Topic: Wraps - recipe or good shop type

[Alex133]

Have just discovered wraps - yum - but too many additives and other naff things in all the shop ones I've seen.
Does anyone know a simple recipe to make them or shop that sells ones with good ingredients?

[aquilegia]

I used to buy organic ones as they don't have all the rubbish in them. They don't keep as long, but that's fine. I did find a few recipes on the internet, but never got around to trying any.

[Melbourne12]

The simplest recipe is just flour, water and salt.  You need to use low gluten flour (ordinary plain flour, not bread flour) or chapati flour.

Typical proportions are for every 100g flour, use 66ml water and 3g salt.  Mix to a stiff, bread-like dough, form into a ball, cover the bowl with oiled clingfilm, and leave to rest for a couple of hours or more in the fridge.  Divide into 50g portions, and leave each small ball under oiled clingfilm for about half an hour.

Roll out thinly on a floured surface, and cook in a hot thick-bottomed frying pan for between half to one minute, then turn over and cook for another 30 seconds or so.  Once cooked, cover with a damp tea towel, or stack in a suitable covered dish separated by greaseproof paper, so that they don't dry out.

There are about a gazillion variations on thin soft flatbreads suitable for wraps.  You can add baking powder if you like them a bit fluffier.  You can add a little oil to make them softer.  You can add spices.  You can use a yeast dough (though that tends to make them rather too thick and "bready").  You can make a thinner dough, almost like a batter (up to 180ml water to 100g flour), which produces something more like a crepe.

You can vary the flours, including a proportion of buckwheat, matzo, rye, spelt, wholemeal (but beware of the gluten, otherwise it goes chewy), tortilla flour, and atta.

If you can get a heavy cast iron flat griddle, it's ideal for making flatbreads.  Some people use an upturned wok over the gas, which works well, and makes the breads easy to flip over.

Obviously, without the preservatives, these breads will go stale very quickly.  But because they're so simple and quick to cook, you can make dough with, say, a kilo of flour, and keep the dough balls in the fridge for some days, just cooking a couple as required.

[BarriedaleNick]

My OH makes them - trick is to get them thin enough so that they are not to doughy...

I cant remember the exact receipe but this is pretty much it

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1864/flour-tortilla-wraps.aspx

Edit: I have a very large paella pan which I use to cook em - they can be tricky in a smaler pan

[Alex133]

Thanks - I'll have a bash at making them and look out for organic ones. Should think either would freeze ok.

[Melbourne12]

They don't freeze that brilliantly, IME.  When you thaw them, the texture isn't quite right.  You can freeze the dough, though.  Allow it to thaw out slowly (perhaps overnight) before cooking them.  Even then you're better off freezing the dough as balls rather than rolled out.

Edit:  I haven't tried this, but if you have a vacuum-packing machine, they might keep quite well like that.  It's a bit of an expensive method though - the plastic bags will cost more than the flatbreads!

[Alex133]

If I make will freeze a few balls just to see how they turn out. Seems a lot of effort making them otherwise if you only want a couple. Suspect they wouldn't last long in the breadbin. (Def not a vacuum packer household)

[PurpleHeather]

The recipe I have is the one for Peking Duck wraps.

It is simply plain flour, oil and boiling water mix them together and let it cool after wrapping the dough in cling film.

2 cups plain flour,
1¼ cups boiling water
2 table spoons of oil

Then it is fiddly.

make small circles of the dough and flatten, then paint some oil on one and put the second on top. roll out until very thin.

Then put the double layer in a hot pan an heat until there are bubbles turn over.

cook so that both are cooked remove from the heat and separate whilst still hot. So you get very thin wraps.

It does not take more than a couple of goes at it to get the cooking right.

I have tried the big thick ones from supermarkets but I would say that from my experience, it is an alternative way to recycle cardboard.

[irridium]

OH makes Chapitis (similar recipe to most of you, except it's Wholemeal Flour) on our camp stove (our ceramic hob wasn't ideal as it needed a gas flame to get the bread to puff up). At w/e when we have more time, we have them for breakfast with butter, or plain sometimes... it's nice with the brown spots on as it has more aroma to them ;D

I second the tip given by PurpleHeather about rolling the dough out really thin.

[Debs]

Hi Irridium,

Do you have your OH's recipe for chapati's -would like to try making them
 
Debs

[irridium]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD4o_Lmy6bU - didn't realise that it's called a Roti as well. Hope this works for you. Altho' the cook uses an electric ring (mine's ceramic hob), I still think you need a skillet to get the heat hot enough for the bread to rise. OH did improve after a few more goes, tho'. ::) ::)

[1066]

I tend to buy flatbreads from Turkish shops (or any other ethnic food store), there's a few companies in the UK that make and distribute them. Then it's up to you as to what you want to put in them. YUM!

But I do make chapatis (roti) and parotas, really simple. But the experts cook them by placing the chappti in a pair of tongs and then hold them over the heat (flame) to cook. I've never been brave enough tho  :)

[irridium]

1066: oh yes, the scrumptious Turkish Bread :P :P :P I buy this too from time to time; usually to mop up Morrocan type dishes, HM houmous or use like a wrap for lamb kebabs. Has anyone made this type of bread before as I would love to make this.

[1066]

It's one of the few things I miss about living in London - the Turkish bakers

[Debs]

. . .some of us don't have to live darn sarf to be able to get our hands on wide variety of delicacies.

Apart from the North East being a beautiful part of the country within easy reach of beaches, countryside, lake district, scottish borders and yorkshire dales
I could go on. . . ;)

In Newcastle we have chinese community ( therefore fab chinese supermarkets :P), large asian community (spices galore & fab curry houses :P ) as well as other communities including turkish (turkish flatbreads etc :P :P)

Debs  :-*

[1066]

good for you Debs! this corner of the south east is slowly catching up..... and I mean slowly  ;D