See the process of making Shawarma bread at home (Photos/Video)

Shawarma bread is one of the easiest things to make. With only four ingredients you will get a tasty product that, combined with meat or veggies can become a great meal. The most popular dishes are the pocket of pita bread and shawarma. They are portable and easy to eat. So, less talk and let’s get started!

How to make shawarma bread with yeast?

The best thing about shawarma bread is that you don’t have to be a great cook to make it. It requires ingredients that can be easily found in the kitchen, some basic tools (like a bowl, a whisk, etc.) and a skillet of course. You can also use an oven to make the shawarma bread, but then you won’t get the brown spots. We will show you both ways, feel free to choose any of them.

There is a big variety of recipes. Some people make shawarma bread using yeast, some don’t. But the basic ingredients stay the same – flour, salt and butter. Below you will find two recipes – one with dry instant yeast and the other using only basic ingredients and butter or olive oil.

Ingredients:

– 1 cup of warm water;

– 2 teaspoons of dry instant yeast;

– 2 and a half cups of plain flour. You can also use or whole wheat flour;

– 1 teaspoon of salt;

– 2 teaspoons of melted butter or olive oil.

The process of making shawarma bread with yeast

1. The first step is to prepare the yeast. Dissolve it in warm water and leave it to dissolve completely.

2. Grab a large bowl and mix the dry ingredients together (1 teaspoon of salt and 2 cups of flour). Make a hole in the centre of your mixture.

3. Pour the melted butter or olive oil into the hole. Mix the flour mixture and butter/oil together, add the yeast and mix again. The dough has to be sticky and a little rough.

Tip: You can use either melted butter or olive oil, depending on your taste.

4. Take the dough and knead it on a lightly floured surface. To flour it, use the remaining half of cup. Knead the shawarma dough for 5-8 minutes. The dough has to be soft, stretchable and not sticky. If it is sticky, add more flour and knead again.

5. Take a large bowl (you can use the one you used to mix the dry ingredients). Oil it and place the dough into it. Cover the bowl, put it in a warm place and leave the dough to rise for 2 hours. It has to double in size.

Tip: The dough might stick to the thing you are covering it with. Use a plastic wrap to cover it.

6. When the dough is ready, gently deflate it with your finger. Place it on the floured surface and pide it into even-sized pieces. Roll the pieces into balls. They should be about the size of golf balls. For a larger bread make them orange sized.

7. Make sure that they aren’t sticky. If sticky, roll them in flour. Cover them with a cloth and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.

8. Take one of the balls and leave the rest covered. Flatten it with you palm and roll the dough out. Remember, it should be as big as inside of your skillet, but not larger.

Tip: Remember to cover the dough so it will not dry out.

Tip: Use a bowl or a lit to get nice circles if it is needed. Just simply put a bowl or a lit on the dough and cut the excess parts of the dough with a knife.

9. Preheat your skillet on medium heat.

10. If your pan is nonstick, place the rolled dough on it. If not, drizzle the olive oil into it and make sure that the pan is thoroughly covered. Then place the dough on the skillet.

11. Cook it for 1-2 minutes for each side. The best way to cook the shawarma bread dough is to wait until the bubbles form. Then you can flip it over. It will inflate, don’t worry, just deflate it before taking it out the skillet.

Tip: It is important to flip over the bread before it starts inflating. You’ll know that the first side is ready when the bubbles start forming. Don’t wait until it inflates – you might burn the dough on one side.

12. Place the cooked shawarma bread on a plate and repeat the process with other balls of dough.

13. When all of them are ready, leave them to cool down.

14. Eat!

Tip: To keep the freshness of the bread after cooking, cover it with a damp cloth.

How to bake shawarma bread in the oven?

Cooking shawarma in oven can be very handy when you don’t want to waste time on frying it. In fact, when you fry it on a regular pan (with oil), the dough will absorb some of the oil. If you use the oven and parchment paper, there will be less fat in it.

Preheat your oven to 230°C (450°F).Take a baking tray and drizzle it with olive oil.Place the dough on the tray. Tip: Instead of oil you can use parchment paper. And while placing the dough, make sure to leave enough space between the circles.Place the tray into the oven and bake for 3-5 minutes. Look for the bubles too and the dough might grow in sizes.Carefully take out the tray and leave the shawarma bread to cool down.Take it off the tray and place on a plate.

Tip: If you really want those brown spots then here is a secret for you. When you shawarma bread is cooked and cooled, heat your skillet and drizzle it with oil. Then fry the bread for a little bit on each side. Be careful and don’t burn it!

How to make shawarma bread without yeast?

The other way to make shawarma bread is without yeast. The process and ingredients are similar. However, you’ll need a cup of melted butter instead of two teaspoons. You can also use olive oil but then you will need more water. The process will be a little bit longer (you will have to leave the dough for four hours instead of two).

The process of making shawarma bread without yeast

1. Mix dry ingredients (flour and salt) and make a hole in the centre of your mixture.

2. Pour the butter into the centre. If you are using oil then first mix 1 part of the olive oil with 5 parts of water. In general, you’ll need about one cup of liquid.

3. Mix the ingredients. The dough has to be sticky. If necessary, add more butter or the water-oil mixture.

4. When the dough is ready, roll it into a ball shape.

5. Pour some olive oil into the mixing bowl that you used before to mix the dry ingredients and roll the dough ball around. Try to get a full coverage.

6. After that, cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and leave the dough to rest for at least 4 hours (or overnight).

7. Pide the dough into pieces and roll them into balls (golf balls or oranges, remember?)

8. Make sure they aren’t sticky and leave them undercover for about 15 minutes.

The next steps are the same as before:

9. Take one ball and leave the rest covered.

10. Preheat your skillet on medium heat. Try to use a nonstick pan.

11. Flour the surface and flatten the ball with you palm.

12. Then roll out the dough. Use a bowl or a lit to make nice circles if needed.

13. If you are using a regular skillet, drizzle the pan with olive oil. Oil should cover the whole surface.

14. Fry the dough circles for 1-2 minutes on each side. Don’t forget about the bubbles!

15. Take the cooked bread and place it on a plate. If you want to get rid of the extra oil, put a paper towel on the plate before placing the bread on it.

You can also cook the shawarma bread dough in the oven. The steps will be the same as before. However you should consider using parchment paper instead of oiling the tray. The dough has already enough oil in it and you don’t need it to absorb even more.

Shawarma bread is usually used to make shawarma.There are a lot of different recipes of shawarma. One of the most popular is chicken shawarma. However, you can serve shawarma bread with whatever you want. You can use beef, lamb, turkey and even goat. Combine the meat with vegetables, pickles, tahini, corn. Just add whatever you like. Sometimes people even add french fries to their shawarma. Feel free to experiment!

There are also different ways to serve shawarma bread. For example, you can make a roll with all the ingredients inside (like a shawarma). You can make it as a pocket that will be easy to carry around. You can put different ingredients inside (like french fries, for example). Or just simply eat it as a piece of bread with sauce, meat or vegetables.

As you can see, the process of making shawarma bread is very easy. All you need is some basic ingredients and desire. Try to combine different fillings in order to make your own, unique shawarma. With these recipes you can try to cook the shawarma bread on your own!