Flaky, butter pastries. What more could I ask for on a cold mid-January day? Nothing really, other than a cup of tea to go with it. I always loved these kind of flaky breads when I lived in the UAE - I'm one of those people who will pick bread over rice any time. Parathas were always one of my weaknesses - yes I know parathas are Pakistani / Indian and not MENA - but that I'd choose a buttery, flaky bread for this month's MENA cooking challenge wouldn't come to a surprise to anyone who knows me. (When I had the good fortune to travel up to Abu Dhabi on my own for work the office driver would stop at a roadside restaurant so we could have paratha and fried egg for breakfast. The first time we did it he sent me a message the night before that just said, "Don't have breakfast". Add in chai and I'm pretty happy.)
And in my parallel universe I had a flaky feteer. Back in the real world, things panned out a little differently. I can put my finger on a few of the reasons why my feteer turned into more of an Irish pastry than a flaky bread.
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| So far so good! |
First of all, I wasn't generous enough with the ghee. Maybe it was the post-Christmas feeling, but then again, we aren't a family that goes over-the-top at Christmas, we're fairly low-key when it comes to festivities and food. New Year's Resolutions aren't something I'm prone to, so it wasn't because I was feeling the need to be healthy. I'm going to put this one down to not being used to baking with melted butter / ghee and being a little reticent to use as much as the recipe asked for. (1-2 cups).
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| Still looks good |
I question whether I kneaded the dough for long enough. After a few minutes of having the mixer running I heard a crash. Then I spotted it. The cup we'd stored the leftover goose fat from New Year's Day dinner had fallen over and the goose fat was slowing creeping across the bench. It moved a bit like how I imagine lava moves. So cue a dash to grab kitchen paper and mop up the mess. A bit of a distraction from the dough kneading.
I had to try to stretch the dough on the kitchen table. A marble surface, as the recipe writer used, would have helped (at least I can tell myself that).
Practice would definitely help. I tried a few different ways to stretch out the dough, from letting it hang from my hands, and rotating it that way, to dividing the balls into smaller sizes and stretching the dough from there. A lot more practice is needed!
I was worried that the dough would stick to the baking trays, but it didn't at all. I suppose, despite my parsimonious approach to the ghee, there was enough to prevent this happening!
The recipes I looked at were fairly straight forward. Add flour and salt, and then slowly add warm water until the dough forms a silky but stretchy dough. Split the dough into equal sized balls (I saw between four and ten), let the dough rest and the stretch out the dough before folding it up. Really, not much to it I hear you say! Well, true, but I think it takes patience, skill, and practice to get this right!
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| It did taste good.... |
The recipe I used comes from Chef in Disguise, who has a great video showing how she stretches the dough. I only made sweet feteer, using a baking apple filling, as I thought that was most likely to be eaten her (not everyone loves the savoury version in this house). The apple filling might not have helped the process as it is very white.
Egyptian Feteer - Flaky Bread / Pastry
Ingredients
2 cups of plain flour
0.5 teaspoon salt
1 to 1.5 cups of warm water
1 to 2 cups of melted ghee
Filling
Two baking apples, stewed (as noted above I don't think this is great for the recipe as it adds a lot of moisture)
Oven temperature: 190C / 380F
Method
1. Add the plain flour and salt to a mixing ball.
2. Slowly add the water to the mix until you have a smooth, sticky dough.
3. Knead for ten minutes (using an electric mixer, with a dough hook).
3. Divide the dough into four equal sizes and cover with ghee. (Don't be afraid, be generous with the ghee).
4. Let the dough rest for an hour.
5. Drizzle some melted ghee on a clean surface and start stretching the dough until it is as close to paper thin as you can get.
6. Spread some melted ghee on the surface of the dough once it is stretched.
7. Fold over in thirds, in the same way one folds a letter to fit into an envelope. At each fold, spread with ghee. You will now have a rectangular shaped piece of dough.
8. Again, fold one third of the dough over. Cover with ghee and then fold the other third over until you have a square piece of dough.
9. Spread the top with some melted ghee and set aside into a baking tin.
10. Repeat with the other balls.
11. Let rest for about half an hour.
12. Preheat the over to 190C / 380F.
13. Spread the dough square to fill the baking tray.
14. Add a couple of spoons of apple filling to one base and seal with a second layer of dough.
15. Repeat with the remaining two squares of dough.
16. Bake in the oven until golden brown.
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