You’ll fall in love with the Atayef as soon as you taste it! I can make that promise! They are essentially the Middle Eastern equivalent of pancakes and are filled with a variety of delectable ingredients. Typically, street sellers in Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, and Egypt produce atayef (also known as qatayef). These days, they may also be found at bakeries, and some individuals even make them at home. They are so well-liked that having Atayef throughout Ramadan feels mandatory.
what is qatayef ?Arabic crepes called qatayef come in a wide variety of flavors and toppings. The traditional qatayef fillings, cooked, and then doused in simple sugar. This time, We’re going to demonstrate a new kind of qatayef. filled with creamy ashta, covered in pulverized almonds, and drizzled with honey or nectar. qatayef asafiri recipe . So delectable and savory.
Place all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Next gently incorporate the wet components into the dry mixture while continuing to stir. Put your batter in a warm location, cover with a moist towel, and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes.
Pour the batter with a spoon into a preheated nonstick pan over medium heat (for little atayef, use 1 tbsp, for medium-sized atayef, 2 tbsp, and for big atayef, 1/4 cup). The Atayef pancake will begin to bubble, but make sure that there are many bubbles present because if there aren’t, your batter is likely too thick.
The amount of time it takes to cook each pancake should be between one and two minutes, depending on the size of the atayef you’re producing. They’re finished when the final drop on the surface dries and stops shining (remove from pan immediately). Move to a tea towel, being sure to cover the pancakes with the towel so they don’t dry out too soon (that can result into atayef that are difficult to fold and seal when you want to fill them).
Joz, which are cinnamon-flavored walnuts, and “jibneh,” which is unsalted white cow’s cheese that has been soaked in water for days to remove the salt, are the two most common fillings for atayef. Ricotta may be substituted for white cheese if it is unavailable by adding a little honey and rose water. There are two primary varieties of qatayef, one of which is stuffed with creamy cheese and has one edge left uncovered. The alternative variety is filled with almonds and spices, sealed, and then cooked.
There are no rules on the types of almonds that can be used for the stuffing. nuts of any kind—walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, pistachios, a blend of nuts, or any other sweet concoction that takes your taste. The Arabic clotted cream eshta, one of the classic qatayef ingredients, can also be substituted with kaymak, mascarpone, or mozzarella. Additionally, using one of the methods listed here, you can create eshta from scratch.
Just take each pancake in your hand, fold it into a half-moon shape, and spoon in one to two teaspoons of the filling to stuff the atayef. In order to seal the Atayef, be careful not to overfill them.
Using your fingers, pinch the pancake‘s edges together to completely seal it off like a parcel.
The Atayef may explode while being fried or baked if they are overfilled. Continue doing this until you have stuffed every Atayef.
Fry the filled Atayef in hot corn oil (approximately 1 cm deep) until the edges are slightly yellow and crusty. Then take from the pan and quickly submerge them in the sugar syrup (or drizzle them with it).
Place the atayef on a cookie baking sheet, then brush with corn oil to bake. Bake until crisp and golden at 200°C (390°F). Serve after drizzling with the sweet syrup.