This month, I moved to Houston to take a postdoctoral position at Rice University. A few weeks later, I'm finally settling into my new life. My apartment is finally where I want it, and I love it!
It's very strange to move to a new city
that is so different that what I'm used to! Although thinking about it, what am
I used to? I moved 4 times in the past three years! But New York in many ways
became home, and despite my love/hate relation with it, I grew to enjoy living
there (Rashad, it's on you!). And just as I getting used to the great joy
of living in Manhattan and being able to ride my bike everywhere, I move to a
place so radically different. Houston is 627 sq miles (1,625 km²), which
is huge! (Compare to 33 sq of Manhattan!). I have made the decision to try to
get away without a car (I don’t like driving, I don’t like having to drive!).
Until now, it’s been very challenging. It is very hard to get anywhere, and not
being able to leave Oscar (my bike) out has made it even harder. But I will
continue trying. Luckily for me, Houston also comes with many kind and generous
people who have been helping out. Esmat and Reza helped with getting the dining
table from Ikea, thank you! 
And Ussama and Elora have been so nice to
invite me to their home and introduce me to their friends. So what better
occasion to make a nice dessert, to share with new friends, and make my new
apartment feel like home !! In addition, each semester I make a deal
with my students, by which I bring a dessert the first class, and then they
have the responsibility for each week, so I decided to treat them as well!
Qatayef is a highly loved dessert for
Palestinians, but mostly associated with Ramadan, when people indulge in this
rich delicious dessert after breaking the fast. I don’t think one should limit
the pleasure to a month a year! You can have two kinds of filling with it:
qarisheh (homemade cheese, similar to Ricotta) or nuts. I will give you the
recipe for both.
Ingredients
Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
½-teaspoon salt
½-teaspoon baking powder
Lemon
For the homemade cheese:
1-liter milk
1-cup yogurt
For the nuts filling:
1-cup pecans (or walnuts)
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoon ground sugar
For the Sugar Syrup:
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
Lemon
Vanilla extract (or rose
water or even better, if you have access to a leafs of Rose Geranium, which is
what my mother used: http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-rose-geranium.htm)
Preparation
Syrup:
You should prepare the sugar
syrup first, as it should be cold when using. Simple!
1.
add half a cup of boiling
water to one cup sugar, let them boil for a bit.
2.
Squeeze some lemon juice to it
(the lemon prevents the sugar from re-granulating). Still in while boiling a
bit more.
3.
Add the flavor you have,
Vanilla or the other option.
4.
Put aside to cool.
Qatayef dough
What you want is small pancakes
that are baked on one side.
1.
In a bowl, mix the
ingredients well. If you are using dry yeast, make sure the water is warm
enough for it to reactivate (follow instructions on the package).
2.
Put aside to let rise, stir occasionally.
3.
Heat a non-stick pan.
4.
When pan is hot, pour in small
amount.
¾
It has been quite a challenge
for me to get them to make them round, but if you can make pancakes that should
be easy for you.
5.
Let then bottom cook until
light brown while the top dries up and no longer looks liquid. Only cook on one
side.
6.
Let them cool spread apart
from each other (don’t stack!)
Cheese Filling:
The volume of course depends
on how much you are making! One liter milk will give you a small bowl of
cheese.
1.
Bring one liter of milk to
boil (use whole milk).
2.
Add one cup of yogurt, stir
thoroughly, and let boil briefly. You will see the milk separating to clusters.
3.
Strain with a fine-mesh strainer.
4.
Optional: add either ground
sugar, cinnamon or both. You will have plenty of sugar from syrup but if you
like it sweeter. And I love cinnamon so I often add!
Nut filling:
Chop pecans or walnuts to small
pieces. Add ground sugar and cinnamon to taste.
Filling the pancakes
1.
Add a spoon of your chosen
filling to the center of the uncooked side of the pancake.
2.
Fold the pancake to a moon
shaped pocket
3.
Press the edges to close it.
4.
Repeat! ;)
Final step: baking or frying
The traditional way is frying
the Qatayef in deep oil. But if you are concerned with health, the healthier choice
would be baking in the over.
For frying:
1.
Heat deep vegetable oil until
very hot
2.
Fry Qatayef until nice and
brown
For baking
1.
Preheat oven to 350.
2.
Butter a baking pan
3.
Put small pieces of butter on
each piece Qatayef for brush butter on them
4.
Bake until brown.
Once the qatayef are ready,
put them in the cold sugar syrup and take them out after a few minutes.
Now you
can dig in!
I realize this is a lot of
work, so what I do is I make 2-3 cups of flour each time, and freeze part of
the Qatayef pre-baking. When you want it the next time, take out of the freezer
and defrost before baking/frying!
Enjoy!
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