – These ingredients help activate the yeast and also helps to balance the flavors.

Instant yeast – For this recipe, instant dry yeast works best as you can add it straight into the mixture.

Olive oil – Oil acts as a tenderizer in recipes and will help improve the texture of the bread.

Milk – Your milk must be lukewarm to help activate the yeast. Milk also enriches the dough and helps add color.

Water – The water also has to be lukewarm to activate the yeast. The water will be our binding ingredient in this recipe.

Egg yolk and Milk – This mixture will help add color to the top of the pide.

Sesame seeds – You can choose either white or black sesame seeds for your topping. We love using the black ones as they provide a beautiful contrast.

How to make

Prepare the dough:

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add the oil and milk and gently mix the ingredients together with your hands. Slowly add water and continue mixing until you get a soft sticky dough. Cover the dough and allow it to rest until it has doubled in size.

Shape the dough:

Once the dough has risen, gently fold out the air. Place the dough on a baking sheet and shape it into a circle or oval with wet fingertips. Make a circle inside the dough, leaving a 3cm border that will act as the edge of the bread.

Using your wet fingertips again, make a deep diagonal pattern on the dough. Allow it to rest for another 15 minutes.

Make egg wash and bake:

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with non-stick paper, or you can use a pizza stone.

Combine the egg and yogurt (or milk) together and whisk well. Brush the egg wash over the Turkish bread and sprinkle the sesame seeds over it. Bake the pide bread for about 20 minutes or until it is golden brown. Reduce the heat to 320°F (160°C) and bake another 5 minutes.

Remove it from the oven and cover it with a damp kitchen towel. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving it.

What do you eat it with?

Pide bread can be eaten on its own or covered with delicious salted butter. We love serving it with lamb shish kebabs, Adana kebab, Turkish eggs and menemen too.  

How to store

Pide bread can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for about a week.

Keeping your bread in the refrigerator will extend the shelflife, although it does have the tendency to dry it out, so we wouldn’t recommend it. 

Another alternative is to freeze your cooked pide breads. To do so, simply wrap each bread whole or sliced in ziploc bags. 

Make sure to write the details of the bread on the bags before placing them in the freezer. Frozen pide bread will last up to 3 months!

How to reheat

This Turkish pide bread can be reheated in a pan covered with a lid. Make sure to do so over low heat to prevent the pide bread from drying out or burning. Alternatively, you can reheat it in the oven.

A useful trick is to sprinkle some water over the bread before reheating it to help keep it soft and fluffy.

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