Egyptian Lahma Bil Basal and Homemade Pita Bread
 
Ingredients
  • Lahma Bil Basal ingredients:
  • 1 lb stewing beef
  • 4 yellow onions (sliced super thin, we used the food processor)
  • 2 chicken bouillon cubes (yes, chicken. I promise this works)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (do NOT use olive oil for this)
  • water
  • salt & pepper (we used a couple of turns of each)
  • Pita Bread ingredients:
  • This is originally from this website and was super easy. (Note: your yeast packet might have slightly different directions. Follow those directions first.)
  • 1¼ cup warm water (not boiling or hot, apparently it kills the yeast. Yes, I learned this the hard way.)
  • 2½ tsp. yeast
  • 3 cups flour
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. oil
Instructions
  1. Lahma Bil Basal directions:
  2. Put the meat in saucepan over medium heat with butter and oil. Cook until lightly browned. Add all sliced onions, bouillon cubes, salt and pepper, bay leaf and stir around cooking on medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Add water, about 1-1/2 cups, turn to low, cover and cook for at least 2 hours. (We cooked for about three total hours.)
  3. Check during cooking, add more water if too dry. Don't be afraid to let a few bits brown, those add extra depth to the flavor. But the onions should give enough liquid with initial water you added. For the last half hour remove the lid and allow the dish to thicken. When finished you should have super tender beef with a thick oniony sauce. The onions cook down to create a thick rich sauce. Serve with rice, pita bread or your favorite pasta.
  4. Pita Bread directions:
  5. Add the warm water and yeast together. If your packet calls for adding sugar, add the sugar at the same time.
  6. After about 10 minutes when the yeast water is frothy, add the salt, oil and flour. Mix well.
  7. Turn the dough onto the counter and knead well to bring it all together. Feel free to add more flour as necessary. Divide the dough into eight equal parts. Roll each part into a ball and flatten into a six-inch circle with a rolling pin.
  8. Flour a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Place each rolled out circle on the floured surface and let rise for at least a half an hour. Heat your oven to 500 degrees. Peel the dough off the foil and put onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 4-8 minutes, (we cooked each side for 5 minutes) flipping halfway through. Stack on top of each other and cover loosely with dish towel to let steam escape.
Recipe by Dispatches from the Castle at https://aurorameyer.com/2013/03/11/egyptian-lahma-bil-basal/