The secret to my pita chips are the awesome thin pitas by local halal grocer carries. Really, extremely thin pitas result in light, crispy pita chips that are more addictive than potato chips.
The ones I buy are made by Soumaya & Sons Bakery in Whitehall, PA.
So split the pitas open into two separate halves, and brush the bready side lightly with olive oil. And then stack them one upon the other so that both sides end up lightly greased.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Cut the stacks into wedges and lay out a single layer of wedges on a baking sheet.
Mix together the following spice mix:
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp powdered garlic
- a dash of thyme or oregano
- a dash of sumac (or zatar that has been ground smooth in a mortar)
- a few grinds of nutmeg
- a few grinds of pepper
- just the tip of a knife of smoked paprika, it’s strong stuff
Sprinkle spices over pita wedges. And then sprinkle kosher salt over to taste.
Bake on middle rack of oven until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes.
Buy any old cheap brand of plain fat free yogurt, and turn it into awesome yogurt by letting it drain for several hours.
Peel a cucumber. Now it can be any kind of cucumber – I have used the long, fancy seedless cucumbers; regular eating cucumbers; big, fat pickling cucumbers; and, most recently, small pickling cucumbers. Actually, I think my favorite so far has been the small pickling cucumbers because they had hardly any water content. But, honestly, I’ve had great results every time. And the only time I worried about seeds at all was for the very thick pickling one.
So peel the cucumber. Then slice it lengthwise just as thinly as you can. And then the other plane lengthwise, so that you end up with long, thin strips. And then mince all the way down, so that you end up with wee tiny cucumber pieces. Dump them all into the thick yogurt.
And then I will often add about a 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic from a jar. It’s better from ajar than fresh in this case because it has had a chance to mellow out a bit.
And then maybe a pinch of salt.
And that’s it. By the next day, everything is settled in and delicious.