Tandoor Lavash
Description
Perfect for tea and coffee. Lavash is prepared in various ways across the Caucasus. There's flat lavash (more commonly known as Armenian), which is used to make shawarma. Then there's the fragrant, fluffier version made in Georgia in a tandoor. A tandoor is an oven—large bakeries have them built into the floor, but smaller, home-sized tandoors also exist. In any case, the lavash flatbread must fit inside the tandoor. To make tandoor lavash, you can use either yeast dough or regular dough. Yeast dough turns out fluffier. If you don't have a tandoor, you can bake this flatbread in a regular oven. 1. Knead the dough from the ingredients. I add dry yeast directly to the flour—this is what sets it apart from fresh yeast, as it doesn't need to be dissolved in water for long. Knead the dough briefly, then cover it with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes. 2. Knead the dough again, divide it into portions, and shape into flatbreads. You can let the flatbreads rise a bit more. If you're not baking in a tandoor, place them in a preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. 3. If preparing traditionally, prepare the tandoor (let it heat up). The flatbread sticks on by itself—press it onto the inner wall of the tandoor with your hand, then cover the oven with a lid. Usually, lavash bakes in about 10 minutes in a small tandoor. It may take up to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the flatbread. Remove the baked lavash with tongs. Lavash baked in a tandoor turns out more aromatic, fluffier, and with tastier crumb than regular lavash. By the way, in my opinion, the non-yeast version is even tastier! Try it sometime.