Greek Gyro (Vegetarian Version) With Homemade Pita Bread and Tzatziki Sauce

I am late in posting May month's 4 Velveteers challenge. Asha of Fork Spoon Knife asked the members to prepare Greek Gyro.This is a famous Greek street food . The pronunciation varies from place to place. Syrians call pronounce it as Gear-O, some ethnic groups pronounce it as Yee-Row and Americans call it as Ji-Row. Whatever may be the pronunciation, the dish is so delicious. Usually meat is used as the filling for this sandwich. I prepared a spicy filling with paneer and capsicum. The sauce prepared with cucumber was fantastic. Yesterday we had a nice time. My hubby liked it so much. Thanks to Asha for introducing such a delicious dish. 





Gyro consists of Pita Bread (an yeasted flat bread), Cucumber sauce and a spicy filling. I browsed many sites and came up with a version of my own. The sauce recipe remains the same in all the sites. First we will see how to prepare Pita Bread at home.




Ingredients:
Flour / Maida-2cups
Warm Water-3/4cup
Salt-1tsp
Olive Oil-1/2tbs
Instant Yeast-1/2tbs
Sugar-1/2tbs


Procedure:
1. Mix all the ingredients except oil. Form a soft dough.
2. Now drizle oil and knead it until the dough absorbs the oil.
3. Place it n a bowl and cover with cling wrap and set it aside for 2 hours.
4. Punch down dough and divide into 10 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball.
5. Roll out the ball into a thin circle and prick all over with a fork. This is to avoid puffing up.
6. Preheat ove to 175C with the baking tray in the lower rack.
7. Place one circle on the tray and let it until small bubbles are seen.
8. Flip it and leave it for 45 seconds. Do not over bake because it tends to become crispy.
9. Place a towel in a container and keep the bread on the towel. Cover with another towel.
10. Alternately, you can also cook the bread on stove top on a tawa.


The dough after 2 hours

Divide into equal portions and roll into balls

Roll each ball into a thin circle 

Place on the tray

Flip and cook the other side

Place on a cloth 

Spicy Paneer and Capsicum Filling:


Ingredients:
Home made Paneer-made from 1 litre of milk
Capsicum-1
Onion-1
Red Chilly Powder-1/2tsp
Salt-to taste
Garam Masala-1/4tsp
Cumin Powder-1/4tsp
Chat Masala-1/4tsp
Turmeric-1/4tsp
Garlic-3 pods

Procedure:
1. Roast the paneer slab on tawa with little oil until the sides are golden.
2. When cool, cut into thin stripes.
3. Heat oil and ad onion. Saute till golden brown.
4. Add crushed garlic. Saute till the raw smell is gone.
5. Add capsicum and the powders. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add the paneer stripes and give a nice stir. Switch off flame and transfer contents to a bowl.

Tzatziki Sauce ( Cucumber and Curd):



Ingredients:
Curd-1/2cup
Cucumber-1
White Pepper Powder-1/8tsp
Salt-1tsp
Sugar-1tsp
Dill-2tbs
Garlic-2 pods


Procedure:
1. Crush garlic and add salt and pepper powder to it.
2. Remove skin and seeds of cucumber and cut into small cubes.
3. Add the garlic mixture and set it aside for 10minutes.
4. Remove water from the cucumber.
5. Add sugar, curd and dill.
6. Mix well and use immediately.


Assembling the Gyro Sandwich:


Place the sauce in the centre of the bread

Place the filling on the sauce

Wrap both the sides inwards and cover with a foil

Enjoy



 The 4 Velveteers was started by Pamela, Aparna, Asha, and Alessio
[Link to our blog pls], who are passionate about different cuisines
and food in general. Each month, we will attempt a new dish and share
our experiences and the recipes we used. If you're interested in
joining the Velveteers, please feel free to drop by our Google group
http://groups.google.com/group/the-4-velveteers



Do, check out what the other Velveteers have created: 
Crispy Pork Belly Gyros by Allessio
Lamb Kebabs and Pitta Bread by Sarah
Vegetarian Version Of Gyro by Aparna

I am also sending this to Yeastspotting and Sandwich Mela by Srivalli

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