With Winter upon us, I am always looking for  some carbs to accompany my Sunday soup or hot chocolate. If you are a bread-lover like me, then this easy flat bread recipe is perfect for you. All you’ll need is some flour, yeast and a frying pan ! Phaphatha is a circular, flattened dumpling from Botswana often in a frying pan. Due to its medium to large size, this bread is usually used as an accompaniment to big meals, though it can be consumed for breakfast or as a snack. This bread is traditionally made in an open fire and placed on cast iron plate to cook. The recipe below yields 40 phaphathas in  just 40 mins.

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Now that you’ve got a little background of this bread let’s see what you’ll need to make them:

1 lbs bread flour

 2 ⅘ tsp dried yeast

2 tsps sugar

½  a teaspoon salt

About a cup or so of lukewarm water

Extra flour for kneading

Let’s get to mixing:

1.Sift the flour and yeast into a bowl. 

2. Add the sugar and salt

3. Gradually add water and combine with your hands to form a dough. Only add enough water to form the dough.

4. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes till it’s soft and pliable.

5.Put aside in a bowl covered with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

6.On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about half an inch thickness. Using a round object like a plastic cup or cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles.

7. Dust the phaphathas liberally on both sides and place in a flat pan on medium heat with enough space between them to allow for rising.

Tip: The heat should not be too high or the phaphatha will burn before it fully cooks on the inside.

The phaphatha should rise while cooking. Keep an eye on them and when they’ve turned brown on the bottom, turn over to cook on the other side. 

8. Remove from heat when cooked through and enjoy while warm.

Phaphathas are great served with some soup or you can spread some peanut butter and jelly on them to enjoy as a sandwich.

Do you have any go to flat bread recipes you’d like to share? Let me know by commenting below.

See you in my next post!

-M