Katayef Stuffed Pancakes Middle East Palestine Food

QATAYEF RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat the water and the sugar in a small pot, until boiling.
• Add the lemon juice and simmer for five minutes.
• Pour in a bowl, and set aside to cool.
• Put nuts and sugar in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
• Heat the butter in a pan until melted.
• Add nut mixture and cook until toasted.
• Cool and set aside.
• In a bowl mix the flour, sugar, powdered milk, yeast, baking powder and salt.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the water.
• Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until you have a pancake batter consistency.
• Place a frying pan on a medium heat and spray with oil. Using a ladle, pour batter in the pan. Cook only on one side until the pancake shows bubbles and begins to dry out. You want the pancake to be cooked but not too dry.
• Once you have cooked all your batter, place a spoonful of filling in the middle of each pancake. Fold over and pinch the edges until pancakes stick together.
• Heat oil for shallow frying in a pot.
• Once hot, using tongs, dip each Qatayef in the oil, frying both sides.
• Once golden brown dip into simple syrup and make sure to soak both sides.
• Serve immediately.

QATAYEF RECIPE

Steps:

• In a sauce pan over medium heat, add syrup ingredients, stir a little then let it boil.
• When it boils, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
• Turn heat off and let it cool down to room temperature, it will thicken as it cools down.
• In a deep bowl, combine first 6 ingredients, add water and mix well. (Note1)
• Cover and let it set for 30 minutes.
• Stir the batter a bit to check consistency if it is too thick then add a tablespoon of water. Batter should be thinner than pancake and not lumpy. (Note2)
• Heat a griddle or a pan and scoop about 2 Tablespoons of the batter.
• The batter will bubble at the surface and cooks, do not flip
• When the surface is longer wet remove and it is golden brown, remove from heat. (Note3)
• Arrange qatayef bubble side up on a baking sheet and cover with a towel. Set aside until you are finished with the rest of the batter.
• Continue until you finish all the batter.
• Hold the pancakes bubble side up, fill with little over a teaspoon of the nut mixture. Do not overfill as it will not close or tear and crack.
• Fold pancakes in half and pinch the sides to firmly close. (Note4).
• Heat oil for deep frying over medium heat.
• For a crispy golden qatayef, fry for like 3 minutes on each side until they are dark golden brown. If you want a softer qatayef, fry them until they are just light golden brown.
• Take them out of oil place on a paper towel for 5-15 seconds then quickly dip them in the cooled syrup while they are still hot. Toss to cover with syrup.
• Take qatayef out and let them drip in a colander. The more you leave qatayef in the syrup, the more syrup it will soak and then it will become softer.

KATAYEF ("STUFFED PANCAKES") MIDDLE EAST, PALESTINE

Steps:

• Mix all stuffing ingredients and set aside.
• Mix smeed, flour, and salt.
• Place warm water in an electric mixing bowl (I use my blender). While mixing on high speed, add the smeed mixture gradually to form a thin pancake mix.
• Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of water and a dash of sugar. Add to pancake mixture, and mix for 1 more minute. Set aside for 40 minutes, stirring every 7 minutes (so the water won't separate from smeed to avoid a lumpy mixture).
• Add the baking soda and keep stirring. When the dough bubbles, it is ready to be baked.
• Use an electric frying pan set at 450 degrees (I use one of those flat frying pans, for pancakes, but I do believe any nonstick frying pan should work).
• Pour 1/4 cup dough and cook like a pancake, on one side only. Remove from fire when pores form on the surface on each cake. Place the pancakes on a smooth surfaced towel until they cool.
• Fill each pancake with the nut mixture (I place one spoonful of the mixture in the middle of the pancake).
• Fold by pressing edges together to make a semi-circle. Pinch the edges firmly to close. Brush each on both sides with warm butter.
• Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees in a preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until light gold.
• Remove from oven and dip in cold syrup (Thin Attar).
• Makes about 35 pieces. Enjoy!

STUFFED FISH (MIDDLE EASTERN, PALESTINE)

Steps:

• Clean the fish, and let soak in vinegar and salt for 10 minutes (this takes away the smell really quickly).
• Use the lemon juice, oil, paprika, salt, pepper, and cumin and coat the fish inside and out.
• Brown the pine nuts and set aside. Mix the chopped parsley, garlic, tomato, and onion and add with the pine nuts. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and mix in the pine nuts.
• Place fish on aluminum foil (a piece big enough to wrap the entire fish in). Stuff the fish (I like to make mine as full as possible) and close with a needle and thread or any other way you use to close your fish.
• Make light cuts on the top of the fish and take any of the lemon juice, oil, and spices the fish was sitting in that is left and pour on top of the fish.
• Wrap the fish in the aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out and bake at 450 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.
• If preferred, take the fish out of the foil when it is finished and put it under the broiler to brown it.
• Enjoy =).