Ma Niche : stuffed bread

Off late I have been cooking a lot of Middle eastern food. All from Sally Butcher's book The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian, the: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan. I borrowed it from the library a month ago and have been meaning to tell you about it but didn't know where to start. The book is divided into ten broad sections. bread, salads, soup, rice, vegetables, pickles and so on.. and i have been religiously cooking my way through them throughout the month. while the rice dishes and the street food sections are our favorites, we also fell for this stuffed bread last night. Spinach Fatayer.

In the book Butcher credits the recipe to Mrs Haddad who is her Lebanese bread supplier. Apparently it is Mrs Haddad's family recipe. While the original recipe with sumac and pomegranate paste must be brilliant, I had to make do with substitutes like capers and chana masala in my version. Nevertheless we loved it. It made a happy meal along with a bowl of Mediterranean Chickpea Salad and yogurt seasoned with mustard and green chillies. Think Mr MN liked them much for he even took some for lunch today. I suppose the little one also liked them for he kept juggling between his kichudi and the Fatayer throughout dinner last night.

Spinach Fatayer Adapted from New Middle Eastern Vegetarian, the: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan
ingredients for the dough 1 1/8 tsp bread machine yeast 1/2 tsp sugar 2/3 cups warm water 1 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 cups whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp salt 3 tbsp, olive oil 2 tsp lemon juice for the filling 10 oz spinach(i used frozen) oil for frying 1 medium onion chopped 1/4 cup pine nuts, chopped 1 tbsp capers, chopped 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp chana masala salt and pepper to taste for glazing 1/2 tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tbsp olive oil salt to taste - what i did for the dough, i stirred in the yeast and sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and set it aside for 10 minutes. once the yeast solution became foamy, i sifted the flours and salt into a big bowl, added the yeast solution and 1 tbsp of oil to it and tried kneading with my hand. at this point the flour mixture flour mixture felt very dry. so i added the remaining water and oil to the bread machine pan along with the flour mixture and set the machine on dough cycle. 15 minutes later, when the dough looked smooth and felt soft, i switched off the bread machine and turned the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. then covering the dough with a plastic cling wrap i put the bowl in a warm corner of the kitchen and let it double itself. it took the dough about an hour and quarter to double. in the meantime, i made the filling. for the filling, i heated the oil in a saucepan and added the onions to it. once the onions softened, i added the spinach (thawed and drained), capers and the nuts to the pan and cooked for about 4-5 minutes. i then added the chana masala and lemon juice to the spinach, seasoned it to taste and let it cook for a few minutes more till the spinach was well cooked. switching off the heat, i then set it aside. once the dough doubled, i preheated the oven to 375 degrees F, lined 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and working with little portions of it at a time, i rolled it into a 1/8 inch thick ovals. the dough was soft. so to ease the rolling process i dabbed it with enough flour before rolling. then using an upturned glass i cut out 7 cm circles off the dough, placed 1 tbsp of the filling in each of them and folded the sides to meet in the center like a pyramid pastry. then placing the pyramids in the lined baking trays i baked my first batch of small Fatayers for 22-25 minutes, until they were lightly browned. the Fatayers did not grow too much in size after baking, so using a upturned bowl, i cut out 10 cm circles out of the remaining dough, placed 2-3 tbsp of the filling in each of them, then folding them as before and glazed them with the solution of lemon juice-oil and salt and baked them for 28-30 minutes, until they were lightly golden. then transferring the Fatayers to a bread basket, i covered them with a cloth and left it that way till dinner time.

Spinach Fatayer
Adapted from New Middle Eastern Vegetarian, the: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan

ingredients

for the dough

1 1/8 tsp bread machine yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
2/3 cups warm water
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp, olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice

for the filling

10 oz spinach(i used frozen)
oil for frying
1 medium onion chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, chopped
1 tbsp capers, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp chana masala
salt and pepper to taste

for glazing

1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

what i did

for the dough,

i stirred in the yeast and sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and set it aside for 10 minutes.
once the yeast solution became foamy, i sifted the flours and salt into a big bowl, added the yeast solution and 1 tbsp of oil to it and tried kneading with my hand.
at this point the flour mixture flour mixture felt very dry. so i added the remaining water and oil to the bread machine pan along with the flour mixture and set the machine on dough cycle.
15 minutes later, when the dough looked smooth and felt soft, i switched off the bread machine and turned the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. then covering the dough with a plastic cling wrap i put the bowl in a warm corner of the kitchen and let it double itself.
it took the dough about an hour and quarter to double. in the meantime, i made the filling.

for the filling,

i heated the oil in a saucepan and added the onions to it.
once the onions softened, i added the spinach (thawed and drained), capers and the nuts to the pan and cooked for about 4-5 minutes.
i then added the chana masala and lemon juice to the spinach, seasoned it to taste and let it cook for a few minutes more till the spinach was well cooked. switching off the heat, i then set it aside.

once the dough doubled, i preheated the oven to 375 degrees F, lined 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and working with little portions of it at a time, i rolled it into a 1/8 inch thick ovals. the dough was soft. so to ease the rolling process i dabbed it with enough flour before rolling.
then using an upturned glass i cut out 7 cm circles off the dough, placed 1 tbsp of the filling in each of them and folded the sides to meet in the center like a pyramid pastry. then placing the pyramids in the lined baking trays i baked my first batch of small Fatayers for 22-25 minutes, until they were lightly browned.
the Fatayers did not grow too much in size after baking, so using a upturned bowl, i cut out 10 cm circles out of the remaining dough, placed 2-3 tbsp of the filling in each of them, then folding them as before and glazed them with the solution of lemon juice-oil and salt and baked them for 28-30 minutes, until they were lightly golden.
then transferring the Fatayers to a bread basket, i covered them with a cloth and left it that way till dinner time.

Though this recipe was fairly simple to work through, I kept longing for the ladies in the house while i was stuffing the dough. because, somehow even a tedious task as stuffing the dough becomes fun when you do it midst your sisters and friends..

I am sharing the Fatayers with Bread Baking Day #61. Bread Baking Day is a monthly event created by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte aka kochtopf and Anusha of Tomato Blues is hosting it this month and she has chosen Stuffed Breads. as the theme for the month.

Also Yeastspotting this and sharing it at the following weekly food events

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