Qatayef
September 6th, 2009
Qatayef is a special dessert commonly served during Ramadan. It is an eggless pancake, cooked on one side, then stuffed with different fillings such as sweet cheese or walnuts or qashta ,then fried or baked. It is famous in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries.
Let’s make Qatayef:
Filling – Ackawi Cheese (For Fried Qatayef and Baked Qatayef)
1. Slice the cheese, soak in water, change water frequently until most salt is washed out.
2. Put a cheesecloth in a strainer and drain the cheese, and squeeze out all water completely.
Batter
3. In blender, mix flour, semolina flour (smid farkha), baking powder, and water.
4. Blend it well.
5, 6. The result after blending.
7, 8. Prepare the griddle or non stick pan, grease it with a little oil, and heat it till it is really hot, then start pouring the batter on the hot pan like pancake but smaller in size and don’t flip it on the other side, just allow to cook until the bubble is formed and the surface of the qatayef is dry and the underside is golden brown in color. Remove them to a kitchen towel and arrange them in a single layer, then cover them with another kitchen towel. In” picture 7 “this is the size for fried qatayef and baked qatayef, but in “picture 8” this is the size for qatayef assafiri (smaller in size).
8, 9. Each side of qatayef, you must get this result.
10. The steps of filling.
11,12. Deep fry it in corn oil until golden brown in color, then directly to the sugar syrup (you can flavor the syrup with orange blossom water or rose water). To prepare sugar syrup, In pot, turn on heat, put 2 cups sugar, and 1 cup water stir to dissolve, once it boils, add 1 tsp lemon juice, let them boil for few minutes , and turn off heat and let it cool.
13, 14. Or you can bake it, brush with butter, then to the oven at 356F = 180C, for about 15 minutes or until golden in color, then directly to the sugar syrup.
15, 16. To make Qatayef Assafiri (not fried or baked), bring the filling (I used homemade ricotta cheese (the recipe of ricotta cheese is here, traditionally we use Qashta), then fill the qatayef as in the picture 16. In qatayef assafiri we use the small size qatayef (as in picture 8).
Above: Two pictures of Fried Qatayef.
Above: Three pictures of Baked Qatayef.
Above: Four pictures of Qatayef Assafiri, the last picture is the way of eating it with the syrup (I added rose water and saffron to the sugar syrup).
Qatayef
From: Batter Only Manal Alalem / Servings: 5 – 7 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images
| Filling
Ackawi cheese for Fried Qatayef and Baked Qatayef Ricotta cheese for Qatayef Assafiri Batter 2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup semolina flour (smid farkha) 2 tsp baking powder 3 cups water Sugar Syrup 2 cups sugar 1 cup water 1 tsp lemon juice Garnish Ground pistachios |
Filling – Ackawi Cheese (For Fried Qatayef and Baked Qatayef)
Slice the cheese, soak in water, change water frequently until most salt is washed out. Put a cheesecloth in a strainer and drain the cheese, and squeeze out all water completely. Batter In blender, mix flour, semolina flour (smid farkha), baking powder, and water. Blend it well. The result after blending. Prepare the griddle or non stick pan, grease it with a little oil, and heat it till it is really hot, then start pouring the batter on the hot pan like pancake but smaller in size and don’t flip it on the other side, just allow to cook until the bubble is formed and the surface of the qatayef is dry and the underside is golden brown in color. Remove them to a kitchen towel and arrange them in a single layer, then cover them with another kitchen towel. In “picture 7” this is the size for fried qatayef and baked qatayef, but in “picture 8” this is the size for qatayef assafiri (smaller in size) Each side of qatayef, you must get this result. The steps of filling. Deep fry it in corn oil until golden brown in color, then directly to the cold sugar syrup (you can flavor the syrup with orange blossom water or rose water). To prepare sugar syrup, In pot, turn on heat, put 2 cups sugar, and 1 cup water stir to dissolve, once it boils, add 1 tsp lemon juice, let them boil for few minutes , and turn off heat and let it cool. Or you can bake it, brush with butter, then to the oven at 180C, for about 15 minutes or until golden in color, then directly to the cold sugar syrup. To make Qatayef Assafiri (not fried or baked) , bring the filling (I used homemade ricotta cheese (the recipe of ricotta cheese is here, traditionally we use Qashta), then fill the qatayef as in the picture 16. In qatayef assafiri we use the small size qatayef (as in picture 8). |
Notes and Tips
It is very important to grease the griddle with little oil only, so bring a paper towel, spray it with little oil, then grease the griddle using the towel
The sugar syrup must be cold because the rule is: cold syrup is added to hot desserts, and hot syrup is added to cold desserts.
This looks delicious! The filling and the saffron syrup sound great.
yammmyyyy
have to try thid one day
thks for the receipie
…
you can visit my blog
kiss
salam
This looks so delicious! I love the sound of the saffron syrup and pistachios. Hope you are well!
Thank you very much for this recipe.. very nicely presented.. I am lucky I came across your blog when I googled qatayef! I’ll be definitely visiting your blog more often… I’ve been craving y original Syrian food for a while now and this will help inshallah… Thanks again
I’m glad you’re back. I don’t know anything about your country’s food, and I am learning!
In the last picture I can see red lines that look like saffron? If it is, did you put it at the start, during or after making the sugar syrup?
Ghada: I put saffron after making the sugar syrup.
p.s: Traditionally Atayef Asafiri is served with plain sugar syrup, the addition of saffron is a twist :-)
Thank you for your recipes. I just wondered, can I change the ackawi cheese for naabulsi chees, as I can buy here the latter but not the first.
Hi Ina
Yes, you can use Nabulsi cheese – soak it in water if it is salty. Also I’ve another recipe for Qatayef which I want to share it on the blog and I prefer it over this one.
– 1/2 teaspoon sugar
– 1/4 cup warm water
– 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
– 1 cup all purpose flour
– 1/2 cup medium semolina
– 1/8 teaspoon salt
– Approx 1 1/8 cups warm water, plus more if needed
Method:
——————
– In a glass or small bowl, put 1/2 teaspoon sugar + 1/4 cup warm water + 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast – stir to dissolve and let the mixture stand until yeast begins to foam (5 – 10 minutes).
– Use a stand mixer, attach the whisk.
– In the bowl of the mixer, put 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup semolina + 1/8 teaspoon salt – and whisk.
– Add the yeast mixture to flour mixture and whisk.
– Gradually add warm water.
– Cover and let the mixture rest for 20 minutes.
– After 20 minutes, check the mixture, it should be pourable but not too thin, you can add water if needed.
– The griddle or the pan should be hot, no need to grease it.
– Use ladle or scoop to pour the batter to the hot pan. Cook until the bubble is formed and the surface of the qatayef is dry.
– Place on a kitchen cloth, and keep them covered with other cloth.
– Fill qatayef with Ackawi cheese, or ricotta or nuts. Deep fry them. Then dip into the sugar syrup.
I posted the recipe on my instagram too – check it https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi_XiOunD0C/