Gyros

Gyros

“Gyros is a popular Greek street food and is available almost everywhere in Athens. I tasted my first Gyros during my trip to Greece in Athens and simply loved it. The flat bread is crispy and soft in every bite. It can be made with a pork or chicken filling. In this recipe I used a roast pork filling which you can make a day before”.

Makes 10 Gyros (to make a smaller quantity, simply halve the ingredients)

Ingredients

For the flatbread:

6 levelled cups for the dough, plus more for bailing the dough later

2 teaspoons salt

2 cup water, lukewarm

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup milk, lukewarm

1 cup plain yogurt

6 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil

Some butter for basting the breads

For the filling:

1 full rotisserie or grilled chicken shredded in big pieces or roast pork slices.

2 tomatoes sliced in rounds

1 large onion sliced in rings

Some chopped parsley

Tzatziki sauce (please see here how to make Tzatziki)

Directions:

To make the dough: In a small bowl heat ½ cup of water in the microwave for 35 seconds, remove, add sugar and mx. Add the dry instant yeast, mix and leave to foam up. You will know the yeast is activated when it’s all bubbly and frothy on top. In the bowl of your stand mixer add the flour and salt and mix. Add the yeast mixture, yoghurt and with the dough attachment of your mixer start mixing. As the dough is mixing, add the lukewarm milk gradually as required till the dough is smooth but not sticky. Remove the dough onto your cleaned counter and knead into a ball using some oil. Place dough in the bowl of your mixer and cover with a cling wrap. Keep in a warm place for the dough to rise. If it’s cold where you live, pre-heat your oven for few minutes and then turn it off. Then place your dough inside the oven (remember the oven should be off!). After around 90 minutes, the dough will be more than double in size. Punch the dough lightly to release the air.

Divide the dough into 10 equal parts using a pastry cutter or knife (do not pull the dough as it will break the gluten strands). If the dough is sticky, oil your hands while dividing the dough. Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel. Take a ball and roll it a bit, using some dry flour, bail the dough into a large flatbread, about 9-10 inches. Repeat the process until you’ve bailed all the flatbread.

In a flat non-stick pan, place one flatbread, on low heat. When you see small bubbles, turn the flatbread and brush with some butter on top. Turn the flatbread again and brush with butter. They should be golden brown on both sides. Repeat until all the flat breads are done. In a plate arrange one Gyro flatbread. Top it with shredded chicken or pork slices. Place a couple of tomato roundels, some onion rings, drizzle with some Tzatziki and some chopped parsley. You can cover each Gyro with butter paper, however here I used a toothpick to hold it together.