This week’s recipe involves making a dough of flour (any flour), water, olive oil, thick plain yoghurt and salt, and it requires no rising agent and no resting. Thanks to the olive oil and yoghurt, it is a dough that comes together easily and behaves in a way that reminds me of warm putty, coming away from the sides of the bowl, hardly sticking to the hands and almost bringing itself into a neat ball. Unlike so many things at the moment, it is a helpful, thoughtful and stretchy dough that can be rolled or pulled into sort-of circles that can accommodate just about any filling, although mine is inspired by the cheese and greens mixture that filled the Azerbaijani qu’tab my colleagues Alice and Deruba made me a few weeks ago.
The best way to eat these flatbreads is, I think, two minutes and 23 seconds after they come out of the hot pan, so they have cooled just enough to handle and so that the puff of hot air that accompanies the first bite is funny rather than scalding; but they need to be still warm enough that the pastry is fried and the filling tender with melted cheese. While they want for nothing, these friendly, crowdpleasing flatbreads are great with a spoonful of mango chutney, preserved lemon or green bean pickle, or with seasoned yoghurt and a salad (of grated carrot and shredded green cabbage, maybe). Wrapped in a tea towel after cooking, which also keeps them supple, the flatbreads will retain their heat for a surprisingly long time, but if you want to keep them for longer than an hour or so, or to take them on a long journey or out for a picnic, let them cool completely before wrapping them, ideally in pairs, so they keep their shape when all else is losing theirs.
