Nan-E Barbari

Ingredients

• 1⅛ lbflourfor the dough, all-purpose or type 550
• 1½ cupswaterlukewarm, for the dough
• ¼ ozDry yeastactive dry or instant yeast
• ¼ ozsalt
• 1 tspsugarto activate the yeast
• 2 tbspoilolive or neutral oil, worked into the dough
• 1 tbspflourfor the cooked glaze
• ⅓ cupwaterfor the glaze
• ½ tspBaking sodafor the glaze, helps browning
• 1 tbspSesame seedsfor sprinkling
• 1 tspNigella seedsfor sprinkling, together with sesame (optional)

Method

1. Stir the dry yeast into a little of the lukewarm water with the sugar and leave it for a few minutes, until a layer of foam forms on the surface.
2. Add the wheat flour, salt, the rest of the water and the oil, and knead everything into a smooth, rather soft and sticky dough. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour, until it has clearly grown in size.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide it in half. Fold the sides of each piece in towards the middle, shape it into a ball, then cover both balls and let them rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the glaze: bring the flour, water and baking soda to the boil in a small saucepan, stirring all the while, and let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until it thickens; then set it aside to cool. Heat the oven to 220–480 °F and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
5. Place one ball of dough on the baking paper and press it out with your hands into a long oval. Using your fingertips, press deep parallel ridges into the dough along its length, taking care not to push all the way through.
6. Let the shaped flatbread rise once more for 15 to 30 minutes.
7. Brush the cooled glaze evenly over the bread, letting it run down into the ridges, and scatter over the sesame seeds and, if you like, the nigella seeds.
8. Bake for 10 to 25 minutes, depending on the heat of your oven, until golden brown. Bake the loaves one at a time, shaping, glazing and topping the second in the same way.
9. Let the finished breads cool for 10 to 30 minutes before cutting, so the crumb has time to set.

Tips and variations

If you bake with sourdough instead of yeast, give the dough several rounds of stretch-and-fold over a bulk ferment of about 3½ hours and bake with steam. Letting the flour and water sit together first, and only then working in the salt and yeast, makes for a more supple dough; in a stand mixer with a dough hook, about 10 minutes of kneading is enough. The glaze also works with just flour and water, though the crust will bake up a little paler. Melted butter and whole wheat berries in the dough, or honey in place of the sugar and the baking soda, make other versions of the bread, though these are no longer vegan. Baked directly on a preheated baking steel rather than a tray, the base turns especially crisp. The bread is at its best still slightly warm, torn into pieces or sliced across.