Kalburabastı

The dough is pressed against a sieve to take the riddled pattern, then folded round the walnuts.

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

Ingredients

the dough

• 250 g fine semolina
• 250 g plain flour
• 150 g butter, softened
• 100 g thick yoghurt
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

the filling

• 200 g walnuts, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

the syrup

• 650 g caster sugar
• 550 ml water
• juice of ½ lemon

Method

1. THE DOUGH IS PRESSED AGAINST A SIEVE TO TAKE THE RIDDLED PATTERN, THEN FOLDED ROUND THE WALNUTS. A piece of dough is flattened on the back of a wire sieve or a grater and pressed firmly so the mesh prints itself into the surface, giving the pitted, riddled face the pastry is named for. It is then lifted off, the walnut filling laid along the middle, and the dough folded over and the ends pinched -- with the patterned side kept OUTWARD. The pattern is not only for looks: the pitted surface holds far more syrup than a smooth one, and the raised ridges stay slightly firm while the hollows soak, which gives the pastry two textures at once.
2. THE PATTERN IS PRESSED BEFORE FILLING, NOT AFTER. On the flat piece, while there is something to press against. Pressed after the parcel is made, the filling squeezes out through the seam.
3. THE SIEVE IS DUSTED WITH FLOUR FIRST. Lightly. A bare mesh holds the dough and it tears coming off, taking the pattern with it.
4. THE YOGHURT IS WHAT MAKES THE DOUGH TAKE AN IMPRESSION. A hundred grams. It keeps the dough soft and slightly extensible so the mesh prints cleanly and the print stays through baking. A drier dough cracks under the press and the pattern closes up as it bakes.
5. THE WALNUTS ARE CHOPPED FINE, NOT GROUND. Fine enough to sit in a thin line inside a small parcel, coarse enough to be crunchy. Ground to a powder, the filling is a paste and the pastry eats as uniformly soft once syruped.
6. HOT PASTRY, COOL SYRUP, AND THEY ARE TURNED ONCE. Cool syrup over the hot pastries in their tin, then each one turned over after an hour so the patterned face spends time downward in the syrup as well. Left one way up, the ridged top stays comparatively dry.
7. The syrup ingredients boiled 12 MINUTES and LEFT TO COOL COMPLETELY.
8. The butter creamed, then the yoghurt and egg beaten in.
9. The semolina, flour and baking powder folded in to a soft dough. Rested 30 MINUTES.
10. The walnuts mixed with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon.
11. A wire sieve or grater dusted LIGHTLY with flour.
12. Each piece of dough flattened on the sieve and PRESSED FIRMLY so the mesh prints into it.
13. Lifted off, a line of walnut filling laid along the middle, and FOLDED OVER with the PATTERNED SIDE OUTWARD. The ends pinched.
14. Set in a lined tin and baked at 175°C for 25 MINUTES, until golden.
15. The COOL syrup poured over the HOT pastries.
16. After 1 HOUR each one TURNED OVER in the syrup.
17. Left a further 3 HOURS.
18. TESTED: the riddled pattern should still be clearly visible and the pastry soft through. A smooth surface means the dough was too dry to take the print.

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 Turkey · All recipes