[Sca-cooks] Ok and now for my quick question...

[Stefan li Rous]

Nichola asked:

<<< Are Indian/Turkish/Algerian flatbreads anywhere remotely period?  I
don't have to have the page numbers or anything a simple yes or no and
maybe the book will suffice... These are griddle/pan cooked and it would
be really cool if the were in period...  >>>

Apparently the Indian version at least is.

 From this file in my FOOD-BREADS section in the Florilegium:
brd-mk-flat-msg   (68K)  8/26/02    Period flat or unleavened bread  
recipes.

<<< From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 00:10:43 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Period Recipes

A few of my relatively recent discoveries are two frying pan pastries  
(13th
c. Islamic) and a frying pan bread (16th c. North Indian--Mughal). The
recipes are in the current Miscellany, but may not be in the online
version, which was based (last I checked) on the previous edition:

Recipe for Murakkaba, a Dish which is Made in the Region of  
Constantine and
is Called Kutmiyya
Andalusian p. A-62

Knead a well-made dough from semolina like the "sponge" dough with  
yeast,
and break in it as many eggs as you can, and knead the dough with them
until it is slack. Then set up a frying pan of clay [hantam] on a hot  
fire,
and when it has heated, grease it with clarified butter or oil. Put in a
thin flat loaf of the dough and when the bread is done, turn over. Take
some of the dough in the hand and smear the surface of the bread with  
it.
Then turn the smeared surface to the pan, changing the lower part  
with the
upper, and smear this side with dough too. Then turn it over in the  
pan and
smear it, and keep smearing it with dough and turning it over in the
tajine, and pile it up and raise it until it becomes a great, tall loaf.
Then turn it by the edges a few times in the tajine until it is done  
on the
sides, and when it is done, as it is desired, put it in a serving  
dish and
make large holes with a stick, and pour into them melted butter and  
plenty
of honey, so that it covers the bread, and present it.

 From "Making of Elegant Isfunja ("Sponge")," Andalusian: You take  
clear and
clean semolina and knead it with lukewarm water and yeast and knead  
again.
When it has risen, turn the dough, knead fine and moisten with water,
little by little, so that it becomes like tar after the second kneading,
until it becomes leavened or is nearly risen. ...

How I do it:

2 1/4 c semolina flour  2 eggs      1/2 c butter
1/2 c water 1/4 c more water  3/8 c honey
1/2 c sourdough (for starter) 1-2 T oil for frying

Combine flour, 1/2 c water, and sourdough and knead smooth. Cover with a
damp cloth and leave overnight to rise. In the morning knead in an
additional 1/4 c water, making it into a sticky mess, and leave  
another few
hours in a warm place to rise. Add the eggs, and stir until they are
absorbed into the dough.

Heat a frying pan over medium to high heat and grease it with oil or  
ghee
(clarified butter). Pour on enough batter to make a thick pancake  
about 7"
in diameter. When one side is cooked (about 2 minutes) turn it over. Put
onto the cooked side about 1/4 c more batter, spreading it out to cover.
When the second side is done (1-2 minutes more), turn it over, so  
that the
side smeared with batter is now down. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Repeat.
Continue until the batter is all used up, giving you about 8-10
layers--like a stack of pancakes about 3" thick, all stuck together.  
Turn
the loaf on its side and roll it around the frying pan like a wheel, in
order to be sure the edges are cooked.

Punch lots of holes in the top with the handle of a wooden spoon, being
careful not to get through the bottom layer. Pour in honey and melted
butter, letting it soak into the loaf. Serve.

Note: Scale the recipe up as desired to suit your ambition and frying  
pan.
If you don't have sourdough you could use yeast instead, with shorter
rising times.
- ---
Preparation of Musammana [Buttered] Which Is Muwarraqa [Leafy]
Andalusian p. A-60 - A-61

Take pure semolina or wheat flour and knead a stiff dough without yeast.
Moisten it little by little and don't stop kneading it until it  
relaxes and
is ready and is softened so that you can stretch a piece without  
severing
it. Then put it in a new frying pan on a moderate fire. When the pan has
heated, take a piece of the dough and roll it out thin on marble or a
board. Smear it with melted clarified butter or fresh butter  
liquified over
water. Then roll it up like a cloth until it becomes like a reed. Then
twist it and beat it with your palm until it becomes like a round thin
bread, and if you want, fold it over also. Then roll it out and beat it
with your palm a second time until it becomes round and thin. Then  
put it
in a heated frying pan after you have greased the frying pan with  
clarified
butter, and whenever the clarified butter dries out, moisten [with  
butter]
little by little, and turn it around until it binds, and then take it  
away
and make more until you finish the amount you need. Then pound them  
between
your palms and toss on butter and boiling honey. When it has cooled,  
dust
it with ground sugar and serve it.

How I do it:

2 c semolina flour      1/4 c clarified butter for frying   1/4 c
butter at the end
aprox 5/8 c water 1 T+ sugar  1/4 c honey at the end (or more)
1/4 c =3D 1/8 lb butter, melted

Stir the water into the flour, knead together, then gradually knead  
in the
rest of the water. Knead for about 5-10 minutes until you have a smooth,
elastic and slightly sticky dough that stretches instead of breaking  
when
you pull it a little. Divide in four equal parts. Roll out on a floured
board, or better floured marble, to at least 13"x15". Smear it with  
about 4
t melted butter. Roll it up. Twist it. Squeeze it together, flatten with
your hands to about a 5-6" diameter circle. If you wish, fold that in
quarters and flatten again to about a 5-6" circle. Melt about 1 T of
clarified butter in a frying pan and fry the dough about 8 minutes,  
turning
about every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes (shorter times towards the end).  
Repeat with
the other three, adding more clarified butter as needed. Melt 1/4 c  
butter,
heat 1/4 c honey. Beat the cooked circles between your hands to  
loosen the
layers, put in a bowl, pour the honey and butter over them, dust with
sugar, and serve.  If you are going to give it time to really soak, you
might use more butter and honey.

For regular flour, everything is the same except that you may need  
slightly
more water. You can substitute cooking oil for the clarified butter  
(which
withstands heat better than plain butter)  if necessary.

- ---
Bread
Ain i Akbari

There is a large kind, baked in an oven, made of 10 s. flour; 5 s.  
milk; 1
1/2 s. ghi; 1/4 s. salt. They make also smaller ones. The thin kind is
baked on an iron plate. One ser will give fifteen, or even more.  
There are
various ways of making it; one kind is called chapati, which is  
sometimes
made of khushka; it tastes very well when served hot.

1 lb =3D 3 1/2 c flour  2.4 oz ghee (clarified butter) =3D 3/8-1/2 c
1/2 lb =3D 1 c milk     .4 oz salt =3D 1/2 T

Melt the ghee, stir it into the flour with a fork until there are  
only very
small lumps. Stir in the milk until thoroughly mixed, knead briefly. Put
the ball of dough in a bowl covered by a damp cloth and leave for at  
least
an hour.   Then knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, adding a
little extra flour if necessary. Either:

Take a ball of dough about 2" in diameter, roll it out to about a 5"
diameter circle. Cook it in a hot frying pan without grease. After  
about 2
minutes it should start to puff up a little in places. Turn it. Cook
another 2 minutes. Turn it. Cook another 2 minutes. It should be  
done. The
recipe should make about 11 of these.

Take a ball of dough about 3" in diameter. Roll it down to a circle  
about
7" in diameter and 1/4" thick. Heat a baking sheet in a 450=B0 oven.  
Put the
circle of dough on it in the oven. Bake about 6 minutes; it should be
puffing up. Turn it over. Bake about 4 minutes more. Take it out. The
recipe should make about 5 of these.

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/

And a later message on the same recipe:
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 00:23:16 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: david friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Flatbread (was: Cloche Oven Results)

Kristianne wrote:
 >I do love experimenting and if anyone has a fabulous flat bread  
recipe I'd
 >love to hear it, crawled through the florilegium and Cariadoc's  
site but
 >didn't see a flatbread recipe.

It's actually the first recipe in the current version of the
Miscellany, from a late-period Indian source. Note that there is an
old version of the Miscellany webbed in html on Greg Lindahl's site,
and the current (9th) edition webbed in pdf on Cariadoc's site; you
may have been looking at the old one.

Bread
Ain i Akbari

There is a large kind, baked in an oven, made of 10 s. flour; 5 s.
milk; 1 1/2 s. ghi; 1/4 s. salt. They make also smaller ones. The
thin kind is baked on an iron plate. One ser will give fifteen, or
even more. There are various ways of making it; one kind is called
chapati, which is sometimes made of khushka; it tastes very well when
served hot. [see p. 6 of Miscellany 9th edition for units]

1 lb == 3 1/2 c flour
1/2 lb == 1 c milk
2.4 oz ghee (clarified butter) == 3/8-1/2 c
.4 oz salt == 1/2 T

Melt the ghee, stir it into the flour with a fork until there are
only very small lumps. Stir in the milk until thoroughly mixed, knead
briefly. Put the ball of dough in a bowl covered by a damp cloth and
leave for at least an hour. Then knead the dough until it is smooth
and elastic, adding a little extra flour if necessary. Either:

Take a ball of dough about 2" in diameter, roll it out to about a 5"
diameter circle. Cook it in a hot frying pan without grease. After
about 2 minutes it should start to puff up a little in places. Turn
it. Cook another 2 minutes. Turn it. Cook another 2 minutes. It
should be done. The recipe should make about 11 of these. Or ...

Take a ball of dough about 3" in diameter. Roll it down to a circle
about 7" in diameter and 1/4" thick. Heat a baking sheet in a 450=B0
oven. Put the circle of dough on it in the oven. Bake about 6
minutes; it should be puffing up. Turn it over. Bake about 4 minutes
more. Take it out. The recipe should make about 5 of these.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook
 >>>>>>

There is also a recipe for nan, but it appears to be a modern recipe.  
Among other things it includes baking powder.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****