Ingredients

• 300g/10½oz plain flour
• plus extra for dusting
• 200g/7oz strong flour
• 1 tsp fast-action yeast
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1½ tbsp zaatar (a Middle Eastern spice mix now available in supermarkets)
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 325ml/11fl oz warm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• plus extra for oiling bowl
• 3 tbsp zaatar
• 1½ tbsp sumac (available from some supermarkets and from Middle Eastern delicatessens)

Directions

• For the dough
• sieve both flours into a large bowl. Mix in the yeast
• sugar
• zaatar and salt. In a separate bowl mix the warm water and oil together before adding to the dry ingredients. Mix until you have a soft
• sticky dough then cover with a cloth and set aside to prove for 10 minutes.
• Turn out the dough onto floured surface
• and knead the dough for 10 minutes until you have a soft
• shiny dough (add a little flour if needed).
• Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it round so that its entire surface has a thin coat of oil. Cover with cling film and set aside to prove for up to an hour.
• Flour your hands and knock back the dough by turning it over three to four times in its bowl. Transfer to a floured surface and divide the dough into six equal pieces and form each piece into a ball. Roll each ball out to form a circle approximately 18cm/7in wide and 3mm/â…›in thick (they do not need to be perfect circles). Place each circle on a lightly floured cloth.
• Spray the dough circles lightly with water and sprinkle zaatar and sumac over the surface. Leave to prove again for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to maximum temperature; it needs to be very hot. Place an upturned roasting tray on the middle to lower shelf (the more uneven the surface the better
• so use an old beaten up tray if you have one). Leave the tray to heat up for 20 minutes before baking the flatbreads.
• Bake two or three flatbreads at a time for five minutes
• or until the flatbreads are puffy and brown spots start to develop. Keep the oven door closed to avoid cooling the oven and keep checking the flatbreads while they cook - they can burn easily. Remove the flatbreads from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cook the remaining dough circles.