Pita Pockets

Michelle Phetlhe | Tuesday June 27, 2023 06:00

 

So when you are in a foreign place, it only makes sense to visit the sites, learn some of the local language to get by and be more personable, including treating your pallet to local cuisine in whatever proximity. Engage the chef, waiters or event cooks on the streets if you are having market/street food. Find out a little more, like what is it that you are having, how it’s made, what ingredients go into it, etc, etc.

This way, it is easy for you to identify what you like and dislike. Also you can go home with new ideas for your kitchen. A friend and I recently took a road trip (short left) and we made sure to explore when it came to our meals. For the most part we were happy with our choices, and were only let down by one establishment.

They could very well blame the planned load shedding that hit when we arrived, but somehow I don’t think that’s why our pizza resembled box pizza a lot even though it was made in a clay pizza oven. I mean, if you are going to have the aesthetic of a clay pizza oven installed, work on a pizza base that’s worth talking about. The clay oven does the hardest part. Our favourite meal was an off menu meal we had at a fine dining restaurant we ended up at after a spa day that had us so relaxed we couldn’t venture far. Little did we know this was working in our favour.

We asked for a crispy chicken with chips, as opposed to the main menu option of couscous, but the chef sent the meal out with the usual side, the couscous. Best mistake ever! Light, flavour packed, crispy and succulent chicken, it was simply elegant. When I came home I was super excited to find some spicy pork sausages, and I was immediately reenergised to step back into ChellzKitchen. I wanted to make something memorable. After all, I had been away from home for close to a week. Bao Buns or Pitas? Once I decided what to do with the pork, I decided on Pitas.

Both the bread elements are made with two-ingredient Nutriday dough, which means there is only a slight difference, which is in the cooking/baking technique. I focused on the meat and salad element of the dish while our second born chose to be my assistant sous chef and worked on the 2i Nutriday dough. I put the first set of Pitas in the oven, he put in the second set and I called his dad to assist with the last set as I was now dishing up and building the Pitas. Our boys’ father had a lot of fun with it, shouting out; 12 minutes up, order ready, order ready, 2 Pita, 2 Pita out! It sounded just like how it is in a busy, fast food deli. Pitas fascinate me. You put the bread in the oven and it puffs up with no assistance, and when you cut it and that pocket appears, it’s pure joy. For the following day for #Mopako101, I made a DIY Pita for the first born and a Jam Pita for lasty. The next night they wanted me to make Pitas again! The boys have clearly found a new Chellzkitchen favourite, good thing is they can make the dough themselves. I will supervise the oven and bake process. Keep entering the #Mopako101 Spring Break Family Holiday competition on the FB page. The more you enter, the more your chances of winning.

INGREDIENTS 
The dough: 2 cups Cake flour 2 tlbs baking powder 1 cup Nutriday plain yoghurt Pinch of salt, to season For the pork ‘meatballs’: 1 cup pork mince 2 cloves garlic, crushed ½ onion, finely chopped ½ tsp paprika Salt and pepper, to season 3-4 tbsp flour 1 tbsp oil 2 tbls Soy sauce 2 tlbs Ketchup ¼ tsp ginger 10ml water Serving suggestion: Yoghurt dip or Chopped salad – coleslaw cabbage, carrots, spring onion and Mayonnaise Chopped coriander Fresh lemon INSTRUCTIONS Preheat the oven to 200°C and line medium sized baking tray with greased baking paper or grease with butter. For the dough:

In a large bowl, mix the flour, Nutriday plain yoghurt and salt together, to form a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough up into eight pieces and roll them slightly so that they resemble a Pita. Set the Pita dough on the one tray under a dish towel. For the pork meatballs: In a medium sized bowl, combine the pork mince with the rest of the ingredients, excluding the oil and flour, combine until everything comes together. Slowly add the flour, one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition. Divide the mixture into evenly sized balls, flatten them slightly and place them on plate before frying lightly. Drizzle some oil onto a large pan and cook meatballs on medium heat. Add onion into the pan and sauté, some ginger and Soy sauce and ketchup. Add water to create a sauce so meatballs remain juicy. Place tray of Pita in the oven for 12 minutes. Flip the Pita pockets halfway through cooking to brown them on both sides. We filled our Pita pockets with the chopped salad, three-pork meat balls and extra Mayo. Serve and ENJOY!