Lavash (Middle Eastern Flatbread)

Lavash is an easy-to-make Middle Eastern flatbread. The recipe uses only a few ingredients that are pantry staples. The result is a soft and pliable flatbread, great for making wraps.

What is lavash?

Lavash is a flatbread. It’s a really thin bread that is usually used for making wraps and sandwich rolls. This bread is also enjoyed with all kinds of Kebabs (meat dishes).

The ingredients for making lavash bread vary from recipe to recipe, but the basic ingredients are the same. The main ingredients which you can find in all lavash recipes are flour, water, and salt.

Other ingredients like baking powder, sugar, yeast, and milk can be added or removed from the list.

The dough made from these ingredients is flattened using a rolling pin and cooked later in Tanour (a clay oven).

To prepare the flatbread at home you can use a frying pan instead of Tanour.

The result is a soft, thin bread that you can use for different purposes.

Where is lavash from?

Lavash is a flat thin bread that is popular in many Middle Eastern countries like Iran, Armenia, and Turkey, and more. It originated around 3,000 years ago in the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas.

In 2013, Unesco inscribed lavash as an Armenian bread. But in its 11^th gathering, in 2015, they inscribed it as an intangible cultural heritage that belongs to several countries including Iran, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

Lavash around the world

It may come as no surprise, that with a connection to so many countries, this flatbread is known by different names. Lavash, levash, lebash, and tanury bread all refer to the same thing!

Lavash is popular in many countries in the world not just because of its taste and versatility, but also because of its cultural function. In fact, each of the countries that I mentioned above has its own customs and traditions associated with it.

And that’s why this type of bread has become a cultural symbol.

In Iran and Azerbaijan, this bread was given to couples to wish them prosperity. In Kazakhstan, it was believed that this bread could protect the deceased in the afterlife.

It is still considered an important food in the culture of the Middle East. It is the kind of bread that is used at weddings, births, funerals, and various holidays.

Is lavash the same as pita?

Pita is a flatbread from the Mediterranean, particularly popular in Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. These breads have a round shape, and often form a bubble of air when cooking at high heat. This bubble can create a pocket in the bread which can be stuffed with fillings.

Both pita and lavash are used to hold fillings, but pita is a soft and chewy leavened flatbread. Lavash can be leavened or unleavened, depending on the baker’s preference. Its texture is characteristically more dense with a toasty flavor from the baking.

Is lavash the same as naan?

Naan is another type of flatbread that is traditionally cooked in a clay oven. However, naan is popular in India and other areas of South and Central Asia. It is cooked in clay ovens called a tandoor.

While lavash is thin and flat, naan is soft and pillowy. Naan also includes milk and often yogurt as ingredients, giving it a different flavor and texture.

Why should you cook this cultural bread?

Lavash is an all-purpose bread. It is used for wraps and sandwiches because it’s thin and easy to fold and roll.

It’s thin so it cooks fast. Once it’s fried it becomes slightly crispy and very tasty.

The bread has a very subtle taste, which will not change the flavor of the food it’s served with. This makes it a perfect accompaniment to nearly any dish or combination of flavors.

How to make lavash bread

You can buy lavash from Persian supermarkets or make it yourself.

It is a simple bread to make that uses pantry staple ingredients. Once mixed, and kneaded, you roll the dough thin.

This thin dough is then cooked on a skillet (if you don’t have a Tanour clay oven).

How to store lavash?

Lavash dries out fast because it’s thin. So you will want to keep it covered. You can wrap it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.  

Wrapping the flatbread with a kitchen towel as it cools will help to make the bread softer and more pliable.

You can also store lavash in the freezer for later use. If you are going to store it in the freezer, be sure to wrap it in plastic wrap so it stays fresher. Once you are ready to use it, take it from the freezer and reheat it in a pan for two to three minutes.