The pita souvlaki or pita gyros sandwich are about to become a more famous Greek food than moussaka. The truth is that the first thing that comes to mind when you want to order food from home, are gyros/souvlaki sandwich and maybe pizza, and then everything else follows. However, in Greece, so far, this is not possible when you have celiac disease. If you were at an older age when you were diagnosed with celiac disease, you definitely miss this taste a lot!
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in June 2014 and gluten free gyros pie was something I tried to make from scratch at home. The relatively most successful one was on January 18, 2015. Of course, it had nothing to do with the original very soft and fluffy gyro pita bread that I knew before celiac disease. Since then, I have made various experiments with several improvements but nothing close to the ideal I was looking for! Since Christmas I can say that I’ve been obsessed with making the perfect gluten-free gyros pita bread to match the original one. I made 10 recipe-attempts in total!
The 10th recipe was finally the one that reminded me of the ready ones!!! Fluffy, soft pita bread that could be rolled to a sandwich without breaking!!! It also passed the test of the “gyros/pita” expert, my husband, and I am ready and proud to present to you the most perfect pita bread for souvlaki!
However, it had one drawback: anyone who is allergic or intolerant to egg or lactose or is vegan or is fasting and wants to eat a potato pita sandwich, still couldn’t eat that pita bread. So, I eventually made it to create a recipe which is vegan and is just as fluffy, soft and easily folded without breaking.
The choice is yours as to which one to make. To me, the 1st recipe I’m giving you feels more elastic, but I’m not vegan yet and I don’t have a problem with lactose. The 2nd – vegan- recipe is also for any situation when you feel like cooking and you don’t have eggs or yogurt in your fridge, maybe late at night or during a holiday, when all the shops are closed.
You can see how fluffy, soft, and easy to roll without breaking these pita breads are, in the video I have prepared for you:
Homemade gluten-free pita sandwich with gyro, potatoes, tomato, onion and a gluten-free beer and it feels like a feast!!!
Tip: Check off the ingredients you have used in the recipe or note the ingredients you have and add the rest to you shopping list to buy them. - Attention: All ingredients must be checked that are Gluten-Free and without traces of gluten.
Abbreviations: g=grams • kg= kilograms • cup=250 ml • tsp= teaspoon=5 ml • tbsp= tablespoon=3 tsp=15 ml • ml= millilitre= (1ml=0.034 fl oz / 1fl oz=29.6 ml) • l=litre/liter=1000ml
Sift the flour into a bowl.
Make a pit in the flour and rub in the yeast, sugar and the warm water for yeast (sugar helps to activate the yeast quickly).
Leave it aside until the yeast activates / rises for about 30 minutes. To reduse the time in half, you can place it in the oven at 50°C/120°F.
Once the yeast has risen, add the rest of the ingredients except the salt. Make sure that all the ingredients are lukewarm at a temperature of around 40°C/100°F. For greater convenience, combine and mix all the liquids together and then pour them into the flour/yeast.
Knead well until our flour absorbs all the liquids and finally add the salt, kneading a little more. The dough sticks to our hands quite a bit.
Cover the bowl with the dough with a cling film or cover it with a kitchen towel and leave it aside until it rises and almost doubles its size for about 1 hour. Again, you can reduce the time in half by placing it in the oven at 50°C/120°F.
As soon as the dough has risen, oil your hands, because the dough is sticky, and divide it into 6 balls.
Line greaseproof papers on two baking trays.
Place 3 balls on each tray and press them with your hands to open them in a size about 17cm/7” inches.
Cover each pan with a sheet of cling paper. If you simply leave it aside to rise, it is good to cover it with a kitchen towel damp in lukewarm water.
It will take about 20-30 minutes or about 10 minutes if you place them in the oven at 50°C/120°F.
You will need a non-stick pan with a lid. Place the non-stick pan over medium heat. My stove is rated up to 12, so I set it to 6. Wait for the pan to burn really well.
With a stick for skewers or a toothpick make a few holes in the pitas and brush them lightly with oil the surface of the pita. The pitas are very soft and light and needs enough care and gentle movements to transfer it to the non-stick pan with the oiled side towards the pan. Cover the rest again.
Oil the pitas on the other side as well (top as it is in the pan) and put the lid of the pan.
Bake the pitas for about 3-4 minutes so that each side gets a golden brown color.
Take the pitas out of the pan and place it in an airtight container that closes firmly.
Repeat the process for the remaining pitas.
Eat them warm, filling them with whatever your appetite wants.
The remaining pitas can be kept in an airtight container for a few hours outside the fridge. If you want for more days or even for the next day, put them in a plastic food bags that close well and keep them in the freezer.
Ingredients
Directions
Sift the flour into a bowl.
Make a pit in the flour and rub in the yeast, sugar and the warm water for yeast (sugar helps to activate the yeast quickly).
Leave it aside until the yeast activates / rises for about 30 minutes. To reduse the time in half, you can place it in the oven at 50°C/120°F.
Once the yeast has risen, add the rest of the ingredients except the salt. Make sure that all the ingredients are lukewarm at a temperature of around 40°C/100°F. For greater convenience, combine and mix all the liquids together and then pour them into the flour/yeast.
Knead well until our flour absorbs all the liquids and finally add the salt, kneading a little more. The dough sticks to our hands quite a bit.
Cover the bowl with the dough with a cling film or cover it with a kitchen towel and leave it aside until it rises and almost doubles its size for about 1 hour. Again, you can reduce the time in half by placing it in the oven at 50°C/120°F.
As soon as the dough has risen, oil your hands, because the dough is sticky, and divide it into 6 balls.
Line greaseproof papers on two baking trays.
Place 3 balls on each tray and press them with your hands to open them in a size about 17cm/7” inches.
Cover each pan with a sheet of cling paper. If you simply leave it aside to rise, it is good to cover it with a kitchen towel damp in lukewarm water.
It will take about 20-30 minutes or about 10 minutes if you place them in the oven at 50°C/120°F.
You will need a non-stick pan with a lid. Place the non-stick pan over medium heat. My stove is rated up to 12, so I set it to 6. Wait for the pan to burn really well.
With a stick for skewers or a toothpick make a few holes in the pitas and brush them lightly with oil the surface of the pita. The pitas are very soft and light and needs enough care and gentle movements to transfer it to the non-stick pan with the oiled side towards the pan. Cover the rest again.
Oil the pitas on the other side as well (top as it is in the pan) and put the lid of the pan.
Bake the pitas for about 3-4 minutes so that each side gets a golden brown color.
Take the pitas out of the pan and place it in an airtight container that closes firmly.
Repeat the process for the remaining pitas.
Eat them warm, filling them with whatever your appetite wants.
The remaining pitas can be kept in an airtight container for a few hours outside the fridge. If you want for more days or even for the next day, put them in a plastic food bags that close well and keep them in the freezer.
for a successful recipe:
- I prefer to use fresh yeast because it gives better and fluffier results. However, if you cannot find it and want to use dry yeast, then add half the quantity of fresh yeast.
- Gluten-free flour Mix B – Bread Mix by Schär is an ideal flour for these delicious pitas, because it is, a bread mix, as its name says.
- The liquid ingredients you pour into the yeast should be at a temperature of 40°C/100°F. The best test is to dip your little finger and check. You should feel slightly warmer than your finger. This helps to activate the yeast faster and to make your dough to rise. But if it is much hotter, then your yeast will be destroyed (burn). If you are not sure, then it is better to keep it cooler and let it wait a little longer for it to swell.
- I take the yeast, egg and yogurt out of the fridge earlier and leave them for about 30-40 minutes or so, on my counter, so that they’ll come to room temperature.
- Always add salt at the end when working with yeast doughs.
- Be sure that the lid of the airtight container that you will use closes well so that your pitas remain soft and fluffy.
- The pitas that will be left over can be kept in the freezer in individual food plastic bags that close well (zip lock) and when you want to consume them you can: a) let them slowly defrost and warm them up or in the microwave on the defrost position or in a frying pan after brushing the surface with a little oil. b) in the microwave oven, in the defrosting position, without taking it out of its bag, simply by opening it a little. It usually takes around 2-3 minutes, but that depends both on how cold your freezer is and how powerful your oven is.
At the press (as we used to say in the old days):
- Pitas that have been kept in the fridge for 2-3 days or have been defrosted, the best way to reheat them and make them as fresh is your toaster!
Good Luck and Bon Appétit!!!
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