Takhratha'd pursra / Meat pies are a great snack to have anytime. They can be made in advance and frozen for up to 6 months. You can also make these with mixed cheese filling. Enjoy! Prepare the dough first:
Dough Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of yeast or 1 yeast packet 5 lbs flour 1 tablespoon dough/flour seasoning mix-optional* ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup olive oil, and 1 tablespoon olive oil 6 cups warm milk 1/3 cup warm (not hot) water *I have always bought the dough mix because such a small amount is needed. I’m not sure of the exact measurements for making it but it usually has the following spices - ground fennel, black caraway seed, and white sesame seeds, anise, cardamom, and ground cherry pit. Dough Prep: In a cup mix yeast packet with 1/3 cup of warm (not hot) water. Cover with plastic wrap. Leave alone for approximately 10 minutes or until the yeast and water mixture rises to the top of the cup. If the mixture does not rise, you may have done something wrong. If mixture doesn't rise, throw it out and start again. In very large mixing bowl, mix together flour, flour seasoning mix if you are using it, and salt. Warm 6 cups of milk on the stove. Do not let the milk boil, turn off heat just before it boils. Pour in yeast mixture into the bowl of flour mixture. Add olive oil, and 6 cups of warm milk. Mix and knead with hands. Add a few tablespoons of water if needed to mix the excess flour. Continue to need to punch and knead the dough until it is smooth. Once dough is smooth, rub one tablespoon of olive oil on top of the dough. Cover dough with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel for at least 8 hours or overnight. Store in a warm spot, like indoors on a table top. DO NOT put the dough in the refrigerator or in a cool spot. Ingredients for Beef Filling: 6 lbs ground beef 4 medium size yellow onions chopped 1 tablespoon baharat (or more to taste if you prefer spicier) 2 tablespoons salt Cook beef in a pan (no oil needed at this point) on medium heat. Cook half way through, then drain the cooking juices from the meat. Return to heat. Add 4 tablespoons vegetable oil Add chopped onion Add 2 tablespoons salt Add 1 tablespoon baharat Mix well and cook until beef is fully cooked (about 10 more minutes). Take off heat and let mixture cook to room temperature. Assembly Instructions: Prepare an egg wash by beating 2 eggs in a small bowl. Preheat oven on bake at 325 degrees Grease baking sheet with vegetable oil Roll the dough into logs. Cut into 1 inch pieces. Roll 1 inch pieces into balls. Flatten balls with a rolling pin on a floured surface into round circles about 5 inches in diameter. Fill with 1 overflowing tablespoon of meat filling. Fold dough around filling, either into a triangle or round shape (see photos). Line takhratha folded side down on greased baking sheet. Once baking sheet is filled, give top side only of takhratha an egg wash. Bake at 325 until cooked/golden brown on the bottom. About 10 minutes. Once bottom is cooked, put the oven on broil. Broil until golden brown on top checking every couple minutes. . Be sure to watch the takhratha as oven times may vary. Cooked takhratha can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months, just reheat in the toaster oven.
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This is my mama's version of Shekh Mahshi. It can also be made with ground beef instead of minced beef, or made with zucchini. Thank you so much to my friends for visiting me and giving me a reason to cook such great food! Everyone loved this dish, I hope you do too :) Ingredients:
4 medium sized skinny (Italian) eggplants 1 lb. beef (sirloin or any preference steak) 1 medium sized onion chopped 1 garlic clove minced 3 tablespoons tomato paste 1/2 lemon juiced 1/2 teaspoon salt and additional salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baharat (middle eastern allspice) 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 cups water Optional: 1 teaspoon pomegranate syrup/molasses Wash eggplant and cut off stems and ends. Peel stripes on the eggplant and cut them into 3 to 4 inch sections. Take out the centers/pulp of the eggplants with a paring knife or other device and set it aside. Be sure to try and keep the shell/exterior of the eggplants intact and not break them. Salt the eggplant both on the inside and outside. Place in a bowl filled with cold salted water and soak for 30 minutes. Chop the pulp/inside of the eggplant, salt it, and set aside. Mince the steak into small cubes and brown it in a skillet. Once brown, add the onion and garlic and cook over a medium heat until the onion begins to soften or about 4 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoon baharat. Mix well. Rinse the chopped pulp/inside of the eggplant in a colander and squeeze out and discard the excess water from the pulp. Add the chopped pulp to the beef mixture and mix. (Optional: Add 1 teaspoon pomegranate syrup and mix well.) Reduce heat to low and cover the skillet, cook for additional 10 minutes or until beef is tender. Remove from heat when cooked. Rinse, drain, and dry the eggplant shells with a paper towel. Lightly brush the inside and outside of the eggplant shell with olive oil. Stuff the eggplant with the meat mixture and line in a baking dish. Line up the eggplant end to end to ensure the meat stuffing stays inside the eggplant during baking. If you have any extra leftover beef set it aside in the skillet. Return the skillet you cooked the meat in to a medium heat (with the leftover meat if you had any). Add 1 1/2 cup water, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 lemon juiced. Mix well until tomato paste is dissolved. Remove from heat and pour over stuffed eggplant. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 475 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with rice. This is a great recipe for summer time because Kabob taste so good off of the grill. Thanks to my mother in law, Nina, for providing her popular recipe and making it with me. Serves 6 to 8 Ingredients 3 pounds lean ground beef 2 Medium onions 1 Medium tomato 1 cup whole parsley leaves ½ cup Bread crumbs (optional) 1 teaspoons ground black pepper 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon baharat (middle eastern spice mix) Instructions
Serve with parsley, onions with sumac sprinkled on them, and other vegetables. Serve with pita bread You can also use this recipe to make Kufta. Just make into small patties and pan fry until browned on both sides. Kufta is usually eaten for breakfast with fried eggs and tomatoes. Serves 6
Ingredients: Rice 2 cups long grain rice 3 cups of water 1 tablespoon salt 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon biryani spice Meatballs 1 pound ground meat ½ teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon salt Other 2 ½ cups cooked chicken 4 Med-large potatoes peeled and cubed 3 Med-Large onions sliced 12 oz package frozen peas 1 ½ teaspoons biryani spice 7 Tablespoons vegetable oil ½ teaspoon salt Directions For the chicken – you can boil a whole chicken with some salt for about 45 minutes or until done. Once the chicken cools off a bit, pull off the meat and place it in a bowl. If you are short on time you can buy a premade rotisserie chicken and pull of the meat. We boiled a medium size chicken and we got about 2 ½ cups of chicken after we pulled off the meat. Mix ½ teaspoon of biryani spice with the chicken pieces. Rinse the rice a few times to remove excess starch. Soak in warm water for about 20 minutes. While the rice is soaking start the following: Note: You can use the same pan or multiple pans for the following steps depending on how much time you have or how many dishes you want to wash. We were using 2 pans at once. Mix the ground meat with the salt and pepper and form into small meatballs. Heat one tablespoon of oil and sauté the meatballs until they are brown. Set aside. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil. Add ½ teaspoon of the biryani spice and ¼ teaspoon of salt to the potatoes and mix. Fry the potatoes until they are crisp and golden on the outside. Set aside. Heat one tablespoon of oil. Add ½ teaspoon of the biryani spice to the onions and mix. Sauté the onions until they are golden and caramelized. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Sauté the frozen peas until the shell is soft and they have browned a little. Set aside. For the rice -heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pot. Add rice and stir for the a few minutes. Add the water, salt, and biryani spices. Let the rice boil for a few minutes. Then put the burner on medium-low and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork then cover again and cook for 5 more minutes on medium-low. In a large bowl, pour ½ of your rice and ½ of the potatoes, onions, meatballs, and peas. Mix with 2 spatulas gently. Then add the other half of your rice, potatoes, onions, meatballs, and peas and mix gently with 2 spatulas again.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients Stuffing 2 lbs. Chuck roast chopped 6-8 Garlic cloves minced 3 cups rice rinsed 6 oz can tomato paste 2 Medium tomatoes chopped 1/4 cup olive oil 2 lemons juiced 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (optional) 2 tablespoons Salt 2 teaspoons Baharat (middle eastern allspice) 1 teaspoon black pepper pinch of red pepper flakes or ground red pepper (optional - can also add more if you like more spicy) Vegetables to Stuff (below is the combo I used for the stuffing made above but use any combo you prefer) Approximately 60 Grape Leaves About 6 - 10 outer layers of onions 2 Bell peppers 2 Zucchini peeled 2 Japanese eggplants Other options to stuff are tomatoes, other summer squash, cucumber, swiss chard (rolled), cabbage (rolled). Sauce 1 tablespoon Citric acid/lemonduzy 2 lemons juiced 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper pinch of red pepper flakes or ground red pepper (optional) 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 cup water Sliced Carrots, celery, or swiss chard stems to line the bottom of the pot. Directions
This delicious casserole dish is time consuming to make, but is so delicious, it makes it all worth it. It also makes enough to serve the whole family. It is generally served with rice. Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium eggplants 1-1 1/2 pounds beef minced 2 medium onions sliced 1 clove of garlic minced 2 large tomatos sliced 1 green pepper sliced 1/2 cup chopped parsely 1 (6oz) can of tomato paste 2 1/2 cups water 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 cup vegetable oil (for frying eggplant) 1/2 teaspoon baharat (middle eastern mixed spices) 2 teaspoons salt plus more for sprinkling on eggplant and tomatoes. Wash the eggplants, cut off the stems and discard. Peel stripes on the eggplants lengthwise. Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices and salt them on both sides. Let the salted eggplant stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow the moisture to sweat out. Rinse the salt off and dry the eggplant with a towel. Heat about 1/4 cup of oil in a pan and brown the eggplant slices. You will need to add more oil in the pan each time you add new eggplant as the eggplant absorbs the oil. Put eggplant on paper towel after frying to soak up excess oil and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in pan, add the sliced onions and minced garlic, sautee to a light golden brown. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in pan and add minced meat, sautee until brown. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt, baharat, and chopped parsely. Mix well and set aside. In a casserole dish (I use a 9 x 13 but other sizes are fine too) add the ingredients in the following order: meat mixture, onions, eggplant, green peppers, tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a little salt. In a bowl, mix water, tomato paste, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix thoroughly until the tomato paste is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the casserole. Cover the casserole dish and cook in the oven at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until all the vegetables are cooked. Serve with Basmati rice. Serves about 4 Prep Time - Approximately 45 minutes Ingredients
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