SIR - The article on bread making from the Craft Bakers Association the Craven Herald of April 2 was very interesting.

I have made bread for many years using a large mixer and its dough hook, to deal efficiently with the dough- making part of the process.

However, the article made me feel very frustrated. The kind people who are doing my shopping in this time of self isolation, could not, on April 1, buy one bag of any type of strong bread flour in any store in Settle.

I understand this has been the situation for some days. Maybe bread flour should take its place on the rationing list alongside toilet rolls?

My friends did not check if there was yeast for sale as I have plenty of that. Sourdough bread of course, does not require yeast, but you need bread flour for that too. The process is long, but very intriguing. There are good recipes online for all kinds of bread.

Fortunately, I have enough bread flour to make a few more of my usual all-purpose loaves, but decided I could best eke out my little stock by making some flatbread from a recipe I adapted some years ago.

This recipe uses either ordinary self- raising flour, or plain with a little baking powder. The flatbread is delicious eaten with soup, salad, stew or with curry.

You can either cook the flatbreads under a grill, or in a large heavy frying pan or on a griddle. If you roll them to around 0.5cm each, they will appear like naan bread, but roll them thinly, and they are like chappatis and crisp too.

They freeze well and you can try with half the amount. The full ingredients, make nine naan , or 14 chappati type flat breads:

Ingredients:

700g (14oz) plain flour with 1 full tsp baking powder, or SR flour

3 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

1 dessp natural yoghurt, stirred and beaten into milk in a small dish, making 230 mls (8fl oz) total

1 tbsp cooking oil, to spread a little at a time on the working surface, or on the flatbread. (Can use melted butter)

Optional- flavoured seeds scattered and rolled into the flatbread just before grilling - onion, celery, coriander, or garlic etc)

Grill plate (flatbreads cooked underneath grill), griddle or heavy frying pan.

Method

Heat the appliance in preparation. Stir the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Make a well in the middle and gradually pour in the milk and yoghurt mix. Work with your hands to make a pliable dough. Leave to rest for 15 or so minutes. Break up into nine or 14 balls of dough.

Flour the working surface and roll out each ball to the desired thickness, and as near to a circle as you can make it. These days, I've lost the knack.

Lift the flatbread and smear a spot of oil and scatter the seeds (optional) on the surface. Put the flatbread on top and give a final press and roll.

Place the flatbread (I use a large kitchen slice) on the hot grilling plate, or underneath the grill. Keep an eye on the flatbread.

It will only take one to two minutes. As the bubbles rise, brush with a little oil (non seed side), turn over. and cook the other side. Cool each one separately.

Enjoy the time when you can cook and enjoy the recipes you've been meaning to try for years. That is, if you can get the necessary ingredients. There is often an alternative.

Kathleen Kinder

Northfields Avenue

Settle