How to make
Prepare a 9 1/2″ (24 cm) diameter nonstick, thick-bottomed pan. You'll need a mixer. I used sour cream.
In the mixer bowl, put the liquid ingredients in first after activating the dry yeast with the sugar and a little warm water. Leave it to effervesce for 15 min. and add it to the ingredients. Add the flour and knead a dough for about 10 min. or until it starts easily separating off the walls of the bowl. Put it in a slightly buttered bowl to rise for about 60 min.
Knead the risen dough again onto flour, divide it into 5-10 balls. Sprinkle each or 1/2 of them with sesame seeds, as desired. Roll them out to the size of the pan onto a floured counter. Cover them and leave to rest for about 30 min.
Heat the thick-bottomed pan on the stove on medium heat. Place the 1st bazlama in it and bake on both sides. You're going to see giant bubbles form on the uncooked side, then flip over. Once ready, place in a heated plate and cover with a towel. Stack them in a pile like this.
Cooking needs to happen a bit slow because if you were to increase the stove they're going to start burning on the outside, while remaining raw on the inside and see black, ugly burnt spots. Do not oil the pan.
Notes: In this recipe you can substitute the sour cream with yoghurt or just water or buttermilk. To make buttermilk, add 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk, wait 20 min. Your buttermilk will then be ready.
The dough for the bazlama tends to be sticky in some recipes, other times it's thick enough to the point where it doesn't stick to the hands.
Optionally you can make your bazlama small or large, diving the dough up into small or large balls and then rolling them out to the desired size.
You can prepare the bazlama as a dough in a bread maker - leave it to knead for about 20 min. Then roll out into the sheets.
If using your hands, dilute the fresh yeast with a little warm water in a large bowl, add the sugar and a little flour, stir and leave for 30 min. to effervesce.
Add the rest of the products, excluding flour, to the effervescent yeast. Add it in small amounts, while stirring with a wooden spoon at the beginning, then knead onto a counter until soft. The dough will be highly sticky at the beginning but will become stretchy after about 15 min. of kneading. Leave to rise and roll it out into sheets the same way as described.
Source: Kokona's culinary blog.
