Gosh-e Fil

The dough is rolled thin, pinched into an elephant's ear and deep-fried with no filling in it.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 100 ml milk
• 60 g butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• pinch of salt
• oil for deep frying
• 100 g icing sugar, to dust
• 40 g pistachios, ground, to dust

Method

1. THE DOUGH IS ROLLED THIN, PINCHED INTO AN ELEPHANT'S EAR AND DEEP-FRIED WITH NO FILLING IN IT. Its article gives the shape and the name together -- the dough is shaped like an elephant ear, goosh, and deep-fried in oil -- and the absence of a filling is what separates it from the two filled fried pastries on this site. All the interest is in the shape: a thin disc gathered and pinched hard at one point so that it opens out in the oil into a fluted fan with a dense twisted stem. Rolled flat and fried without the pinch, it is a crisp, and the pinch is the recipe.
2. THE WET INGREDIENTS ARE WHISKED FIRST AND THEN GO INTO THE DRY. Its article's order exactly: eggs, milk and butter whisked together, and the mixture then added to the dry ingredients. It gives a smoother dough than rubbing fat into flour.
3. IT IS ROLLED VERY THIN, ABOUT A MILLIMETRE. Thin enough to see the board through. The puff comes from steam in a thin sheet; at two millimetres you get a hard biscuit.
4. THE PINCH IS AT ONE POINT AND IT IS FIRM. Cut a disc of about eight centimetres, gather it between finger and thumb a third of the way across, and squeeze hard. It must hold through frying, so squeeze harder than feels reasonable.
5. THE OIL IS AT 170C AND THEY TAKE UNDER A MINUTE. They colour in forty to fifty seconds. Turn once. Any longer and the thin edges are brown before the pinched stem has cooked.
6. THEY ARE DUSTED WITH ICING SUGAR AND GROUND PISTACHIO. Its article has each piece topped with chopped pistachios and powdered sugar. Both go on warm.
7. IT IS EATEN WITH A SAVOURY YOGURT DRINK, AND THAT IS DELIBERATE. Its article records the pairing with Doogh, as on its own page, in Isfahan, where it is sold and eaten around the main square -- and notes that outsiders find the combination of sweet crisp pastry with sour salty doogh unusual, while locals have liked it for a long time. Worth trying before dismissing.
8. IT IS ALSO SERVED WITH TEA AND SAFFRON ROCK CANDY. Its article mentions it with tea, especially at the new year, and alongside nabat.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes