Nigellan Flatbreads

The first time I made this bread I was simply astounded. While it is true that every single bread in How to be a Domestic Goddess is delicious - and yes I think I have made them all - this style of bread had never worked for me. The incredible thing is that this is one of the simplest breads to make full stop. I've only ever made it just as I want to serve it (a few hours head start), and I do wonder how it would go if I pre-made it and refrigerated as I do with some other breads.

Now, last night we had a couple of curries and rice. Today, I recycled the sauce from our Butter Chicken. There was tons of sauce leftover, and it's so delicious I didn't want to waste it. I bought some chicken breast fillets (the recipe used last night was thigh fillets), and marinated them in a bit of Tandoori paste and yoghurt (about twice as much yoghurt as paste). Sat it about for a few hours, fried it up to caramelise up a delicious crust, which is as close as I can get to tandoori. After the chicken rested I cut it into chunks, reheated the sauce and stirred it all together, leaving it simmer for about 10 minutes before serving.

This delicious chicken, along with the yummy sauce would go perfectly with a light leafy salad AND some light, freshly baked fluffy bread to sop up some juices....enter Nigellan Flatbread from Nigella Lawson. Master Four and I whipped this up together while Miss Seven did her homework. Started at 4.15pm, eating at 6.00pm.

Nigellan Flatbread

500g strong flour (plus extra)
7g instant yeast (or 15g fresh)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp yoghurt
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for greasing)
300ml warm water
for the glaze
1 large egg
1 tsp water
1 tsp yoghurt
pinch salt
1 tbsp nigella seeds
2 baking sheets

I usually do this by hand, and it's simple, but, now that I have my Kitchen Machine, I had to give it a go that way. I think I used a bit more flour this way, but the results were no worse for it.

Mix together the flour, salt and yeast. Pop the yoghurt and oil into the warm water. As the yoghurt will have come from the fridge, it helps to drop the warm water back down to blood temperature (I always make my water warmer than it needs to be). Stir them together vigorously and then pour this into the flour mixture, stirring as you do.

Work the dough, adding more flour until you have an elastic, smooth dough. I find I usually need to add between 50g and 120g of flour here. Form the dough into a ball.

Lightly oil a bowl, pop the ball of dough in it (and I use the same bowl here) turn the dough over so it's coated in the oil. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave sit for about an hour. You want the dough to double in size.

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Knock the dough back and leave it rest for another 10 minutes.

Form the dough into three portions then halve each of these portions. Form them into egg shapes, roll these out and lay them onto baking trays. Cover with tea towels and leave to rest for about 20 minutes, or until puffed a little.

Make the glaze by whisking together the egg, water, yoghurt and salt.

When you are ready to bake the breads, use the back of a kitchen knife to mark each oval with a cross-hatch pattern. Sprinkle a few nigella seeds over them and then put them into the oven.

They will take around about 10 minutes to cook. They're done when they have puffed here and there and have taken on a golden hue here and there.

Remove from the oven, and immediately cover with a tea towel to ensure they stay beautifully soft.

Makes 6

Ready to be 'tucked in' for a little nap. Truth be told we are so eager to eat these, they only get a couple of minutes under cover before we're whipping them out to tear apart.