Non — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A large round flatbread baked in a tandoor clay oven, with a stamped decorative center and golden puffy rim, crusty outside and pillowy soft within.

Ingredients

500g bread flour
300ml warm water
1 packet dry yeast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp nigella seeds
1 egg yolk for glaze

Instructions

1 Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water, let foam for ten minutes, then mix with flour, oil, and salt to form a soft sticky dough.
2 Knead for ten minutes until smooth and elastic, place in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise for one hour.
3 Punch down the dough and shape into a large flat round disc about twenty-five centimeters across with a thicker raised rim.
4 Press the center down firmly with a chekich stamp or prick densely with a fork to create the characteristic flat patterned center.
5 Brush with egg yolk, sprinkle with sesame and nigella seeds, then bake on a preheated stone at maximum oven heat for twelve minutes.
6 The bread should emerge golden brown with a puffy rim and flat crispy center — let cool briefly on a rack before breaking to share.

Did You Know?

In Uzbek culture, bread must never be placed upside down or thrown away — it is considered sacred and is always broken by hand, never cut with a knife.